Temptations

    Everyone has a temptation. And any time we partake in a temptation we realize that it fills us for moments, then it is gone. Temptations were created through sin to make us aware that we are capable of unworthy actions or even thoughts. They are a little connection that will slowly but surely lead us away from Christ. People like to put the wrath of temptation on Adam and Eve because of the apple. But we bring our temptation upon ourselves. Christ warned us of temptation and told us the matter that it is the true test to see if we follow him through it. If you think about your temptation all the way from food to lust...it only last for a second.

    Temptation was created to only last a second. Because something that good could not last for a long time because it was not created through the Lord. The whole idea of it lasting forever is knowing that it is simply not capable of fulfilling us for a period of time. Sin and Satan is simply not capable of fulfill us. I think that is one heck of a promise that is straight evidence that we should run to God. It is easy to harden your heart to the Lord during these times. If you have a guilty conscience this is where it is mostly helpful. The whole time you encounter your temptation...you feel guilty. When I think of this I imagine a little kid getting into something bad that their parents would yell at them for. Like playing in the mud with their good school clothes on. They know the whole time that their parents will be very angry and they shouldn't do it but they do any ways because as a child it is fun to just get outside and it's okay to play with mud then cause it is not exactly gross yet! But they know playing in the mud will do them no good...in fact it might ruin the shirt they very much like wearing at the time. The child wants to have fun so the messy temptation continues.

    This is very much like our faith. Talking about temptation much seem like a very inappropriate topic. But it is a part of our everyday life so we need to learn how to control it. Like the child playing in the mud.... the world is our playing field and we need to learn how to play the game carefully. Temptation is an art the can trap us in an instant and it can change our way of thinking. It is so deceiving in that the little temptations here and there pushes us deeper in until we are in over our heads. The clean shirt that the child wears while getting it dirty in the mud is the destroying of our mind and relationship with Christ. In most cases when you move closer to something you move that much farther away from something else. The sad reality is we move away from Christ daily due to temptations without even knowing it. Christ knows this before we even do it but the most liberating thing is running back to Christ. He waits for us to repent and be aware of it. 

    God puts the value in our relationships that he trust us to follow and trust him beyond temptation. Because temptation tricks us into thinking that certain action or thing is so much better than what we already have and it is a deceiving lie that wears a blindfold. The most famous bible passage is the Lord's prayer. There is a verse that is so prominent that is sticks with us as a reminder that needs to be carried out in our relationship with Christ. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Matthew 6:13 states the exact key to this lesson. The evil one is the temptation.....it is everything about the devil that screams temptation. We should be asking the Lord to deliver us from the evil one. The verse should really be flipped around because it makes it sound like do not allow the devil to take hold of us so we aren't led into temptation. This verse is often misunderstood because it makes it sound like God makes us tempted. The evil one leads us into the actual temptation but the Lord is the only one that can deliver us from it.


"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."
             ~1 Corinthians 10:13


      Temptations are hard to get out of  but the verse above gives us straight evidence that the Lord will not allow them to overtake us but we need to allow God to come into our lives in order to do that. He is faithful in all that he does and will not let us be tempted beyond our ability. But didn't we say that it's not God that tempts us but Satan does as well as ourselves? That is still true but like we also said earlier that God is the only one that can get us away from that. He will only get us away from it as much as we ask for because Christ doesn't force us to have a relationship with him we offers it because then it wouldn't be a relationship but a dictatorship.

    This week challenge yourself to be aware of your temptations and what causes them. They will keep coming along so you have to fulfill that temptation time needs to be filled with other activities. Try reading your bible or going outside or hanging out with friends. Something that gets you as far away from you temptation as possible.



Word of the Day: "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction."
                                            ~1 Timothy 6:9