Christianity Oasis Forum

[logi bear]

A devotional from my church : ). Sorry i was late in sharing it this week!

Choose to Refuse




In James 1 it says that blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted that he is tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted by evil nor does He, Himself, tempt anyone. When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it’s full grown brings forth death. Paul wrote in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death.

It’s important that we get a good grip on temptation. Temptation, by itself, is not sin. Remember, Satan tempted Jesus. Hebrews 4:15-16 says that we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with out weaknesses, but He who was in all points, tempted, as we are, yet without sin. So even though we find ourselves being tempted (and we will), that is not sin. We have an High Priest who can relate. Jesus was tempted. What we are to do is to… “Boldly come to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” What a glorious verse! Jesus understands our temptations.

Jesus doesn’t just understand us because He created us or because He knows all things and He’s just a big God. What’s amazing about God is that He relates to us. He gets it. He gets your struggles. He gets what you’re going through. It’s not textbook knowledge. It’s because He experienced temptation. He went through it. Jesus is the mediator. He is the intercessor between you and the Father. Jesus wants us to have such a tight relationship with Him. Not a religion, but a real relationship with Jesus Christ. He knows all about you.

What makes temptation, temptation, is the opportunity to sin. Temptation becomes a temptation when there is an opportunity to sin. Opportunity plus our will, yielded to opportunity, is where sin is conceived. Genesis 39 is the story of Joseph, not yielding to temptation. What an amazing example. Joseph was a man in his twenties at the time. He was a young man, with a heart for God. Based on the description of Joseph in Genesis 39, for a visual, I think he probably looked like a Tim Tebow—handsome, tall, jacked. He was strong and he was handsome. He was finding favor with man, because he honored the Lord in all he did. Yet, he was a slave in Egypt. Joseph is described as, “well-favored” and “goodly.”

Joseph faced a severe and heavy temptation by Potipher’s wife. She straight-up seduced Joseph. Satan doesn’t tempt you with ugly things. Satan won’t dangle things in front of you that won’t appeal to you. Our flesh doesn’t need much help. Our flesh is pretty responsible for our own sin. Sin is attractive. We are all men and women of like passions. So Satan dangles a beautiful woman before a young man in his twenties. No one was around. No one would have known about it. Joseph was in a foreign land. In fact, Joseph had a pretty tough situation. He could have been thinking he deserves a break from this holiness thing. He could have thought that he had nothing but grief for all those years, living a holy life. In Genesis 39:8 we read that Joseph refused the temptation. Joseph didn’t care that the culture or society didn’t respect marriage. Joseph did. He honored God. He resisted the temptation. Joseph didn’t care what Hollywood says. He didn’t care what his peers were doing.

Every sin that we commit is an offense against God. It’s us saying that we will not obey God because we know better. We just want to do what we want to do and our sin makes a mock of Christ. Jesus paid a great price for our sin. Joseph was more worried about his character than his reputation. Griffin Thomas said, “If only we take care of our character, God will take care of our interests and our reputation.” What we do in secret, when no one is looking, is how we build character.

When you are facing temptation, you have a choice. Satan wants you to think that you don’t have a choice. You absolutely do have a choice. You don’t have to sin. Be like Joseph and REFUSE. Joseph was able to refuse, because his decision to not sin was decided long before that particular temptation was dangled before him. If you wait to resist temptation until you are tempted, forget it. You’re done. You have to purpose in your heart, early in the morning. Let Jesus be the first face that you seek each and every day. Speak to Jesus first each day. Let Jesus be the first one that you hear from every day. Talk to Jesus first, before doing anything else. You will be revolutionized in your walk with Jesus Christ. We are tempted on a daily basis. Romans 6 says that we are crucified with Christ and we are no longer slaves to sin. Be dead to the power of sin and alive to God. You can refuse to sin because of the power of Christ in your life. He has broken every curse and every grip that Satan has on mankind. We can have victory. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. Choose to refuse temptation.

[popples]

I didnt wanna hear this today but I know God is speaking to me. Sin is wrong I know but I have to say its easier to sin than not too. Does that make sense?

[logi bear]

Its hard! But you can do anything through Jesus. Just pray when you are struggling!