Friday, April 27, 2007

Overcoming Temptation

James 1:13,14 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
In the day in which we live, there are many ways the devil tempts us to sin. Never before has our adversary had such powerful technology with which to glamorize sin. Whether it’s through a billboard, a magazine, or television, the devil has many ways of tempting us to fall in our Christian lives. Even though the devil is powerful, we can overcome his temptations with Christ’s help.

As today’s verses state, every Christian will be tempted to sin. Even though we are tempted, we do not have to fall into sin. We can have strength to overcome these temptations through Christ’s power. When Christ was on earth He was tempted, yet He resisted the devil’s temptations. Matthew 4:3-4 says, “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” When Christ was tempted, He turned to God’s Word to answer the devil.

Christ could not have sinned because He is God, yet He showed us how to respond to the devil when he attacks us. Throughout the next few verses of Matthew 4, the devil continued to tempt Christ, but Christ answered the devil with Scripture each time. He said in Matthew 4:10, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

When the devil tempts us, we must be ready with Scripture to ward off his attacks. The devil cannot fight against the Bible because it is the truth. In order to answer the devil, we must be in God’s Word daily, studying and memorizing Scripture. When we answer every attack the devil has with God’s Word, we will have God’s power to overcome temptation.

After having read the Bible through one hundred times with increasing delight, George Mueller made this statement: “I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the Word of God. Friends often say, ‘I have so much to do, so many people to see, I cannot find time for Scripture study.’ Perhaps there are not many who have more to do than I. For more than half a century I have never known one day when I had not more business than I could get through…but I have always made it a rule never to begin work until I have had a good season with God and His Word. The blessing I have received has been wonderful.”

We must spend time in God’s Word each day. It is our strength and defense against the devil’s attacks. We can overcome Satan’s temptations as we turn to God for His power and daily memorize His Word to answer the devil.

Are you studying and memorizing God’s Word? Only when we know God’s Word can we effectively answer the devil’s attacks. Take time today to read the Bible and memorize a verse to help you overcome temptations.
by: Dr. Paul Chappell

2 comments:

Christopher Cline said...

Great Post Brother's.

Lord Bless...

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