God’s Recipe for Resisting Temptation

God’s Recipe for Resisting Temptation


One of the greatest challenges for a Christian living in this fallen world is the constant bombardment of temptation. When we are young in our faith, entanglements from our past or enticements of unfulfilled pleasures can cause us to fall into sin. As we mature, we risk becoming proud, self-righteous, gossipy or judgmental. Regardless of the temptation, God has promised us a way out; a way to honor Him!

God desires that His children enjoy a life of victory over sin. In the Book of James, a book devoted to practical guidance for living the Christian life, God tells us:

• James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

God’s recipe for successfully resisting temptation:

• Submit to God – Make a personal decision and ongoing commitment to place all of yourself and all of your life under God’s authority and care.
• Resist the devil – Utilize any and all of the ‘R’ action steps below as often as needed to resist Satan and all the enticements that have resulted from his lies.
• Enjoy victory over temptation – Live a life that glorifies God by minimizing the amount of sin in your life and maximizing your fellowship with the Lord.

Recognize
What is good and what is evil

• Hebrews 5:13-14 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Sources of temptation

• 1 John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
• The Flesh – Our Enticements
• Lust of the Eyes – the things we see and want, but don’t need or shouldn’t have
• Lust of the flesh – the things our human nature strongly desires that would dishonor our Heavenly Father
• Pride of Life – the things we take credit for that are actually beyond your capabilities
• The World – Our Environment
• James 4:4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
• The Devil – Our Enemy
• Genesis 3:13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
• Never God - Our Emancipator
• James 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

Recall
Christ’s life as a powerful example of victory over sin

• Christ Submitted to God
• John 5:30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
• Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
• Christ Resisted Satan
• Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
• Satan Fled
• Matthew 4:11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
• Christ Lived a Sinless Life
• Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Rest
In God’s ability to deliver us from temptation

• 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
• 2 Peter 2:9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
• Hebrews 2:18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
• Galatians 5:16 Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Remember
God’s Word

• Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

That as Christians, we are dead to sin

• Romans 6:6-7 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.

The frailty of our human nature – Our strength and hope is found in Jesus Christ

• Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
• 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Request
God’s help through prayer

• Matthew 6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Rely
On our Reinforcements

• Hebrews 3:13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
• Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

On the power of the Holy Spirit

• Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Run
Away from the temptations that appeal to the core of our human weaknesses

• 1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
• 1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
• 2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

God loves us so very much. He has given us all we need to resist the devil and experience victory over temptation. However, when you do succumb to temptation (which we all do sooner or later, that’s why Christ had to die for us):

Reconcile
With God

• 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Everyone struggles with temptation. I pray that you find strength in Christ through God’s Word to escape the traps along your path that would pull you into sin and away from fellowship with God.


Prayer

Heavenly Father, may Your Word and Your Spirit strengthen, protect and guide Your children such that they experience the joy and peace that come with submitting to you, resisting the devil and living a life that brings glory to Your holy name. I pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

  

I Didn’t Do It

I Didn’t Do It


The pride that is part of our human nature often tempts us to boast about what we think we have done or what we think we can do; God hates pride (see Proverbs 6:16-17). Whether we think it, say it, or just act like it, we sometimes put confidence in ourselves above confidence of God. Even mature Christian slip into the pit of pride.

And even though God sometimes allows us to participate in His gracious displays of mercy and love, pride can still lead us to believe that we accomplish on our own what only He can do. We may start believing that in our own wisdom, goodness, strength and effort we can:

• Earn forgiveness for our sins.
• Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
• Convince someone of God’s truth so they turn from their sin.
• 2 Timothy 2:24-25 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
• Talk someone into surrendering to Christ as Savior.
• John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
• Bring forth spiritual fruit in the lives of others by our works and effort.
• 1 Corinthians 3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
• Overcome our inherent human weaknesses.
• Isaiah 40:29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
• Understand the deep truths revealed in scripture.
• 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, 14 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. … 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
• Initiate the thoughts and deeds in our lives that glorify God.
• Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
• Figure out on our own how to live a righteous life that glorifies God.
• 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

Any such pride is self-righteousness. Jesus teaches and warns us about being self-righteous.

• Luke 18:9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 

And beyond that, the Bible is clear that our own righteousness is worth nothing to God.

• Deuteronomy 9:6 Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
• Daniel 9:18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies.
• Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Godly righteousness in man has always been a precious gift of God in response to genuine faith in Him. Before Christ died on a cross to pay our sin debt, righteousness came from keeping God’s law.

• Deuteronomy 6:25 Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’
• Romans 10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”

However, the problem is, people are not capable of keeping God’s moral law.

• Romans 3:10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;
• Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The ceremonial law given by God looked forward to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. Ongoing animal sacrifices were used to cover the sin of the Israelites. Before the cross of Christ, righteousness came by heart-felt obedience God.

• Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’
• Romans 4:13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

So the law served as a teacher; it showed that because people are incapable of keeping the moral law of God, there had to be a savior. Jesus, who perfectly kept the law (He lived a sinless life), was sacrificed on a cross to pay our sin debt to God. This was the ultimate and final sacrifice necessary to cover the sin of all humanity.

• Galatians 3:24-25 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
• Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
• Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

Since the time of Christ’s sacrifice, righteousness comes by heart-felt obedience to God demonstrated by faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. God’s righteousness is credited to us because of what Christ did for us.

• Romans 3:22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
• 1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

Therefore, regarding my righteousness, I Didn’t Do It! God credited it to me when I accepted His gift of faith and trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior. The same is true for every Christian!


Prayer

Father, thank You for the righteousness that comes only by Your grace, through Your gift of faith in Jesus Christ, as revealed in Your Word, and enabled by Your Spirit. I pray that anyone reading Your Word in this devotion will ask for forgiveness of any self-righteousness. Sanctify Your saints and save the lost. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.