Luke 18:19
No one is good except God alone.
James 1:13
When temped no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin' and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Psalm 66:10
For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.
Think about it this way. A test is something given by God, and leads back to him. It is directly influenced to your spiritual walk. Feeling lead to minister to someone--->test. How you react to a disrespectful person--->test. Testing your patience, faith, or love from someone when hurt you, ect all tests. Temptations are things from Satan, leading back to him. Lust, adultery, addiction, rage, treating someone wrongfully are all forms of temptation.
One way I am seeing temptation with myself and the world is with the addiction of electronics. I want to have a relationship with my children and husband, not know whats up in iPhone world. I want to make memories with them, not be constantly checking Instagram, Facebook, emails. We all have areas where were being tempted.
Now when God is testing us, it can be very hard, but very rewarding. Writing these devotions I am putting myself out there to be made fun of, talked about, anything else you can think of, but if I am doing the work of the Lord and thats what he is leading me to do, I don't want to fail Him.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who preserves under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of Christ that God has promised to those who love him. ( Revelations 2:10 he also promises the crown of life and says don't be afraid to suffer) (suffer meaning getting made fun of talked about etc for doing the Lords work)
Read Deuteronomy chapters 7,8,9
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 The Lord led you(Israel) into the desert for 40 years to humble and test them. In this verse he says to teach them that man does not live on bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God. They were hungry and ate mana.
Deuteronomy8:17 Israel was rebellious against the Lord, they failed. The Lord was trying to drive them out of Egypt but they did no see the big picture. Just like in our lives we do not see the big picture, we see the temporary situation, but God is humbling us for HIS BIG PLAN. We fail but the good news is Jesus never fails us. He fulfills this promise in Matthew.
In Matthew 4 Jesus is led by the Spirit into the desert (just like the Israelites) to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. (just like the Israelites) The tempter came to him and said, "If you are Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
This shows that Jesus took Israel's place and succeeded. Just like Jesus takes our place, living in us and intercedes when we ask him too.
When Israel failed, Jesus succeeded.
When we fail, Jesus succeeds.
Temptation is everywhere, especially online or television with just like click of a finger. Jesus can intercede through you when there is temptation in your life. Praying is the answer.
I think we should end with the Lord's Prayer Matthew 6:9
Our Father in heaven
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
you will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us of our debts
as we forgive our debtors.
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever
amen.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for taking our place and succeeding when we fail. Help us to come close to you and pray for guidance when we are tempted. This world can be a dark place, but you bring light. When you test us, let us always remember the work we are doing, and the promises you have for us.
Amen
Great teaching! I have never seen the FAITH acronym before...love it:)
ReplyDelete