·

What tempts us. In The Lord’s prayer, we ask The Father, not to lead us in temptation. But what does tempt us, does a simple piece of cake tempt us.. The problem is not the cake, it is our love for the cake.

It is the same way with temptation to do wrong, It is not what we are tempted by is to blame. It is more the fact that we were attracted to it. Temptation is an attribute given to us by God, we were created in the image of God, and Jesus was tempted, but He did not allow Himself to fall to the temptation.

So temptation is actually a good gift given to us by God. By resisting temptation like Jesus did, and doing what is right, we not only honor Him, but we also become more like Him, and a stronger and better person.

Opportunities for temptation are almost endless. The Apostle Paul warns us in:

1 Corinthians 10 verse 12:: “ Therefore, whoever thinks he stands must be careful not to fall”.

Paul is warning us to seriously watch out for temptation, or we will surely fall, but God’s Word offers several alternatives for dealing with temptation:

We should AVOID temptation: Proverbs 4 verse 14 to 15 urges us to:

14:’ Don’t set foot on the path of the wicked: don’t proceed in the ways of evil ones”.

V 15: “avoid it, don’t travel on it. Turn away from it, and pass it by”.

We should FLEE from powerful temptations; The Apostle Paul tells us in:

2 Timothy 2 verse 22: “Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace”.

We must RESIST temptation: When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He resisted it until the devil went away. James 4 verse 7.

“Therefore submit to God, But resist the devil, and he will flee from you”.

We are not on our own in life, The Holy Spirit resides in us:

1 Corinthians 6 verse 19: :Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own”.

Resisting begins by continual learning from the Word of God, virtually bathing our minds in The Word of God and standing our ground.

God Bless.

O.F.J.