Bible verses to build your life on

Jesus said: “… whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock…” ~ Matthew 7:24

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Satan or God – who tempted me? ~ study

October 2010

Satan tempted me! So it's HIS fault!.. wait, that's not right... Hmm... (thinks some more)... I've got it! ~ It's God's fault! He made me like this after all!... right? ~ Nope. But, it's thoughts we all work through, sometimes regularly. So, what does the Bible say on it. Well, I hope you'll join me and see what I found...... (in the comments below, of course) ~ :)

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Satan tempted me? God tempted me? Really?...

No, but, we do need to know what the Scripture say about temptation, right? So, let's take a look at a few verses.

"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, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." ~ James 1:12-16

Friends, our culture is becoming more and more perverse, and more and more interested in the horror-type fiction and stuff, but it's demonic and opens doors into people's lives that they often don't find out for years, unless someone helps stop them and shows them that they are playing with fire and demons. More and more, I think we all see that we're in a time when the immoral and bizarre is played up as normal, as though it's a free-for-all, when out whole country seems to be trying to push all edges to see what they can ‘get away with.' ~ ***

So, how do we handle it? Here are a few verses:

There is a powerful verse in Galatians 6 that explains this more, and teaches us the fear of the Lord: "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." ~ Galatians 6:7-9

Folks, we need to remember that, like pride, anger is a root attitude that leads to many other sins, when we do not exercise self-control.

"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." ~ 1st Corinthians 10:13 *** 2 pieces of good news: 1) everyone is tempted in the same ways you and I are. And, 2) God provides at least 1 way of escape, which we will find only if we are looking for them, and asking God to help us escape, rather than sin.

I can tell you by personal experience and from talking with more mature Christians (like my Dad) that the best way to get away from sin is either leave the situation that is causing you or I to sin, and/or to mentally flat-reject that temptation and get our hands and minds busy doing what we know we are supposed to be doing - getting busy in work for God's glory is a great way to do this! Also, getting involved in deep convicting Bible study is a great way to regain our fear of the Lord and depart from evil.

So to help us find the escape route more quickly, I'm concluding with 4 verses to help us grow in self-control in this ~

"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil." ~ Ephesians 4:26-27

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." ~ 1st Peter 5:8-9 ~ *** I love that last verse, it's comfort to go with the challenge!

Since the warfare to get many to fall into this is so strong and this temptation is increasing in persistence, let us remember a key principle here: immorality is an anger-led sin, as much of our rebellion is, so this is an important verse on it, though it may be very familiar to some - we need to look at this fresh every time we see it: "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" ~ 1st Corinthians 6:18-19

And this strong admonition from the book of James: "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." ~ James 1:7-10

And, with that, I'm off to work. Let us continue to grow in obedience and stable maturity in self-control and resisting the devil's evil pressures, today and for the rest of our life. And when we see we have fallen, may God use 1st John 1:9 and many other verses to encourage us to stand back up and to keep going forward, not looking back toward the sins that we are now ashamed of and want to leave behind!

Take care! Till next time ~ your bro, and a growing servant/life-slave of Jesus, SH