Love to hear from and know who is listening
Do you feel like you are constantly being tempted? If so don't worry that is not necessarily a bad thing. If you are not being tempted on a regular basis that means the Devil isn't worried about the influence you are having on the world around you. The Devil doesn't tempt those who are not having an impact on the lost around them, however the opposite is true. He will throw every temptation he can think of, at those he wants to stumble, to ruin their witness to the lost people around them. Don't worry temptation is not the sin. Yielding to temptation is the sin. Remember, the Devil does his best to make sure that temptation comes in an a bright, shinny, attractive package. If that were not so, if temptation was evil, ugly and unattractive it wouldn't be a temptation now would it!
Just remember it's not the bait - it's the bite! If you have ever gone fishing the old fashioned way you know exactly what I am talking about. First you put the bobber on your fishing line making sure that the hook is set at just the right depth so that it will be impossible for the fish to miss it. Then you carefully cover the hook with a fishing worm so that none of the point or barb is exposed. I know that worms may not seem like an attractive temptation to me and you but to a fish this is a like a juicy steak, a free meal! In this story the fisherman is the devil. He throws his bait into the water and patiently wait for the fish, me, to take the bait. Once the fish sees the bait he starts to nibble on it just to get a taste and see if it is as good as it looks. Once the devil is certain that the fish has got a good taste of the bait, he sets the hook, because he knows the fish has given into the temptation! So exactly where does temptation come from?
James 1: 13-15 NIV When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Temptation is all around us and it seems to come at the most difficult of times. I know there are times when I am in church and trying my hardest to worship God, when all of the sudden from out of no where I have this terrible thought. Maybe I get angry about something someone said to me or I am repulsed by the way someone dressed to come to church, don't they know they are in God's house? You would think they could have at least found a pair of jeans that didn't have any holes in them! This is the kind of stuff that happens to me all of the time! Don't worry, even Jesus was tempted in the desert, yet thankfully we can protect ourselves against stumbling, against taking the bite out of the bait and giving into temptation. Memorizing scriptures is a good place to start. I struggle so hard with remembering the book and chapter but if you can remember the scripture itself that is good place to start and here is a great scripture to quote when you are being tempted!
1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Just remember it's not the bait that constitutes the sin it is the bite! So it's dangled in front of you, that's the bait, but you don't have to take the bite, but if you take the bite, now your responsible for your actions. You certainly need to confess and repent from the sin and you may even suffers some consequence for your actions. How do we deal with temptation? Avoi
