The Thought This Week – Temptation – Should I give in, give up or can I conquer?

The Thought This Week – Temptation – Should I give in, give up or can I conquer?

"Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, 'If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, He will order his angels to protect and guard you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.' Jesus responded, 'The Scriptures also say, You must not test the Lord your God.'" Luke 4:9-12 NLT (suggested reading for this week: Luke 4:1-15)

Thoughts

This becomes the third time that Satan tried to tempt Jesus: Satan used Scripture to tempt Jesus to leap from the temple and land safely. Jesus being the only begotten Son of God could have done it, and it would have been the job of the angels to protect him. This would have been the ultimate test of the Fathers love for the Son. But Jesus knew He was loved so He had no reason to challenge that love. He knew that He could rest knowing that God’s love was everlasting, therefore no need to worry or be tempted.

Consider this…

What can we learn from Jesus’ response to Satan? He was not immune to temptation but rose above it. We too must rise above our temptation and trust God to get us through whatever Satan plans for us. The truth of the matter is it's Satan’s job to sidetrack, hinder, distract and destroy God’s plan for us. Since he can’t fight God, his only chance at diverting God’s plan for us is to stop us. One of the ways he does so is to tempt us to do wrong, to sin. What is your temptation? Is it a hidden thing? Have you overcome it or just hide it day by day?

This week begin to confront your temptation head on. Acknowledge that it really is yours and that you want to have victory over it. The next step is to separate yourself from it and the thoughts of it. Then become accountable to a trusted friend who can keep you in line as you work through this process. Killing temptation is not easy, but then again nothing of great value comes easy. There is great value in killing your temptation. A life filled with freedom and the knowledge that you have the power to get back on the path of God’s plan for your life.

Don’t ever forget - 2 Timothy 1:7 - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.