Post by John on Mar 11, 2020 17:28:25 GMT -5
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12
This is a warning from the Apostle Paul we would all do good to take seriously. No matter how well we have been doing, even if we have been living free from willful sins for years, we are all susceptible to doing something that is not pleasing to God. That is especially true in the day we are living. There are so many things to tempt us, and there are so many false teachers out there to seduce us into believing lies. We need to always be on guard. While we need to be careful, we are given promises that we can hold onto.
1. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: 1 Corinthians 10:13a
We may not feel like this is so when we are being tempted, but no matter what you are going through, others have dealt with it before. Our Lord was tempted in all manners like we are, and did not sin. Still, do not think that those temptations were not real. We sometimes forget that Jesus was walking around in this world with a fleshly body. When he was tempted to turn stone to bread, after 40 days of doing without, I guarantee that was a real temptation. I know how hard it is for me to go 1 to 3 days on a fast. Imagine 40 days?
2. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; 1 Corinthians 10:13b
This is a promise we can latch onto. God will never allow you to go through more than you can resist. This also shows that we cannot claim that we could not say no to doing something wrong. We may feel like we were so overwhelmed with the temptation, we could not resist, and we may want to say that the devil made us do it, but that would not be true. Let God be true, but every man a liar. God promises he will not allow you to suffer any temptation that He knows that you personally cannot bear. Claim that promise the next time you are being tempted to do something you know you should not do.
3. but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13c
God promises a way of escape. That does not mean that way will be easy. The flesh may not want a way out. The flesh may desire to give in. God does not promise to make everything simple, but He does promise a way of escape. Take it! You never know that while you are going through that temptation, the Lord is not boasting about how you have been faithful and He is confident you will do the right thing, as he boasted in Job to the devil. You do not want to let him down, do you?
We are all going to face temptations throughout our lives, but we do not have to give into them. No matter what the false teachers of this wicked generation say, we do not have to sin every day, and we do not all go around committing pre-meditated sins on a regular basis. Some may, and they may claim that nobody can stop giving into temptations, but that flies in the face of God's Word. Nothing you are going through is anything extra-ordinary that others have not had to endure, and God will be there holding your hand, and directing your steps away from the temptation. You just have to choose to follow Him.