Tempted, Now What?

Photo Credit: Flickr, Eduardo Amorin

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)

I am sure all us have battled, and still battling sin in our lives. In my journey with the Lord, I have experienced times in which sin kept knocking on my door saying, “Just go do it…it will be pleasing…” I resist, yet it keeps knocking. I am sure many of you, if not all have experienced the same thing. Often times when we come to Christ and get saved, there is a sin (or sins) in our life which does not want to go away. Maybe we are tempted to party and get drunk or stoned. Maybe it is a sexual sin. Maybe it is something else, like anger or worry. We believe we are starting to have victory, only to find ourselves doing the very thing we do not want to do. Fortunately, God has given us a way of escape, but the question is, do we want to take it? And if we do, then what is the way of escape? In simple terms, the answer is that Jesus is the way of escape. Below I am going to share with you three things from Romans chapter 6 which will help one overcome their temptation. Before I share with you these with you, I first want to make a quick statement. Be persistent, do not give up in your battle!

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. (1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV)

3 Things You Need To Know:

1. Know The Truth.

⁵ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. (Romans 6:5-6 NKJV)

The first essential is to know the truth. As believers, our old man was crucified with Christ. We no longer need to be slaves to sin. How would you know this fact if you have never taken the time to learn what God says in His Word? Many of us, we are only fed on Sunday morning. Commit to spending time daily in the Word learning all you can about what God has to say. It is also wise to commit to memorizing Bible verses that way you have truth hid in your heart to draw upon in the time of need. Remember Jesus used Scripture to defeat the devil when He was tempted in the wilderness. (See Matthew 4:1-11) Just as a side note, here are a couple free tools you may use to help memorize scripture.

 http://scripturetyper.com/

http://www.memverse.com/

2. Reckon Yourselves To Be Dead To Sin.

¹⁰ For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:10-11 NKJV)

Other translations say to count or consider yourselves dead to sin. In order to consider yourself dead to sin, you must believe God’s Word to be true. It is then when one may behave as though he is a child of God, instead of a child of the devil. As believers, Jesus set us free from the penalty of sin and we are able to walk in His strength. We will never stop sinning in this life, but we are no longer salves to it. Instead, we become salves of righteousness.

 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:18 NKJV)

3. Quit Presenting Yourself To Sin, But To God.

And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (Romans 6:13 NKJV)

We must all remember that “we have been bought at a price in, therefore we are to glorify God.” (See 1 Corinthians 6:20) Make it our hearts desire to live life to bring glory to God, not ourselves.  Rejoice in all things of God and be a man or woman after His own heart. As we do this, we will love the things God loves, and hate the things God hates.

Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 

(Psalm 37:4 NKJV)

We Are Filled With Something

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"And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18 NKJV)

While comparing the above verse with other translations, I found a couple interesting observations. First, the Holman Christian Standard Bible translates the phrase, "in which is dissipation" this way: "which leads to reckless actions." The New Living Translation reads, "Because it will ruin your life." Sunday in church, our pastor spoke concerning this verse, "You will be filled with something." As I meditate on this passage, I realize one may draw application even further than getting drunk, but anything which we pursue more than God. I think of people who spend their life pursuing wealth or career. They have no time for family or God. Their children grow up not knowing who they are. Their spouse may feel like their partner is married to their career, not him/her. For other people, it might be the pursuit of pleasure, which could include the party life among other things. Often times us believers may get caught up in the things of this world, and God gets choked out. The devil will use the things of this world to entice us, thus leading us away from the will of God. Scripture teaches us that the devil cannot snatch us out of God's hand, but he sure may wreak havoc in our lives or make us unproductive. This person also will not be growing in their faith as they ought.

7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.

²² Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. (Matthew 13:7,22 NKJV)

Take this to the extreme, this person may fall away. I am sure we all know of someone who was faithful in the church for a long time, and then they are gone. Some may even reject God, saying they "no longer believe like they once did." I am not talking about someone who started attending elsewhere, but they have left the Lord. They got caught up in the cares of this world, and drifted away. There has been a debate in Christendom for hundreds of years as to "once saved, always saved" and those who believe one can "lose their salvation." Others say, "you cannot lose your salvation, but you may choose to walk away from it." Some may call them backslidden Christians. Some will say this person "was never saved, thus there is no salvation to lose." Others will argue to the contrary. I am not going to get all caught up in this debate here. Unfortunately, people who love the Lord and are way smarter than I have argued their views for centuries. This being said, I am sure we all can agree that this is not a good place to be. How is it that this person can have assurance of their salvation? Of course we also have many in the church who have saved souls, but wasted lives. They are unfruitful in what they do for the Lord. Be it unfruitful or unsaved, this is not a wise path to take.

"For to be carnally minded is death, 

but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." 

(Romans 8:6 NKJV)

Our salvation is based upon Jesus and what He did, not on us and what we do. No amount of good works, religious rituals, or anything else can cause one to be saved. Nor will any of these things cause us to keep our salvation. Jesus went to the cross and died a brutal death so that you and I might spend eternity with Him. All you or I may do is turn from our evil ways seeking to follow Him and get down on our knees and cry out to God, "Have mercy on me, a sinner." He will then save us, not because of what we do, but because He is good. Jesus came to save sinners. Then God will give us a new heart, we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. I heard one pastor say, "We are a new species." We should be so thankful and appreciative of what Jesus did for us, we should want nothing more that to get to know Him and love Him more each and every day. Jesus said, He who loves me, Him and the Father will make their home with them. We know that we are His forever because we continue abiding in Him. What I do not understand is, why anyone would would even want to leave, those who are truly His.

²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

²³ Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴ He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. (John 14:21,23-24 NKJV)

Let me say it again, "God makes His home with those who love Him." How cool is that? Let that one sink in.

The question we must ask of ourselves, are we going to be filled with the Spirit, that is to be lead by Him or something else?

Honor Thy Parents

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I am not sure about the rest of the world, but last Sunday here in the USA we celebrated Mothers Day. I hope and pray all you Mom's had a wonderful and blessed Mothers Day. Also, here in the USA, next in June we celebrate Fathers Day. I am thankful to God everyday that God has allowed my mother to live as long as He has. She is a woman in her 90's. I am also thankful to God that she loves the Lord and raised me to know God. Unfortunately, I went the way of the world for many years. But the Godly upbringing she gave me had a great influence on my life. I might not have ever came to the Lord if it were not for her. As for my Father, he passed away 20 years ago. While he did not follow the Lord for most of his life, he did get saved before he passed away. This too, I am thankful for.

I was so blessed this year that my wife and I were able to go spend some precious time with my mom. It was a time to be cherished. She lives about a half days journey away from where we live. We try to get up to see her every couple or three months, as it is such a blessing to her, and us.

When we look at the 10 commandments, it is interesting to note that the first four relate to our relationship with God. Then, the next six concern our relationship with other people. I have always found it interesting that God choose to list "Honor your Father and Mother" above "Thou shall not kill." If I were to write it, I would think "thou shall not kill" would come first. After all, is not murder the worst thing a person might do to another human being? But, I believe God had a good reason. First of all, how is it that we can honor God, if we do not honor our parents? Also, how is it that we may honor our neighbor if we will not honor our parents?

The first commandment with promise:

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12 NKJV)

The Heavens Declare The Glory Of God

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The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.

(Psalm 19:1 NKJV)

Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;
When I call to them,
They stand up together.

(Isaiah 48:13 NKJV)

I am just in awe as I look at the below photos. This is just a small glimpse of the majesty of our God.

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According to NASA's "Imagine The Universe" website,
about one million earths would fit into the sun.

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This irruption on the sun would engulf the earth many times over.
The earth is the little blue dot in the lower right hand corner of the above picture.

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In the photo above, the earth is not even visible and the sun is tiny compared to the star "Arcturus."

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And Arcturus is nothing compared to Antares.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

(Colossians 1:17 ESV)

Our God measures the universe with the span of His hand and in Christ all things are held together. Scripture tells us that God knows even when a sparrow falls to the ground, and that we are more valuable to God than this bird. Our heavenly Father even knows the number of hairs on each of heads. And our God desires a personal relationship with us which is real. It is mind blowing to think about this. Take a look at creation and see the wonders of His work, it reveals the glory and majesty of our God. The creation which we see is cursed due to sin, can you just imagine what it will be like in the new heavens and earth, which is not corrupted by sin?  In light of all this, we should get excited every Sunday when we get to go to church and lift up our praises to Him. Each and every morning we should rejoice that we get to spend some time in His presence singing Him praises, listening to His voice through reading His Word, and our precious time in prayer with our God. Any time you do not feel like praying or spending time with the Lord, just remember who He is and how awesome He is, and how can we not want to lift up our praises to Him and come into His presence?

²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ³⁰ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31 NKJV)

Salt Series Part 2

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“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. (Matthew 5:13 NKJV)

A few weeks back I wrote of us believers as being the salt of the earth. If you have not read it, you may go here and read, if you like. As I spoke in my first post in this series, I mentioned most people refer to just one or two ways we are the salt of the earth. In this series I am going to share with my readers a few different ways in which we are the salt of the earth. A lot of this series will be based on a sermon I listened to by Pastor Joe Schimmel of Blessed Hope Chapel in Simi Valley California. He did a message in October 2009 in which he spoke of ten ways we are the salt of the earth. He was not the only source I drew upon, but my writings will heavily, (but not entirely) follow his teaching. I took what I learned and put it into my own words along with sharing my own thoughts. I wish I was able to share a link to the message, but the only way I know how to find it is to download the podcast from Blessed Hope Chapel. I find that he is an excellent teacher and someone I can learn a great deal from, even though I do not hold the same interpretation concerning the timing of the rapture. He is post-trib and I am pre-trib. Today I will share with you two ways in which we are the salt of the earth.

Salt Signifies Purity.

“Come now, and let us reason together,”

Says the Lord,“Though your sins are like scarlet,

They shall be as white as snow;Though they are red like crimson,They shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18 NKJV)

How is it that salt symbolizes purity? In scripture purity is symbolized by white, and God made salt white. We are not to live lives contaminated with filth and sin. When we come to faith in Christ Jesus, He washes away all our sins and we become white as snow and be as wool. This however, does not give us license to sin. The Lord calls us to be set apart, to have pure hearts and live pure lives.


Salt Is A Seasoning

Salt brings out flavoring, it makes food taste good. We are salt in the things that we do and in the things in which we say. In as far as the things we do is concerned, we do things which helps others in some way. For example we feed the hungry or tend to the sick. I think of all the homeless shelters, hospitals, and orphanages which were started by Christians.

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27 NKJV)

for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; (Matthew 25:35 NKJV)

As far as our speech, with our words others should know we love Jesus. When we are saved, we have received grace form the Lord. His grace should be in our hearts; therefore we speak to others with grace demonstrating love and mercy. In doing so, our speech is seasoned with salt. When speaking to unbelievers, we speak the truth in love so that they might come to know the Lord. As far as believers, we build them up in the Lord. With our tongue, we may tear others down, but we should always be about building people up.

...For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34b NKJV)

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29 NKJV)

Know God, Know Peace

My heart and prayers goes out for the victims at the Boston Marathon along with their friends and families. I pray the Lord comforts those who are grieving and heals the injured. I pray that the Lord reveals His love through this tragedy that many come to know that the Lord is good. It is troubling to see all the things going on around the world today. I often ask, "How much longer, O Lord, till you come and put an end to the works of the devil?" The local news is loaded with murder, rape and theft. We hear of wars and rumors of war. There are many without jobs, with little hope of finding one. In various places around the world, those who follow the Lord are persecuted, even martyred for their faith. Perilous times are upon us. In our world today, the things which are evil, are called good. Then things which are good are called evil. Sin is being glorified. Those of us who make a stand for what is good, the things which are true are called "haters." There are many who are suffering from an illness, or lost a loved one. For others, their marriages are on the rocks.

How is it that we can have peace in a troubled world? Or is peace even possible?

³ 

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
 Trust in the Lord forever,
For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength. 
(Isaiah 26:3-4 NKJV)

The only true and lasting peace is found in the Lord. Yes it is true one may feel as though they are at peace for a time and a season. But at any moment, earthly peace may be shattered. If our security is found in anything of this world, it will come to an end and let you down. The keys to true and lasting peace is through faith and rejoicing in the Lord. When we do these things, Jesus will give us His peace. He is the "Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End. Jesus came that we may have life, and have it more abundantly.(John 10:10) No matter what may come our way, Jesus will give us His peace which surpasses all understanding, but our faith must be in the Lord because He knows the beginning from the end and all things are under His authority.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28:18 NKJV)

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:4-8 NKJV) 

To Believe Is To Follow

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I have people in my family who profess to be saved. They say, going to church is not necessary for salvation, so there is no need to go. My stepdaughter chooses to live a sinful lifestyle with no plans of changing. She said, "I got baptized, so I am saved. Since I cannot lose your salvation, I am not going to change. I will do as I please with my life." She feels as though there is nothing to worry about, when she dies, she believes she will be in heaven.

This brings up a good question, since we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, does it matter what we do? After all the Bible is clear, all who believe on the Lord Jesus, will be saved. It is also a true fact that one need not do anything to get saved except receive the free gift of salvation. So why must I change the way I live my life? The reason is because Jesus also said that "unless you repent you will like wise perish." (See Luke 13:3) Yes, this may be confusing, if you believe, then you are saved. If you don't repent, then you will perish. 

The statements above by my family members are actually a testimony of disbelief, not belief. The thing is, saving faith will produce change. What I believe or put my faith in will affect the decisions I make and the things I do. It is like this, suppose you are staying in a cabin in the forest. One morning you wake up surrounded by a raging forest fire. Everywhere you look, there is fire. Someone comes to you saying, "Follow me, and I will lead you to safety." If you believed him you would follow him. If you felt you were safe, or knew better than him, you would not follow him, now would you? The same way with Jesus, if you belie Him, you will follow Him.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:27-28 NKJV)