A study in temptation (3)

If Satan popped up, face to face, and said to us, 'I'm here to make you feel condemned, feel far from God, and then make you sin,' we'd call out for Jesus and tell Satan where to go before he'd finished speaking. No, he does his work sneakily, in the shadows. But this doesn't mean we can't see some of his gameplan. Apostle Paul wrote, 'We are not unaware of his [Satan's] schemes' (2 Corinthians 2:11 NIV). If we know what to expect, we've got our defences in place to stay strong. And, better than that, God knows what to expect, and how to use it for our good.

Final misconception to blast today: 'temptation is time lost and effort wasted'. If we've been battling temptation for a long time, it's easy to feel like we're going backwards in our relationship with God. No. Staying strong in the face of temptation is part of maturing in that walk with him (check it out in James 1:2-4 and 1 Peter 1:7).

God allows us to face difficult, sometimes unpleasant times; not because he wants us to squirm, but because he wants to build a super-strong relationship with us, a relationship where we choose him, even in tough times. Becoming closer to Jesus is the outcome, so let's give our temptations to him.



So what now? Thank God for the temptations in your life and that he's helped you to recognise them for what they are - an attack of the enemy and a chance to grow stronger in Jesus.





— SCRIPTURE —

'Be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble.' James 1:2 CEV
— SOULFOOD —

Neh 11-13, John 19:1-16, Ps 105:8-15, Pro 30:5-9