January 02, 2017
Temptation is not sin, but it is the foyer. Sin finds its genesis there and it’s appropriate that the beginning chapters of Genesis give the foundational illustration of how temptation and sin occurs.
To be unaware about a deadly poisonous snake, aggressively approaching you every day would be deadly. Why would you not give daily attention to Satan’s temptations and your responses?
Satan brings a crafty temptation to doubt God's Word.
Now the serpent was more crafty ... and he said to the woman, ""Indeed, has God said ..."" (Genesis 3:1)
Satan lies to us about the effects of sin, promising what he can never deliver.
The serpent said to the woman, ""You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."" (vs. 4-5)
We are tempted, often on multiple levels.
When the woman saw the tree was good for food (physical temptation), and it was a delight to the eyes (emotional temptation), and that the tree was desirable to make one wise (mental temptation) ... (vs. 6)
We act on the temptation, making a disastrous choice.
She took of its fruit and ate ... (vs. 6)
We may invite others to join us, seeking to make us feel better about our sin.
And she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (vs. 6)
We feel the immediate and deadly effects of our choice to sin.
If you are unthinking about the nature of temptation you will be doomed to fail. And to fail here is destructive for sin always brings spiritual and emotional death.
Arm yourself! Be ready to deal with the serpent’s attack. He is still slithering and he will be speaking to you, tempting you to doubt God’s word, before the day is out.
January 15, 2025
Imagine a child created by God and for whom He had sent His only begotten Son to redeem and His Spirit to indwell. And then imagine that child ignoring Him, never communing, never praying, never listening, never obeying. And then realize how an attentive, unceasing life of prayer would delight the heart of the Father who made you.
January 14, 2025
Spending hours in solitude with God alone is foreign to us. We are not familiar with God. He is, for most, a distant entity, not an every day Father.
January 13, 2025
What is more important to you than anything else? Check your values, for they will drive you this year. And what value is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul?
