Dealing with Temptation

Temptation. Giving into sin. We’ve all done it, and yet, we know it’s wrong. Sin is what separates the human race from God. It is why Jesus Christ was sent to die a horrible death on the cross to pay its penalty, which in turn, made it possible for all who believe in Him to be restored back to God.

Long ago, Jesus told a woman caught in adultery to “Go…sin no more” (John 8:11) and He tells us the same thing today. But how do we combat temptation when it seems like each one has been specifically customized just for our area of weakness? Let’s take a look a few Scriptures to find an answer.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

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Walk Through Philippians 3

Once in a while I like to take a “walk” through a chapter of the Bible. The goal is twofold: 1) it helps me keep individual verses within their proper context and 2) it allows the Word of God to speak into my life in a deeper way. I pray that as you walk through Philippians chapter 3 that God will reveal new insights to you regarding His Word, that He will ask you questions that delve deep into your core, and that He will cause a holy change to occur in your life and mine.

(When reading a “walk through” please note that my comments, thoughts, and questions are indented and the Bible text is not.)

Philippians 3 (NIV)
No Confidence in the Flesh
1Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:7 to stay from vain repetition but here Paul is repeating to the Philippian’s a teaching he already gave them. Paul says it is a safeguard to them; so we can see that one thing worth repeating is the Word of God in the form of teaching and instruction. We can never get too much teaching from the God’s Word!

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Being a Light

CNN.com posed a story 6:08 p.m. EST, December 19, 2006 entitled, “Reality check: 95 percent of Americans had premarital sex.” Following are some excerpts from the story:

NEW YORK (AP) — More than nine out of 10 Americans, men and women alike, have had premarital sex, according to a new study. The high rates extend even to women born in the 1940s, challenging perceptions that people were more chaste in the past.

“This is reality-check research,” said the study’s author, Lawrence Finer. “Premarital sex is normal behavior for the vast majority of Americans, and has been for decades.”

Finer is a research director at the Guttmacher Institute, a private New York-based think tank that studies sexual and reproductive issues and which disagrees with government-funded programs that rely primarily on abstinence-only teachings. The study, released Tuesday, appears in the new issue of Public Health Reports.

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