Tag: temptation

Lessons from Samson

On By vickleaIn Admonition, Scripture2 Comments

The Bible story of Samson begins in Judges 13 and I strongly recommend that you read it for yourself. We can learn a lot from Samson. God blessed him with extraordinary strength so that he could defeat his enemies. But his gift from God is overshadowed by his lust and desires of the flesh. Sound familiar? Each of us has a gift from God that we should nourish so it will flourish within us and bless others. But we get off track when we are attracted away from using our gift and towards pleasing ourselves. Samson compromised his values and the end result was blindness, slavery and ultimately death.

Don’t we do the same thing? We set goals that we plan to reach for God, using our talents that He has given us, and then we fall short and fail to reach our goals. Many times we are so short-sighted (blinded to our failures) that we don’t even notice that we got off the track we were supposed to be on. Samson noticed what was happening but by the time he noticed Delilah’s deception, he could not change his circumstances. We can hinder our full potential and what God has for us to complete when we start wandering away from the goal. Samson was set apart and divinely appointed, but he fell short of fulfilling what he was supposed to do because he was tempted and followed that temptation into sin. In the end, Samson was able to kill his enemies by bringing down the pillars of the building he was tied to, but we will never know what other works for God Samson might have accomplished if he had not strayed.

Lessons we learn: Stay on track. Don’t compromise. Be aware of temptation and turn away from it.

We can be thankful that Jesus showed the way to overcome temptation and He carried out the entire mission that God gave Him. His death on the cross was His mission and His resurrection is what gives us the hope that we can overcome temptation, one day at a time. Our salvation is from God’s grace and mercy, and even in Samson’s great fall, he knew to call on the Lord for help and God heard him and granted him one final victory over his enemies.

The Power to Say No

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/1201/day/11

As Christians, we are still tempted and need to call on the power of the Holy Spirit to help us turn away from sin and say “no.” How often do we just give in because it is our natural way of acting or reacting? Our testimony would be so much greater if people saw us tempted and also saw us say no to sin and yes to God. That’s what life is…a series of saying “yes” to God and His ways and no to our natural inclination to sin, to fulfill our own appetites and desires for things that please us but that don’t necessarily please God. The next time you are tempted, whether it’s to watch a movie or lose your temper or show pride, whatever the temptation looks like in your life, take time to pray and ask for the Holy Spirit’s help to turn away from the bad choices and towards the good ones.

A Spiritual Walk with a New Nature

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/1201/day/8

Oh, my! This devotional certainly made me think about how I battle daily and sometimes I don’t win that battle against my flesh. But I keep trying and with the power of the Holy Spirit, I can win each battle, one day at a time. My battle recently has been too much of the worldly things that I enjoy. I started playing games online against family members several years ago. Now it has become almost an obsession, and I need to rein it in so it is fun with my family but not dominating my time. I go online to read my Bible and devotionals, then I listen to my Bible podcast and then I pray and go on with my day. I have found that too much of my time is occupied with entertainment, so I fight that battle daily. I make the excuse that the games are a release from the tension and stress of the news and family issues. But I realize as I write this that I am only fooling myself, and I am not even doing that well. They are also a pleasure, and one that takes away from other things I should and could be doing. So, I am confessing, asking for prayer and also committing to step away from the temptation and move closer to what God wants me to be doing. The war is real…but so is God!

Sin Always Has Consequences

On By vickleaIn Scripture2 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/26293/day/5

In our topsy-turvy world where excuses are the name of the game and not repentance or owning up to your sins, the Bible presents God’s view of sin. It always, always has consequences! You may excuse your way out of repenting, but the sin will follow you around and be an albatross around your neck. Joseph knew this truth and fled from the temptation that Potiphar’s wife put before him. He didn’t stick around to be captured by her wiles; instead, he ran. Some like to say that only cowards run away, but when sin is involved, it is the bold and righteous who flee. Joseph set a good example for us to follow. Sometimes we stumble into temptation and sometimes temptation walks up to us, slaps us in the face and demands we give in. That’s when we flee, whether we stumble our way in or temptation seems to attack us.

I don’t know why things happened the way they did in Joseph’s life, but I do know that God used the events, even his time in prison, to make him into the person God wanted him to be. Even when we flee temptation and do the right thing, the powers that be may “punish” us severely. We may never understand why things happen on this side of heaven, but we have to trust that God is in control of ALL of our circumstances and knows what He is doing, even if the picture is a little fuzzy for us. God sees things clearly and is working things out, just as He did for Joseph. We have to wait, sometimes in what seems like a prison, but we have to wait for God to act on our behalf. Trying to get ahead of God is never a good idea.

God’s Judgment

On By vickleaIn Scripture3 Comments

At our church, we just finished the study of the Book of Revelation. The good news is that there’s a new Heaven and a new earth and God is the ruler, so no more corruption or temptation or sin. The bad news is that the good is preceded by God’s wrath, the final judgment. God has judged many nations throughout history and as I have been reading Isaiah for my devotional, I have seen that the wrath of God against Babylon parallels the wrath He demonstrates against the earth in Revelation.

I am not a Bible scholar, but I do know that in Isaiah God is speaking directly to Babylon and says that He will punish them severely. He will crush those who have shown only arrogance. God is not tolerant of pride at all. Think back to how Satan rebelled; he demonstrated pride and arrogance. To me, Babylon represents all nations, all people who stand up to God and say that they don’t need Him will be judged by God.

God’s original plan was for a perfect world without sin, but His plan was thwarted by Satan’s temptation and the choice of mankind to sin. God’s judgment cannot be stopped. It is coming. Babylon was an example, a prototype, if you will, of the judgment to come. I know that God must be looking on the world with deep sorrow because He has done all He can to save mankind from itself and the desire to follow their own ways. But once His wrath is unleashed, He will not be stopped by anyone.

I am not fearful of God’s wrath. I am fearful of how much destruction mankind will cause with their wickedness before God judges. God’s timing is perfect and I trust Him to stop the madness at just the right time, just as He sent Jesus at just the right time. In the meantime, I am praying for many to come to the Lord so that they don’t face God’s great judgment and wrath.