The Pastor’s Pen

I encourage you to watch for the subtle nature of temptation

All of us who have fallen to temptation would have noticed how subtle it often is. Sometimes it’s brazen and in your face. Sometimes it stealthily sneaks up, surprising you in ways you never expected. Other times it comes in the most innocently attractive packages imaginable.

Scripture teaches many lessons regarding the chameleon nature of temptation; lessons which can help us identify it while raising our ability to see temptation for what it really is. Plus, there are lessons to strengthen our resistance against its seductive allurements.

Genesis 39 unfolds the account of Joseph being tempted by Mrs Boss. An almost sordid little affair, which, had Joseph responded differently, could have been disastrous.

• :1 Joseph was promoted from slave to property and business manager for Potiphar the Egyptian.
• :3 “The Lord caused all that Joseph did to succeed.” Plus, the Lord also “blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake” (:5).
• :6 “Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”

The seen was set

Joseph was in a privileged and luxurious place, and he realised that it was due to God’s mercy. It probably seemed to Joseph that the wrongs done to him by his brothers were history, and the good times were coming on.

• :7 “After a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, ‘Lie with me.’” Mrs Boss was watching, no doubt in lustful preparation for the attempted seduction. She made her not-so-subtle move, and Joseph resisted.
• :9 “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”Joseph recognised temptation for what it really was, “sin against God.” Herein lays one of our greatest failings, to see temptation as God sees it.
• :10 “she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her.” Temptation often perseveres over prolonged periods, using all the available angles and arguments to justify why sin should be surrender too.
• :12 “she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’”  Temptation can be quite tenacious, not giving up easily; it wants victory, even getting assertive at times. Temptation is often impressively adaptive in its subtle and not-so-subtle approaches.  Remember, victory is its goal, you are simply a means to its end; sin!
• :12 “But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house.” Subtlety and courtesy had run their course. Joseph took the only path available – he ran.

Reality check

Satan abides by no rules; he doesn’t care how he gets you to sin. Therefore, Christians need to become students of themselves and the processes of temptation. Understand how sin works to distract you from obedience to Christ. Don’t assume that by ignoring temptation, it’ll go away – it won’t. Learn to identify what arouses the initial vulnerability to sin. Become situationally aware, noting what produces the environment for temptation. Watch for patterns of greatest vulnerable.

While learning all this about yourself, submit it to God, and wash it all in Scripture and prayer. Prayer that asks; “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). Practice Jesus instruction; “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Acknowledge that “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Look for God’s way of escape, and take it.

Today, watch for the subtle nature of temptation; openly walk with the Lord through it and away from it, in His strength. Offer to help someone else do the same, using your lessons for their blessing and the Lord’s glory!

 

I encourage you to understand the most seductive temptation of all.

The temptation which carries the greatest consequences, and could well be the most difficult to reason through due to its seductive nature, is that of thinking you’re OK without Jesus Christ being Lord of your life. 
 
We learned from Jesus time of temptation (Luke 4:1-13), that it’s all about seducing you to do what Satan wants. Satan failed with Jesus, but he’ll persevere with you and I. He wants you to discard the idea that the God who created you is worthy of your life’s affection, obedience, loyalty and worship. 
 
Consider Jesus, He was “rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4). In the original Greek language used here in the Bible, “rejected” means to examine then disapprove of. The world’s fatal error of disapproving of the one God accepted does not have to be your failing also.
 
Jesus explained by parable the seductive nature of wealth and our attitude towards God. Speaking of a man who had prospered financially, the man said to himself; “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate! But God said to him, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you… So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:19-21 NET). 
 
I’m sure you can see the tempting allurement this man faced. His love for the false and often blinding security which wealth offers had blinded him to the eternal reality of God and his own soul. In spite of what we may feel, the reality is that “whoever trusts in his riches will fall” (Proverbs 11:28). In Luke 16, Jesus tells of a rich man who died without any relationship with God. Finding himself in the torment of hell, he asks if someone could go back “to my father’s house – for I have five brothers – so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment” (Luke 16:28).
 
The seductive trap of thinking you don’t need Jesus Christ, is that you are not only responsible for your life of disbelief, but you can’t go back to put it right. You can’t negotiate a second chance. You can’t even arrange for anyone to go warn your family to ignore your example. This is why thinking you don’t need Christ as your Lord and Saviour is the most lethal of all temptations. No other temptation is so insidious, and no other carries such nightmarish ramifications.

Don’t play ‘follow the leader’

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus pictured the difficulty of turning in faith to Jesus like this; “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”  There are plenty of people on the broad road who will happily downplay your need of Christ to cleanse you of sin. Those who will light-heartedly excuse away that Jesus could be of any eternal benefit.
 
Speaking from personal experience, I can testify that these words of Jesus absolutely are true and trustworthy. “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
 
Today, I ask you to ensure that you understand the most seductive temptation of all and that Christ is the answer. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

 

I encourage you to see temptation for what it really is

Temptation in and of itself is neutral. However, its desire to lead you away from God is far from neutral.  Temptation is heavily weighted by all our spiritual enemies against both the Christian and God.

Universally, temptation has simple objectives. First, it seeks to grow disbelief in God and His Son Jesus Christ. Secondly, it strives to normalise sinful behaviour so that you will be desensitised to the offense that sin is to Holy God. Thirdly, it wants you to think that sin is the only thing that will bring you pleasure in this life, making eternity and ultimate judgment of no significance.

Temptation is typically a liar, endeavouring to convince you that there will be no negative consequences for its proposed pleasures. It’s a social manipulator, meaning it uses the apparent pleasure that others are having without any visible consequences, as evidence that there is no God and no penalty for sin. It’s a deceptive diverter, focusing your attention on others faults, thereby making you look better to yourself.

Make no mistake; temptation only wants one thing of you, to do sin. It settles for nothing less than total domination and absolute mastery. Give it an inch, and it will take your whole life and soul. That harmless little misdemeanour quickly grows to be a soul devouring monster. Its direction is always downhill, into greater and more consuming sin that will blind you. It dulls your spiritual and moral senses, which is a great strategy since its goal is death to your soul.

Doctor Luke’s Witness

Doctor Luke describes the time when Jesus was “being tempted by the devil” in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13). Here’s a few helpful observations:

• :2 Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, where temptation would take place .
• :2 The devil tempted Jesus when He was at a physical low due to having nothing to eat for 4 days.
• :3 The devil spoke in plain language, so that Jesus understand clearly what the allurement to sin was.
• :4,8,12 Jesus’ reply to the devil for each temptation was with God’s Word. Scripture alone is authoritative against demonic attach.
• :5 The devil took Jesus to places where he could use the most appealing enticements in the temptations.
• :4-7 The devil clearly had one simple desire for Jesus, and he was happy to give a whole bunch of earthly things as a bribe. “And the devil took him (Jesus) up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, to you I will give all this authority and their glory… If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
• :7 Giving into temptation is an act of worship to Satan, and he knows it, even if we don’t.
• :10 The devil will happily use Christians, Church, even Scripture, in his attempts to lure you into sin.
• :13 The devil, knowing that he had failed, departed. His intention was to look for another opportunity to seduce Jesus. He’s a relentless and tireless enemy with no moral compass to hold him back from seeking your destruction. Once he thinks that he knows your fleshly weakness, he will persist at that soft spot in his endeavour to seduce you.

Today, be encouraged to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). See today’s temptations as the nightmare they really are!

 

I encourage you to consider Holy Spirit conviction

The conscience and beliefs are both important, but we would be severely debilitated without the Holy Spirit’s work of conviction. He picks up where conscience and belief fall short in delivering the compelling persuasion of God, employing our inner senses to plead His case in alignment with God’s Word and the Father’s will.

As “the Spirit of truth” (John 16:13), He administers both positive and negative compulsions derived from the truth that we’ve read from the Bible (John 17:17; 2 Peter 1:21). His intention is to bring about our personal spiritual transformation (2 Corinthians 3:18). He does this work in both the saved and the unsaved. Obviously; in the unsaved, it’s to bring about repentance of sin leading to salvation. While in the saved, it’s to bring about affirmation, sanctification and guidance.

If you don’t personally know Jesus Christ; realise that God’s Spirit convicts in order to capture your attention to the fact that “You must be born again.” Like Nicodemus, you need to understand that just as “the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:7-8). You can’t predict His workings, you cannot control His interactions in your life, and you cannot manipulate His purposes. His silent voice speaks within, sometimes softly and sometimes loudly, alerting you of spiritual conflict that only surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will resolve.

You see, we humans need more than just moral knowledge of right and wrong. Having a sympathetic attitude towards God will not get you into Heaven. Yes, some read the Bible becoming aware that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). They may even realise that “no immoral, impure or greedy person… has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Ephesians 5:5 NIV). Yet, in spite of their understanding of the consequences, they continue to live in the sin of independence from God. If all you experience in your understanding is a pang of conscience, anxiety at the thought of judgment, or an academic awareness of hell; then you have never truly known the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin.

The Holy Spirit does not get your attention just for your sake. Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit’s purpose in coming into this world was to “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). He has been sent to “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). He does not intervene your life to promote a better self-image or for self-advancement. No, His mission is far more meaningful and purposeful. It’s precisely as Jesus said of the Holy Spirit; “He will glorify me” (John 16:14). God’s Spirit always convicts to promote and glorify Jesus Christ within us.

He employs the truth of Scripture (John 17:17) as His instrument of conviction. The Helper expresses Himself within us with compelling reminders that He wants us, He will not let go of us, and that He perseveres with us. Conviction utilises nagging affirmation and challenges of guilt in order to heighten your awareness of His holy standards regarding your sin, His righteousness, and the inescapable judgment that awaits us all.

Today, be encouraged, If you are aware that the Spirit of the living God is convicting you, don’t ignore Him. Give Christ your faith, your trust, your surrender. Turn from living for self in preference to living for the Lord Jesus Christ!

 

I encourage you to develop biblical convictions in place of personal preferences

While the conscience is our internal moral and spiritual warning mechanism gifted by God, He has also granted mankind the ability to consciously prioritise beliefs. We call the strongest of these beliefs convictions. Once again, there are two levels of conviction, the natural, and the Holy Spirit energised. Today we shall consider our natural responsibility to grow convictions.

Christians can be surprisingly vulnerable when it comes to confusing natural conscience with personal convictions, not to mention the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. So, it’s important to have some degree of clarity about these three distinctive facets of Christian living. We have the responsibility to both train our consciences and determine our strongest moral and spiritual beliefs.

By convictions, I’m referring to “the state of being convinced,” or a “fixed and strong belief.” Therefore, by biblical convictions, I mean convictions established from what the Bible actually says and illustrates. To be clear, conviction stands opposed to doubt, assumption, personal preference, and scepticism. These biblical convictions serve as the absolute index for spiritual and moral values in our lives; fuelling our conscience and behaviour.

Reality Check

We can’t deny that we’re capable of doing either a good or bad job of this. We educate our conscience and determine our strongest convictions based on acceptance of the literal truth of God’s Word, or not. There are no other options.

If we consider that our understanding of life, mankind, and eternity is superior to God’s understanding; then we will obviously promote our feelings and opinions to the highest ranking. On the other hand, if we yield to the Lord’s infinite superiority, we will adopt His truths, His moral purity, and His behavioural integrity to the highest ruling position in our lives.

Our 3 Step Response

First, as children of God, we agree with God when He says; “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways… For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). We simply think different to God! Therein lies our greatest and most costly weakness!

Second, as children of God, we choose to trust in the Lord with all our heart, and not to lean on our own understanding. In all our ways we seek to acknowledge him, looking to Him to make straight our paths (derived from Proverbs 3:5-6). 

Third, as children of God, we want for ourselves the same as Jesus prayed for His disciples. That God will “Sanctify them (us) in the truth; (acknowledging that) your word is truth” (John 17:17). This step is the death wish to self-opinion being authoritative in our thinking. Rather, God’s written Word takes the ruling seat.

From these three steps of faith we establish the basis for developing biblical convictions.

We agree that; “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). We believe in the absoluteness of the unseen realities God tells us about.

We agree that; “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof (conviction), for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). We believe that God’s written Word is the absolute template for all our convictions, for the correcting changes required to make us think like God, and for our education in living a righteous life as Jesus Christ did.

Today, I especially want to encourage you to surrender your convictions to God. Choose to let Him be God of your beliefs and the subsequent changed behaviours that must follow. In so doing, God will be glorified, you will be blessed, and others will be encouraged by your courageous faith.