Overcoming Solicitations of the Heart

in #religion7 years ago
James 1:9-18

9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that
he is exalted:
10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because
as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning
heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower
thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of
it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away
in his ways.
12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown
of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that
love him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted
of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil,
neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away
of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth
sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth
death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning.
18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits
of his creatures.

There is a difference between trials and temptation. All of us go through trials and temptations. Trials can lift a lowly man and can humble a rich man, but temptation should be always avoided...

"What is temptation? Seduction to evil, solicitation
to wrong. It stands distinguished from trial thus:
trial tests, seeks to discover the man's moral
qualities or character; but temptation persuades
to evil, deludes, that it may ruin. The one means
to undeceive, the other to deceive. The one aims
at the man's good, making him conscious of his true
moral self; but the other at his evil, leading him
more or less unconsciously into sin. God tries;
satan tempts."
~ Fairbain, quoted in The Words and Works of Jesus
Christ, J.D. Pentecost, p.99

The antidote to temptation is love for Jesus, that we may resist the temptations of the world and make the obedient (to God's word) choice. Those who do not avoid succumbing to temptation are caught up in love for worldly pleasures, devices and immediate gratification that can destroy relationships, even your relationship with God.

Psalm 32:4-5

4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my
moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity
have I not hid. I said, I will confess my
transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the
iniquity of my sin. Selah.

When you give in to temptation you may find the Lord's hand heavy upon you, you may lose sleep, you may be irritable. The Lord searches your heart and knows what you should repent that you may be forgiven. If we are to resist temptation in the first place we must be in love with Jesus and not in love with worldly pleasures and devices.

John 14:23

23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love
me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love
him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode
with him.

1 John 2:15-17

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are
in the world. If any man love the world, the love
of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

"Sin (lust for example) gets its power by persuading
me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow
it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that
it will make me happier."
~ E. Lutzer, Putting Your Past Behind You, Here's
Life, 1990, p.54

Galatians 6:8

8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh
reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Resist the devil, submit to God and the devil will flee from you.

2 Timothy 2:22

22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness,
faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the
Lord out of a pure heart.

"When you flee temptation be sure you don't leave a
forwarding address." ~ Unknown

Psalm 86:5

5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive;
and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon
thee.

The Grim Reaper Preacher says, "Try reading the Bible from cover to cover - you'll like it."

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This is awesome talk. Let me drop something

Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The verse above is part of the Lord's prayer, in it there is a prayer lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil This is a daily prayer we all should pray everyday, its not so long, at least lets make it part of us as we try overcoming temptations. May the Lord help us all in Jesus name; Amen.
Thanks @deathlyhorror for this wonderful piece.

This is a good reminder. I will pray the Lord's prayer tonight on my knees before bed.

Its good to know. You have reminded me of a lot of thing and i really appreciate you for that. A day doesn't go by without going through your blog. There was an article on your blog that even gave me an inspiration to the last stanza of the poem i wrote and shared on my blog yesterday you could check it out. Thanks @deathlyhorror your daily dose helps alot.

I love God!

All i need is You " Kim Walker Jesus Culture

This song is so lifting... I listen to it during my morning devotions

Yes, it is lifting. Live with this song everyday of your life.

Awesome! Thank you for that.

Thank you for your work. We need to stay together and stay strong. You are helping us to keep the good fight. God help us. Amen.

Wow this is amazing,I have not thought of it this way,though trial and temptation are similar,but one thing I believe is that the more believers feed on the word the more they have dominion over trails and temptation.Romans 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)and also Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.,.You see the reason a lot of Christian are dominated by temptation or trail is lack of Revelation of whom they are in Christ jesus and not growing in the word

Same! I havent thought about it that way too. Trials and temptations are completely different. That last part in Fairbain's quote is nice. The one (trials) aims
at the man's good, making him conscious of his true
moral self; but the other (temptation) at his evil, leading him
more or less unconsciously into sin. God tries;
satan tempts."

In my personal experience I am learning that when temptation comes like a lightning bolt to my mind, if by God's grace I immediately do not meditate on it, the temptation weakens and I become victorious in Christ...but if on the other hand I watch, think, and meditate on it like King David gazing longingly on Bathsheba...I am almost certainly gonna fall.
We have to nip it at the bud!

Like King David - good example.

Righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. Only by His grace can we be cloaked in righteousness before God.

The part that carries trials and temptation cut me. Temptation is bad just as you have said we should strive towards avoidance. Trials i will say is ethics in action while ethics is morals defined

the temptations exist everywhere, we decide whether to assume them or not, I wait for you in my blog. :)

Thanks for blessing my heart today. Couldn't make it to church today but have been going through edifying post to make up. It's not a perfect substitute but it's far better than nothing

It is blessed to receive the crown of life that the Lord has prepared for us that beautiful verse, and if we want not to sin, we must stand firm and trust in God because the temptation is Satan, thanks as always my dear friend for sharing every word of God

May the word of God bless you, everyday.

Thank you brother @deathlyhorror for enlightening me! I really love the way you differentiate between trials and temptation. Keep up the good work of spreading the gospel here on steemit may the lord bless you.

God is the ultimate he knows our heart he is always there for us even when wr have sinned against him.
Faith in him is paramount .
Trust him

Amazing post from inspiration

I feel blessed reading your post always

Is it both trial and temptation christians are facing?.. Bcoz i have to go through it after church service today. Thankx dude for this powerful topic.

May God bless you in your trials and keep you from giving in to temptation.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown
of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that
love him.

The fact is we must all face temptations, even Jesus faced during his stay on earth. The most important thing is when the temptation comes how do you take it?. Do you abandon God or do you still trust in him even in the midst of that situation?

Another thing to note is, when you scale through any temptation there is always a reward ahead of you, lets take some examples from the Bible: Job, Jesus, shedrack,meshack and Abednego etc

You see what happened after they scale through their own temptation
LESSON POINT: When you are passing through any thing just believe God is there with you and he will definitely see your through.
I pray that God will give us the grace to scale through our temptations in Jesus name..

Kindly: C__Data_Users_DefApps_AppData_INTERNETEXPLORER_Temp_Saved Images_DQmaA7WQXw1ZMcGvNv2Gr37yyM7HiMkRDxMrUNQcVCogMG4(1).gif

@orisfina for our spiritual series of post that will change your life for ever

May the grace needed in trial be given to us in Jesus name.

I feel blessed reading your post always. you are a source of inspiration.

Reading these accurate teachings, I remember The Magnificat, which is a song and a Christian prayer. It comes from the Gospel according to Luke (Luke 1: 46-55), which we pray every Sunday in my church. Certainly everything good comes from the Lord. An affectionate hug.

All good truly comes from the Lord, including the motivation to do good, not because we can be found righteous before God because of our deeds, but because we love Jesus and we want to please Him.

Your actions are very praiseworthy, please a little time for me, recently I launched a Church social project for Indonesia. the basis of my struggle here wants to menapuwakan sejumalah our Christian brothers in Indonesia who oppress social and ekonomas. I hope your support, because every award in the post on my Blog, I have decided I submit to Christian social activities are in remote villages.

https://steemit.com/religion/@cimut/steem-church-jehovah-s-witnesses-entry-2

I allow the link for you to read and reward if you wish. Or any criticism for the sake of my post.

Temptation that's what all men fall victim to at some point.

This is how you have to stand firm against the temptation of the world

Great post, this is great "When you run away from temptation, make sure you do not leave a
forwarding address. "blessings

These texts reflect a special light for those who want to walk in integrity before God, blessings brother