Friday, June 13, 2014

Posted by Niki |
Verse 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:”

God doesn’t play with us, put us under pressure, or send temptations our way. God does not tempt any man. Temptations will come, but God is not the source. Satan likes to tell us that God has some sort of secret hidden agenda that He is not telling us.  He likes to use our own thoughts to cause trouble. We’ve had this discussion before. We get an idea in our heads, jump to conclusions, and then we’ve started a battle with no one else ever knowing. Our trials and temptations always present us with choices. God wants us to make the better choices. We’ve talked about what we gain from troubles and trials if we endure them with faith. There’s a difference in being tested and being tempted. God will test us to make us stronger. He will never tempt us. A temptation is an evil desire.

We also touched a little bit on what happens when we fail and lose our faith during a trial. We start the blame game. From the beginning it has been a natural response to make excuses and blame others for sin. Genesis 3:12-13 gives us the first example of this. “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” Who did Eve blame for her wrong decision? We like to throw out phrases like these when we make the wrong choice:
  • It’s _________ fault.
  • I couldn’t help it.
  • Everyone else is doing it.
  • It was just a mistake.
  • Nobody’s perfect.
  • I didn’t know it was wrong.
  • The devil made me do it.
  • I was pressured into it.
A person who makes excuses is trying to shift the blame onto someone else for their wrong choices. A Christian is to accept responsibility for their actions, confess them, and ask God for forgiveness.

God doesn’t tempt us. We ask the question sometimes “If God really loves us, why would he let bad things happen to us?” A God who kept us from temptation would be a God unwilling to allow us to grow. In order for a test to measure growth, you have to have aspects of it that can be failed too. God proves his love for us by protecting us IN temptation rather than FROM temptation. He gives us ways to get out of temptation:
  • His promise - I Corinthians 10:13 – “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”His presence - Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5
  • His model – Jesus. Hebrews 2:17-18
  • His guidance – Psalm 119:105
  • His mission for our lives – Hebrews 12:1
  • His encouragement from other Christians – Hebrews 10:24, 25
  • His forgiveness – I John 1:9

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