How to Overcome Temptations?

[Translation: French | Italian | Spanish]

Simply going to church week after week doesn’t make you a saint, in fact, as long as you’re living on earth there are always going to be temptations. For you to stand firm and not succumb to the difficult times of the last days, you need to discover what those areas of struggle are.

The children of God cannot be unforgiving, unholy, lovers of self, ungrateful, proud, lovers of money, abusive, boastful, disobedient to parents, without self-control, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God [ 2 Tim. 3:2-4]. You have to realize that sinning shouldn’t be a norm, instead it’s something that a child of God must resist.

Every human heart is inclined toward sin [Romans 3:23]. The Bible tells us, The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face?” [Jeremiah 17:9]. There is that wickedness in all of us that attempts to keep manifesting. That beast called flesh constantly tries to take control, as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.” [Romans 3:10]

Issue of Temptation

We face different kinds of temptations but we must never forget that Jesus who lives in us has overcome the world. [tweet this]
A non-believer is a slave to sin. A believer is at war with his or her sin. For change to come you must start war with the sin that is otherwise considered normal by the world. It’s true that as believers we can struggle with sin, but we don’t struggle like the world. Secular people take pleasure in sinning.True believers resist sin because they are found greater pleasure in Jesus than what sin can satisfy. [tweet this]

Our hearts are designed to contain God. The Bible tells us that inside each of us is a “God-shaped hole”- an intimate place in our hearts longing for God’s love and joy, a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill. Temptations are nothing but temporary pleasures fruitlessly aimed to fill that God-shaped hole in our hearts. They set you up to make you feel like you own the whole world and then disaster follows.

Sinning may be usual in the world but stand your ground and realize that you’re not ordinary, you’re a child of our God Almighty therefore you can’t accept what would otherwise be considered normal by the world. You won’t be able to rise up against sin if it has become your norm.

Key of Success: bring your sin daily to the feet of Jesus.

As long as you consider the sins in your life to be normal you will never have victory over them. It may be normal for your culture but the only culture that matters is Bible culture.  The Bible tells us that Jesus Himself was tempted in that which He suffered, yet without sin. Jesus is our High Priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses. Draw near to the Throne of Grace with confidence.

God doesn’t have a problem with falling – but He does have a problem with not repenting and living in it.  He’s merciful. He chose you irrespective of your weaknesses. Bring your sins to the feet of Jesus, that you may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. [Hebrew 4:14-16].

It can’t be only be done on a Sunday morning – sanctification is a daily process. Bring your sins to Christ. You must expose them to Jesus; bring them to His light every day.

Get Back Up

Great warriors overcome great temptations. Joshua was used by God for victory as we see in Joshua 7:10-13, “The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.”

You’ll see in this chapter that they went out to face the enemy and they were beaten up. Joshua fell on his face before the Lord and said, “No way. Don’t you see that the enemy has beaten us up?” He was embarrassed about his failures. God told him, “Get up! Don’t you know I’m a God of covenant? I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.”

Starts From the Heart

When Israel’s army went out to war they took idols for themselves. They thought they looked nice so they disobeyed God and brought them home and kept them. They knew in the back of their minds that what they were doing was wrong. They may have hidden it before Joshua but there are eyes that see everything.  The Israelites took what was not blessed of God and mixed it with the things that had God’s blessing and favor.  When you take what originally belongs to death and bring it with what belongs to life it brings corruption.

Most of the times it’s not just about what we do – it starts with the heart. God looks at the heart. God was telling Joshua, “Don’t worry. Get up and get those idols out of your house.”  The place of pleasing God is to throw out the sins in your life. God chose you to be his servants, to be his priests and his Levites. You are called as a Levite, a chosen royal priesthood.

The enemy will try to adulterate you; he will try hard to quench the light of Jesus inside you.
His plan is to bring the world into the believers’ hearts so that the light of Jesus doesn’t shine before others. Instead of looking like the world let us lock arms in and rise up as the bride of Christ! Let us spread His love, hope, and healing into the lives of the people around us.

The study of holiness is quenched in the church because there’s a lot of self-righteousness. Some people feel like they’re better than the others and should be treated differently. Let us remember that there’s none perfect among us. As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one” [Romans 3:10]. Instead, let us declare that no matter what we’re going through we’ll stand together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

God is saying, “Get this out of your life because I’m not able to fight for you as long as you entertain this mess. I can’t stand with you because you’re not standing with me. If you honor me, I’ll honor you.”

Strengths of those who fear the Lord

See the video here.

Psalm 25:11-15
“For your name’s sake, O Lord,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Who is the man who fears the Lord?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net”

Humble yourself before your God. Stand firm in the Word and the Lord Jesus Christ will bless you with:

1. Divine Direction– Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
2. Peace of mind– His soul shall abide in well-being
3. Children prosper– His offspring shall inherit the land.
4. Friend of God– The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him
5. Heart of God– He makes known to them his covenant.
6. Escapes danger– He will pluck my feet out of the net.

There is None Like Jesus
I know we struggle, it is part of the Christian life. But every day, no matter how much you struggle, I want you to confess: “Yes, I have struggles but I fear God. I will not stay down.”  The Holy Spirit is speaking to some hearts through this post. Let every secret addiction break in the name of Jesus.
Whatever you’re going through – break out of it today in Jesus name!

If you’re reading this Jesus wants you to remember today how much He loves you. He shed His blood on the cross for your sins. We’re under a covenant of love. He doesn’t want to hold anything from you, instead He’s saying, “Walk to me.”  You can never be perfect but His love for you is perfect; it has no holds.

Can you fall in love with Jesus all over again?