The Way to Overcome Temptation

James 1:12 ~ Blessed, happy, to be envied is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved he will receive [the victor's] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him. (Amplified Bible version)

God doesn't tempt us. God is going to give us a reward someday when we get to heaven. We are better off facing temptations than acting like they will just go away. Temptations just don't 'go away'. They are there for us to face. It's how we react to the temptation that makes all the difference. Every temptation we face ~ God understands. He too was tempted while He was here on earth, yet without sinning.

Satan offers 'bait' like in fishing. If we take the 'bait' in life ~ the 'hook'~ it will get us and the 'hook' will be stuck in our mouth then, as it is in a fish you catch.

James 1:13, 14 & 15 ~ v.13 Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God for God is incapable of being tempted by [what is] evil and He Himself tempts no one. v.14 But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions). v.15 Then the evil desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully matured brings forth death. (Amplified Bible version)

When your imagination goes towards evil desires and you get 'hooked' by it...that isn't good! We are all responsible for ourselves and our own actions. We need to face up to situations we are in and deal with it! Does God want you to go to heaven with a 'hook' in your mouth? Certainly not!

James 1:16 ~ Do not be misled, my beloved brethren. (Amplified Bible version)

The Word of God ~ the word of truth~ is the way the 'hook' comes out of the mouth. The 'hook' can come out! Here are some things that happen when the 'hook' gets a hold on you:

• When we are 'hooked' our peace goes away.
• Our conscience is guilty.
• Our life does not have meaning or purpose.
• Days don't have fulfillment anymore.

God's Word works! God changes us from the inside to the outside. He gives us a Godly sorrow and we change. You will see and think on things differently than you did before. Your imagination and thoughts will not want the 'hook' anymore. God will take the desire for the 'hook' away from you.

James 1: 14-15 ~ v.14 But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions). v.15 Then the evil desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully matured brings forth death. (Amplified Bible version)

• Get honest with yourself.
• Don't run to other loves.
• Run to His love.
• One foot in the church and one foot in this world should not be.
• If you treasure the world over God than you are an enemy of God.
• God living in us and through us ~ that's what God wants.
• When God speaks it's always right.
• Don't let 'self' be a block in your life.
• Be desperate for God ~ at all costs and no matter what.

Genesis 3:6 ~ And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable and pleasant) for food, and that it was delightful to look at and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some also to her husband, and he ate. (Amplified Bible version)

Eve liked what she saw and she wanted it. The lust of the eyes ~ you like what you see and the pride of life. There are so many distractions in this world that want to draw us away from God. We need to go against the 'current' of the world.

• Look at the friends you have. Do they lead you astray to worldly things? What do you talk about when you are together? Friends reveal who you are as a person.
• What kind of things do you spend your time on?
• All sexual sin starts in the mind.
• What do you daydream about?
• What you do when no one sees you determines your future.
• Purity in passion ~ have a passion for God.
• Walk as the wise people do.
• The Holy Spirit will draw you towards the things of God when He's in you.
• Don't live for the things of this world. They are all perishing.
• Have a devotional time everyday.
• When you love someone you want to spend time with them. And the more time you spend with them, the more you love them. Have that kind of love for God.
• Talking with Him everyday and read His Word. Pour out your heart to Him.
• Are things in your life more important to you than God is? That can't be so.
• Say 'Yes Lord' ~ I want this fire and passion in my heart for You. Be caught up in God.

The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Look at the things in the world like these to see if they tempt you and stay away from them.

• Be done with the past. It's over with. Move on!
• We all struggle with attitudes of the heart that aren't right.
• Loneliness can be God calling you to spend time with Him. Let Him fill the loneliness in your heart and life.
• Too much free time on your hands? Make cookies and give them to your neighbors as a random act of kindness. Volunteer to help those in need. For example: at a soup kitchen serving those who are hungry or making a meal for someone to help them out. The list goes on and it is endless.
• An unpleasant relationship at home is a dangerous thing. You start entertaining thoughts in your mind.
• Lust grows in the soil of discontentment.
• Cultivate a heart that goes after God.
• Bible study books are good to use.
• Get into the Word of God ~ the Bible.
• Learn how to worship the Lord through scriptures ~ like reading the Psalms.
• God will bring you through anything!
• Thank the Lord for what you have.
• Write things down that you are thankful for.
• Remember His goodness and His mercy towards you.
• Are your thoughts those of corruption or those that are transforming you?
• God wants our lives to shine like the stars in the sky.

There will be an increase in wickedness and sexual sin in the end times. A great falling away from God will occur. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, evil increasing, etc. Divorce, drug use, pornography, and the likes of these ~ it's the same in the church as it is in the world. Christians are falling for the way of the world. The 'hook' is so enticing that they bite at it and get snagged. True repentance and true breaking is our only hope for being free in God. God can re-create you into what He is like. God is a re-creator. Be changed from the inside.

Don't ever forget what Christ did on the cross for you. He bled and died for your sins and for my sins. He died for all so that we can have forgiveness of sins and the assurance of heaven, if we choose to believe in Him. God wants us to give ourselves~ to give our hearts totally to Him.

Hebrews 12:1 ~ Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony of the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance ~ unnecessary weight ~ and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us. (Amplified Bible version)

Lay aside every encumbrance that weights you down ~ the cares of this world~ the sins that are always there as in:

• A violent temper.
• Corrupt imagination.
• Sensuality.
• Relationships with people that draw you away from God.

We need the wisdom of God to fight all of these things. God guards the path of the just. You can make it because of God. He knows how to keep you on the right path and away from the path that leads to sin and destruction.

Proverbs 23: 17-18 ~ Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord all the day long. v.18 For surely there is a latter end [a future and a reward]; and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off. (Amplified Bible version)

Don't let your heart envy sinners. If you love the world, than the love of the Father is not in you. Be zealous for the fear of the Lord.

Proverbs 16:6 ~ By mercy and love, truth and fidelity [to God and man, not by sacrificial offerings] iniquity is purged out of the heart, and by the reverent, worshipful fear of the Lod men depart from and avoid evil. (Amplified Bible version)

Have a healthy fear of the Lord. With that, it will keep you from sin. Don't try to bring God down to your level.

2 Corinthians 7:1 ~ Therefore, since these [great] promises are ours, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates and defiles body and spirit, and bring [our] consecration to completeness in the (reverential) fear of God. (Amplified Bible version)

Psalm 119 (The entire chapter)

Surely there is a hereafter both for the sinner and the saved. There is an end. If you sow to the flesh it leads to corruption. If you sow to the Spirit you will reap eternal life. Your hope will not be in vain or go unrewarded in due time you will reap blessings. There's a living hope and it's God. He is the living hope through His resurrection. Your faith is more precious than this world's gold and silver combined.

1 Peter 1:3 ~ Praised (honored, blessed by) the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah! By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (Amplified Bible version)

John 14:27 ~ Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid ~ stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled. (Amplified Bible version)

Let not your heart be troubled. Rest in the peace that God alone can provide for your life.