Two Steps to Handle Temptation

In review of Ephesians 6:17 it says to “Accept God’s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (NCV).

I need supernatural power to defeat Satan, and God has provided this to me by giving me his Holy Spirit who dwells within me and God's armor surrounding me. When I feel discouraged, remember Jesus' words to Peter: "Upon this rock I will build my church, and all the power of hell will not conquer it."

In order to handle temptation, I need to claim the promises of God that he has given in his Word about temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says: “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (NIV).

I can’t think or believe that “I couldn’t help myself. It was impossible to resist. Or, I had no choice but to give in.” When I say that, I’m calling God a liar! God says he’ll always offer an escape from the temptation I face. It may be tough and painful. It might even be embarrassing. But there will always be a way out. God makes sure of it! This is his promise.

Satan is constantly battling for my mind. That’s where the battle happens. When God gives me an idea, it’s inspiration. When the Devil gives me an idea, it’s temptation. I choose every day which thought I’m going to dwell on.

I can change my mind by replacing the temptation with truth, and truth is found in the Bible.

Prepare for temptation and resist the Devil, with Ephesians 6:17 which says, “Accept God’s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (NCV).

There are two things I need to do in order to handle temptation. Salvation is the first step: “Accept God’s salvation as your helmet.” What does a helmet do? It protects your head and my mind, and that’s where the battle is going on. Before I can say no to the Devil, I have to learn to say yes to Jesus Christ. I’ve got to have his power through salvation.

The second step is to receive God’s Word to use as a sword. Truth is the antidote to temptation. I can keep my Bible near at hand, but when I’m at work and tempted, I need to get the truth that is in that book into my mind.

The single most effective tool to combating temptation is to memorize Scripture. If I don’t have any verses memorized, I have no weapon for the fight! When the Devil comes along, how will I counter him? He’s not afraid of my opinion, but he does fear the truth. The sword of God is God’s truth, but it only becomes a weapon when is close at hand from memory. So I need to memorize it.

In summary, Accept God’s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, This is God's provision. To handle the temptation, claim the promise of God, "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”.  It may be tough and painful. It might even be embarrassing. But there will always be a way out. Satan is constantly battling for my mind. That’s where the battle happens. two things I need to do in order to handle temptation. Salvation is the first step: “Accept God’s salvation as your helmet.” The helmet protects your head and my mind, and that’s where the battle is going on. The second step is to receive God’s Word to use as a sword. Truth is the antidote to temptation. Satan does fear the truth. The sword of God is God’s truth, but it only becomes a weapon when is close at hand from my memory.

Father thank you for the reminder about temptations this morning. I pray today for your Spirit to help remind me of your truth and my own practice of memorizing scripture. I ask for your wisdom and guidance for my day, my work, my leadership and my interaction with others. I ask these things through your Son Jesus name, Amen.

A Food That Sustains My Spiritual Life

In review of Matthew 4:4 it says, "But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Bottom Line:

You need the word that God spoke through the scriptures to feed our souls.

What this means to me:

Jesus reminds me to look back at Scriptures and what they say, they can truly feed my soul and be especially helpful when dealing with the enemy. People cannot live on bread alone, but by obedience to every word God has spoken.

In this passage Jesus responds to a difficult time of testing and temptation (40 days of fasting in the wilderness.)  Jesus was able to resist all of the devil’s temptations because he not only knew Scripture, but he also obeyed it.  

Ephesians 6:17 tells me to, “Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  The word of God truly becomes the sword which the Spirit gives me to use in spiritual combat.

Knowing verses in God’s word is an important step to help me resist the devil's attacks, but I must also obey what it tells me.  Even Satan had memorized Scripture, but he failed to obey it. Knowing and obeying the Bible helps me to know and follow God’s desires rather than those of the enemy.

How to Fight the Enemies of Good Intentions

In review of Psalm 119:112 it says, “I have made up my mind to obey your laws forever, no matter what.”

Bottom Line:

You need to make a one time decision and then continue to decide to follow it, each day afterwards, until life on earth ends.

What this means to me:

This verse reminds me that a decision I made to follow Jesus was one that ultimately impacted my life forever. However, I need to make daily decisions to continue to follow, especially when the going gets tough and the outcomes may look dismal.

Today's verse comes at the end of a passage starting at verse 105. The psalmist explains how God's word will guide him in life. How he has promised that he will obey it, even though he has had loss and opposition. He asks for restoration and offers God his praise, he wants to continue to learn. Even though he does not know what the future holds, he is committing to obedience. He knows that he will continue to face opposition, but regardless he makes the decision to continue to follow, as what God provides is a true treasure to his heart.

I believe that the reason why most people are ineffective in life is that they've never learned how to fight the battle of the mind.

In order for me to learn how to manage my mind, I need to deliver it from destructive thoughts. This isn’t easy, because there are three enemies that keep me from fulfilling my good intentions of changing my life.

The first enemy is my old nature. Paul says in Romans 7:23, “There is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me” (NLT). I often find myself doing things that I didn't really want to do. This occurs because the battle is going on in my mind between my old, sinful nature and my good intentions.

The second enemy is Satan. Satan cannot force me to do anything, but he can make suggestions, and those suggestions are very, very powerful. He will constantly plant negative thoughts in my mind. He’ll use other people or he’ll use the television or he’ll just throw a thought into my mind.

The third enemy is the world’s value system. Not much in our society encourages self-discipline. Every advertisement says, “You deserve a break today. Have it your way. We do it all for you.” The Bible says in 1 John 2:16, “For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — comes not from the Father but from the world” (NIV).

With enemies like that, no wonder I struggle with discouragement, despair and failure.

In learning to fight this battle, I can look to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, it says: “Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

I have a choice. Ultimately my mind has to listen to me. God didn't give me just a mind; he gave me a will! The best time to win the battle with temptation is before it begins.

Today's verse reminds me of how to battle it. “I have made up my mind to obey your laws forever, no matter what” (Psalm 119:112 CEV).

Ultimately God’s rules and instructions are their not just to hinder me and keep me from having a good time. He provides them because they provide protection and develop good fruit. In my life, I’ve seen Satan use random thoughts and images on TV to derail me. Sometimes I even find myself comparing myself to others. These distract me and keep me from progressing. So I need to remember some of the prior steps I had learned to combat temptation, part of it is remember and bring to mind this verse from 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (NIV).

So in order to fight the enemies of good intentions, I need to pull out this verse and then remember my ultimate commitment I have made to Christ. I do have a choice. Further, God will always provide a way out so that I can endure.

Why I Should Start Memorizing Scripture

In review of James 1:25 it says, “Whoever looks intently into the perfect law … and continues in it — not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it — they will be blessed in what they do.”

Bottom Line:

Continue to pay attention and focus on the perfect law that sets you free. This is not just listening but actually doing what it says. If you do, then God’s blessing will be there.

What this means to me:

I should focus (look intently) into the perfect law. It has the power to set me free. But I must not only listen to it, but actually do what it says. I’m to take action regarding it. If I do, God has promised me his blessings.

What I’m learning is that, one of the best ways to grow in my on spiritual maturity, is to develop a habit of memorizing Scripture. This verse today reminds me that it’s one of four habits that leads to a blessed life: “Whoever looks intently into the perfect law … and continues in it — not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it — they will be blessed in what they do” James 1:25 (NIV).

This breaks down into:

1. Reading the Bible. “Whoever looks intently …”
2. Reviewing the Bible. “… continues in it …”
3. Remembering the Bible. “… not forgetting what they have heard …”
4. Responding to the Bible. “ … but doing it …”

It’s time to grow up and live the blessed life I’m meant to live. Memorizing verses, or “Hiding” God’s Word in my heart is an important way to start.

So when it comes to memory, I know I can remember what’s important to me. I remember the phone numbers and dates that I care about. If I can quote songs and movie lines. Given this,  I can certainly memorize scripture. Memory is a skill I can learn. It’s a muscle I can strengthen.

I’m learning that memorizing Scripture is important because:

If I do, I’ll always have God’s Word with me. When I’m tempted, I may not have a Bible open or by my side. When I’m witnessing to someone who doesn’t know Jesus, is under stress, needs comfort, or is in a crisis, there may not be a Bible around. I need God’s Word in my mind so that I can remember it and review it right when I need it.

I can also meditate on Scripture wherever I go. I won’t be able to review God’s Word unless I remember it. If I’ve memorized Scripture, I can think about it when you get into bed at night or as I drive to an appointment. I can think about the Bible because I’ve memorized it. That’s called meditation. The only promise of prosperity and success that God gives in the Bible says that meditating on his Word is the key (Joshua 1:8).

The real key for me will be what changes will I need to make so that I’m regularly memorizing verses. I think today, I will look for apps for my smart phone that will help me in practicing my memorization of verses. This is much like carrying around a pack of verse cards, but much easier, since I always have my phone with me. With a tool like this at hand, I should set myself a goal to memorize a certain number of verses a year, such as, one verse a week (52 in a year) or maybe just one verse a month (12 in a year.)

Learning To Get a Good Grip on God’s Word

In review of Philippians 2:16 it says, "Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless."

Bottom Line:

Hold on firmly and share the word of life with those around you. Then when Christ returns, you can be proud of the investment you made in yourself and in others.

What this means to me:

I am to hold firmly, making it part of my life and offering to tell others about the word of life. This way on the day that Christ returns, I can be proud that my life/following and what I have done to serve, share and mentor others was not wasted, but instead produced good results and helped others establish a meaningful relationship with God. God has promised many wonderful benefits in my life when I hold firmly and meditate on the Word, make it part of my life by doing it. Surprisingly, knowing how to worry has already showed me how to meditate on the Word of God. Worry is when I take a negative thought and I think on it over and over and over. When I take a passage of Scripture and I think on it over and over and over, this is meditation. There are six ways I can get a grasp on God’s Word. I can hear it, I can read it, I can study it, I can memorize it, I can meditate on it, and I can apply it. But if all I do is hear the Word of God when I go to church, I’ll have no grip on the Word of God, and it can be pulled out of my mind very easily. The Bible says in Philippians 2:16, “Hold firmly to the Word of Life” (NLT). I won’t have a good grip on the Bible unless I’m doing all six habits: hearing it, reading it, studying it, memorizing it, meditating on it, and applying it. Psalms 119:16 says, “Your laws make me happy. I never forget your word” (GW). God’s principles are what I need to make me happy, and I will remember those principles by memorizing them, meditating on them, and then applying them. Psalms 119:35 says, “Make me walk along the path of your commands, for that is where my happiness is found” (NLT). Typically, I look for happiness in all the wrong places. God tells me that happiness is found in the path of his commands. One thing I lack in my spiritual discipline is scripture memory. This is something I must develop a new habit in. I should consider some form of utilizing scripture memory cards again so that I can work on this throughout the day and keep them with me (maybe even an app for my phone?.) In addition, after I recover from my next surgery, I’m going to move forward with my plans to meet regularly with two others guys I trust. I can have them hold me accountable for scripture memory. Having God’s word close at mind will help me in how I conduct my life. I’m sure happiness will be a by-product of choosing this habit.

Learning to Maintain Healthy Habits Through Biblical Meditation

In review of Psalms 119:48 it says, “I honor and love your commands. I meditate on your decrees.”

Bottom Line:

I respect and love your commandments; I will meditate on your instructions

What this means to me:

I will honor, respect and love your commands.  I will reflect on and meditate on them to keep them in mind and close at heart.  The temptation to abandon the healthier habits I have just learned as a result of my most recent health issue can be quite strong.  My only chance to overcome those temptations is to follow the model of Jesus. When Jesus was tempted in Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus responded with Scripture.  Jesus made it a habit of meditating on and memorized God’s Word. Psalm 119:48 reminds me, “I honor and love your commands. I meditate on your decrees” (NLT).  Biblical meditation is not about emptying my mind but filling it with truth instead. It simply means to read a passage of Scripture, think about it, and repeat it to yourself. It’s the first and most important step to memorizing Bible verses.  No other habit will help me in the spiritual dynamics of getting healthy than meditating and memorizing the Word of God.  Part of my struggle with being a type 2 diabetic is wanting carbs and sugary type foods.  These cause my blood sugar levels to be high.  It’s important that I watch the amount of carbs and sugars I take in.  I can use 1 Corinthians 10:13, “13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (NIV), as a verse I can hold onto and use when the temptations come.