Overcoming Temptations…

Overcoming Temptations…

Victorious Christian living
Subtitle: Overcoming Temptations… Part 1
1. There is no temptation if there is no tempter.
The devil doesn’t know everything that is in our minds, but he does know if we have accepted a thought that he suggested… Satan doesn’t know all things so he presents different situations to us to get us to fall. There are times that he fails, because what he thinks might be a temptation to us may not be a temptation at all. But when he finds something that he can hook a person with he’ll use that one thing as best as he can until he destroys the individual with that thing (and for many it’s multiple things that he uses). If stealing isn’t a strong temptation to you, when the devil realizes it he’ll try to tempt you with something else. He’s trying to hook our heart to something that is against the will of God to pull us out of righteousness back into sin. The hook can develop in us if we entertain the temptation long enough. The hook can already be implanted in our soul, or he can even use the hook he has in our sin natured body if we haven’t denied or spiritually crucified our selves- Rom 7:22-25, Gal 2:20, Luke 9:23. The hook the devil will try and use to pull us can even be in the form of a demon/principality brooding/hovering over the atmosphere we are walking into or through on the streets or in a building/house, but this is where we need to know the scriptures that counteract the nature of whichever temptation the devil is using. This is why St. Paul tells us to be filled with the spirit- Eph 5:18-21, so that when the devil comes he has no place to put his hook, because your mind is preoccupied with the things of God. So now the power radiating in your atmosphere caused by the word and worship or prayer disrupts, disturbs and repels the sinful atmosphere trying to influence you to sin. Or there is a detailed word in our spirit that strengthens us not to give in to the devil.
Atmospheric influence: -An extra part 1/28/07
If there is a great influence of spiritual activity in an atmosphere, everyone and everything that comes into it’s territory will fall subject to it’s power unless something in your spirit is stronger than the spiritual activities happening in that place. Saul wanted to kill David at Naioth in Ramah, but the activity of the Holy Spirit was so high in that place that it caused Saul’s men to prophesy instead of arresting David three separate times. Saul himself fell subject to the Power of Gods Spirit and prophesied the entire night instead of laying hands on David to kill him -1Sam 19:20-23. You can be going to school to become a doctor but if the power working in your spirit isn’t greater than the atmospheric powers of Satan in that place you’ll most likely fall a prey to what ever it’s influencing the people to do. If it’s an influential spirit of failure you can become a dropout, if it’s to make fast and dishonest money then drug dealing may seem more appealing. You can go to a city to evangelize to prostitutes but if you’re not covered and empowered by Gods leading you can end up sleeping with them instead, because this is the influence of the atmosphere you’re walking into. In the same way someone can go to church with carnal intentions but end up getting saved. The great thing about atmospheric influence is that they all become subject to the Christian when he/she realizes the authority he/she has and WALKS IN IT…
2. Eve wasn’t tempted to eat the forbidden fruit in Genesis Chap 3 until the devil opened his dirty mouth and said something to her… but at the same time she entertained the devil long enough to hear and believe his lies. So if you are tempted to do evil it’s also a sign that you’re in a better condition than what you’re tempted to do and God must have a better plan for you, otherwise the devil wouldn’t bother.
3. If the devil has a hook in you the first step to deliverance is to confess it. If you don’t confess it you will always fall for it because you are in denial of truth. It’s the truth that makes us free St. John 8:32 even if it’s a confession of being hooked, so we have to be honest with ourselves… This is where you allow God to take over and become your strength in dealing with the powers of that or those temptations, it is then that you will have inner victory. Let go of your own strength now, and depend on God. This is how the believer lives, not by his own strength and abilities but by FAITH in Gods’ abilities… 2Cor 5:7, Zech 4:6 Rev 12:11
Temptations will always come because the devil will always try, but some days will be much easier than others because the devil and his demons can’t be everywhere at one time and he’ll even go away for seasons as he did to Jesus - Luke 4:13. but remember that temptations aren’t designed to frustrate you but to build your faith and patience in God- James 1:2-4…
 
A very good post, I couldn't agree more if we are full of God the devil has no place or claim in our lives- I would also like to point out that it's the world, the flesh and the devil- he is in third place behind worldly temptation and our fleshly responses- that is certainly were the walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh thing fits in :D
 
Overcoming Temptations- Part 2

Thanks Boanerges, and all glory to Jesus Christ.

Victorious Christian living
Overcoming Temptations- Part 2
Why is it that we’ve wanted things that we know that we can’t have? It’s because there is a mind behind that desire (and it’s not your mind). – Quote from Bishop L. Hendricks
Gen 3: 1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
The woman Eve did not desire what she couldn’t have before the serpent persuaded her to. Sometimes we may find ourselves desiring what we know we shouldn’t have, lusting for what belongs to someone else, wanting what would naturally be destructive to ourselves and the thing or person we desire. It’s not your thought! It’s not your desire even if you feel it in your body. Remember the devil can impose emotional energies through the atmosphere on our soul so that we can feel depressed even though we really aren’t -Eph 2:2. So it is, we can feel desire for what we really don’t want if the devil gets his hook in our soul (not to mention this sin-natured body we also have to deny every day). By this he takes our natural desires and twists it by accusing us of wanting something we really don’t want. And it’s so easy to believe him if we’re not grounded in the Word of God…
St. John 13:2 : “And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;â€. Satan put the evil thought of betraying the Master Jesus Christ in Judas’ heart. Judas didn’t think of it himself, the devil suggested it, but Judas agreed… and since Judas agreed with the evil suggestion (like Eve) he now becomes responsible for the thought and the actions following the thought… But what we need to do when we hear or feel the temptation to do evil is tell the devil we don’t want his evil thoughts and send it back with him to hell! And don’t think twice or compromise…
The forbidden fruit is not a sin nether is it a temptation… The fruit by itself is innocent… the INFLUENCE to eat the fruit IS the temptation, and the act of eating it was the sin…
Let’s take this a little further:
Gold is not a temptation, it’s an element that was made by God and therefore is a good thing. But the influence to worship it is the temptation, and the act of worshipping it is the sin…
Every part of the human body and their functions were made by God, and therefore the body along with its various functions are very good things. This brings a sense of relief because if God made it then it’s not designed to make or cause us to fall… The body by itself is innocent… But the person that uses it outside of its purpose is committing what is called sin, and the NEGATIVE INFLUENCE to use it that way is called the temptation…
The upsetting thing is that the bate the devil uses to hook and trap us is Gods’ beautiful creation presented to our minds in a wrong way…
 
The forbidden fruit was the knowledge of GOOD and EVIL- it was when mankind first tasted of it that he began to judge for himself apart from God's guidance- before that He was totally in fellowship and obediance to God-
 
Don’t confuse your God passions for fleshly desires… part 3

All glory to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Don’t confuse your God passions for fleshly desires… part 3
In the next part of this discussion, age is a factor… Says who? Says Paul… 1Tim 5:1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; 2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity. Elder in this text is not referring to a minister but someone old enough to be our father in the church. Strong’s Concordance # Biblical Greek words 4245
The DANGER of giving in to the accusation:
If you fall for it the first time and you don’t realize and correct the mistake, chances are you’ll fall for it again and again unless God delivers you.
If you give in to a temptation of lust with your spiritual mother/father in the Lord, you’ll most likely feel free to lust after everyone else who is your spiritual mother/father in the church.
The spiritual mother or father that gives in to the fleshly/carnal temptations with their spiritual child is not only destroying her or his own soul, but is also reinforcing the lies of Satan in that spiritual son’s or daughter’s life, thus making it even harder for them to overcome the temptations of perverted lusts. But the parent was given to cover and teach the younger person to overcome lusts not to reinforce it…
The spiritual mentor, big-brother or big-sister that gives in to the fleshly/carnal temptations with their trainee is not only diverting from their own purpose, but also reinforcing Satan’s lie in the mind of the trainee that he or she them self lacks control. But the mentor was sent to reinforce truth, not lies… But since the spiritual mentor, big-b or big-s gave in to the temptations to lust, now the spiritual trainee has a stronger sense of hopelessness concerning their ability to control their fleshly desires, because this is what the mentor demonstrated and taught them in their own actions...
Now it has happened many times where God has caused a relationship that started off one way to end in another (but still in the context of his holiness), but this is where we have to have godly judgment/discernment to know his will for our lives, otherwise we may end up overstepping our boundaries…
Do you understand? Can we move on to part 4 ‘Let’s reason together’?
 
Overcoming Temptations -Part 4

Victorious Christian living
Overcoming Temptations -Part 4
Bring it on!
An unclothed person is not a lust temptation if there is no sin or devil to tempt us to lust… Without sin we would be as pure as mans’ first state before he fell, Gen 2:25 “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.†With this understanding we realize that the company that fired us for no good reason wasn’t totally the bad-guy after all. If a woman or man is improperly dressed we can’t totally blame them for the temptations to lust, but more so the demonic power that suggests and influences lust in that situation, which is how the devil works on our own minds (and if applicable, our own lack of understanding –Pro 7:7 & 8:14)… So then people aren’t the only enemies in temptation though they work with the Tempter in different ways (whether consciously or not), but it is Satan/sin. Another reason is also because a temptation has no real strength without a hook…
What is meant by a hook? It’s what the temptation is using to draw you in (as we explained in part 1)…
Another enemy is our own flesh that’s drawn to it’s own lust - James 1:14. We have the taste of sin in our flesh, so now it’s easier for us to mentally taste the sin in the temptation before actually tasting it (like a REFERENCE the devil tries to use in encouraging us to choose wrong as we mention in Part -8)… but as Christians we have walked away from it in Christ but the flesh naturally pulls us towards it, so we have to crucify the mind of the flesh daily – Luke 9:23. Come on and beat it down when it’s tired, fast and pray. Inject it with the word wile it’s in a daze. We can be our own worst enemy if we constantly feed our soul things that don’t glorify God. We’re preparing ourselves to fall for temptation when we constantly entertain ungodly things.
With Isaiah’s attitude it would be harder for the devil to catch us off-guard, because we make it easier to recognize and avoid temptations when Gods’ promises are on our mind, and again, the promise on Isaiah’s mind is just what he said: “he is near that justifieth meâ€... It doesn’t mean we’re going to deliberately walk into temptation, “-Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.†–Mat 4:7, but you understand if you are tempted no matter how strong, it’s a temptation you can overcome… 1Cor 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.†If God allows you to be tempted, it means you can some how get through it. Minister Joel Marseille explained it like this- ‘If you’re being tempted it means God trusts you (expressively speaking 1Tim 1:11), because he wouldn’t allow the temptation if he knew you couldn’t some how get over it with his grace.’
God could have kept the object or person from ever crossing your path, but he allowed it. Why? It’s because you’re able to overcome it…
Even if a human is deliberately trying to cause you to steal, lie, or lust, their attempts have no influential power without the spirit or mind of sin present…
Even if your hormones are triggered at what you have seen it doesn’t mean you desire it. The reaction is a chemical one in your body but the soul still has to make a decision… even though the soul decides many times in split seconds it is a long enough time frame to refuse sin. This is why the phrase “He made me do it†doesn’t always work…
Stay tuned for the next session where the body, soul and spirit decisions in the midst of temptation are further explained…
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It takes faith to say ‘Bring it on’. You’ve already assumed the mind that expects to make it over the devils obstacles. You’re saying anything the devil throws you will be able to over come, and you’re telling God that you expect his strength to bring you through it all…
 
Overcoming Temptations -Part 5

Victorious Christian living
Overcoming Temptations -Part 5
Understanding
There is a distinction between the three parts of you though they are closely nit, spirit, soul and body. Our spirit doesn’t always agree with our soul, and if you’re conscious enough to realize it, your soul doesn’t always agree with your body’s reaction to things either. This is why most of us talk to ourselves even if it’s in our mind (and no, we’re not crazy… we’re just reasoning within ourselves –Mark 2:6,8).
If we didn’t have testosterone or estrogen in our body we would hardly react to any temptations to sexual sin… the devil would probably give up on tempting people with sexual sins and move on to what he thinks is the next worst thing. But remember that God gave us our hormones, not the devil, it’s just that we have to have KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING to manage them… 1Thes 4:4- “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor;â€. It’s important for us to KNOW how to take care of, manage and handle our body (vessel), which is also the flesh part of you… Jesus says in the voice of wisdom, “-I am Understanding; I have strength†Pro. 8:14. Many times ‘UNDERSTANDING’ is what gives our soul the strength not to give in to the reaction of our body. Understanding is what gives our soul the strength to say NO in the face of temptation. In temptations the soul with Understanding says, “I feel something in my body for what I see but there is terrible danger if I take what I see and feel, so let me avoid this because God must have something better for me…†The soul that lacks understanding says, “Mmm, mmm, mm, I feel something in my body for what I see, let’s try to get what I see…†notice, this soul didn’t even consider the consequences… Pro 7:7 - Void of understanding. More in Chap 9 –‘The Consequences of falling and Benefits of overcoming’
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Just because our body reacts or our hormones are triggered doesn’t mean we want what we’ve been touched by or seen. It’s simply a natural chemical reaction. We must know to separate bodily chemical reactions and Satan’s accusations from true soul desires*. But if our soul does desire what it shouldn’t we need to consider the endless consequences. – 1Pet 2:11, Pro 6:32
*See reading in ‘Victorious Christian’ titled: ‘Don’t believe the accuser’.I'm working on a book and this reading should be available soon.
 
Thanks for the post Madefromclay- in my expierience I have found that we are going to be full of something for man has a natural hunger in him- I believe that hunger was originally designed to be filled by God and God alone and if we take the time to be filled by Him , His Word and His presence we will have little or no hunger for the things of this world- in His Name and with His love - brother Larry
 
Overcoming Temptations -Part 6

Praise the Lord! you are right, I agree with you Brother Larry.
Overcoming Temptations -Part 6
Humility is always a key in overcoming temptation
We’re asking God to make us fall when we judge other people wrongfully and feel we could do better than them in their circumstance. But when we realize that we are all capable of doing the same evil it gives us a heart of compassion when people mess up. When we hammer people over the head and make them feel as though there is no hope for them we are setting our own selves up for failure many times in the same area as those we hammer mercilessly… Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, LEST THOU ALSO BE TEMPTED.â€
We also have to be careful not to boast about the weakness of an area of temptation. The moment we boast of being able to overcome something is when we’ll have our greatest attack from it. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.†1Cor 10:12.
When we’re humble we are asking God to help us get through, but if we’re prideful God will let us fall flat on our faces every time -James 4:6…
 
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