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 (1 Cor. 10:13).
We are not to walk unbidden into temptation, nor are we to give up to despondency when temptation comes upon us. We are to know that no temptation will be too much for us through the grace God gives us. There will be a way of escape prepared by God.
Temptations are great teachers. "My temptations," said Martin Luther, "have been my masters in divinity." Some try to overcome temptation by fleeing from organized society, but they cannot get away from themselves. God promises help to win the internal battle against self.
Sometimes the bravest thing to do with temptation is to flee from it. We think of the storekeeper who said to the boy who had been lingering too long near the display of fruit, "What are you doing--trying to steal one of those apples?" "No," said the boy, "trying not to." In such a case it is a good thing for the boy to remove the temptation by removing himself.
Temptation as enticement to sin never comes from God. "God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man" (James 1:13, ARV). The only safeguard against temptation is the indwelling Christ in the heart, and He will never abandon the soul for whom He has died. "Live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold you firmly by a hand that will never let go" (Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 119). And remember: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe" (Prov. 18:10).
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matt. 6:13).
We are not to walk unbidden into temptation, nor are we to give up to despondency when temptation comes upon us. We are to know that no temptation will be too much for us through the grace God gives us. There will be a way of escape prepared by God.
Temptations are great teachers. "My temptations," said Martin Luther, "have been my masters in divinity." Some try to overcome temptation by fleeing from organized society, but they cannot get away from themselves. God promises help to win the internal battle against self.
Sometimes the bravest thing to do with temptation is to flee from it. We think of the storekeeper who said to the boy who had been lingering too long near the display of fruit, "What are you doing--trying to steal one of those apples?" "No," said the boy, "trying not to." In such a case it is a good thing for the boy to remove the temptation by removing himself.
Temptation as enticement to sin never comes from God. "God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man" (James 1:13, ARV). The only safeguard against temptation is the indwelling Christ in the heart, and He will never abandon the soul for whom He has died. "Live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold you firmly by a hand that will never let go" (Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 119). And remember: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe" (Prov. 18:10).
MEDITATION PRAYER: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matt. 6:13).
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