For Thought and Meditation - Sunday, September 18

[Pine Baron]

Good morning all. This is a real struggle and weakness for me. Have a safe and blessed day.

His Temptation and Ours
By Oswald Chambers

We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. —Hebrews 4:15

Until we are born again, the only kind of temptation we understand is the kind mentioned in James 1:14, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” But through regeneration we are lifted into another realm where there are other temptations to face, namely, the kind of temptations our Lord faced. The temptations of Jesus had no appeal to us as unbelievers because they were not at home in our human nature. Our Lord’s temptations and ours are in different realms until we are born again and become His brothers. The temptations of Jesus are not those of a mere man, but the temptations of God as Man. Through regeneration, the Son of God is formed in us (see Galatians 4:19), and in our physical life He has the same setting that He had on earth. Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things— he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.

Temptation means a test of the possessions held within the inner, spiritual part of our being by a power outside us and foreign to us. This makes the temptation of our Lord explainable. After Jesus’ baptism, having accepted His mission of being the One “who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) He “was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Matthew 4:1) and into the testing devices of the devil. Yet He did not become weary or exhausted. He went through the temptation “without sin,” and He retained all the possessions of His spiritual nature completely intact.

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers

God does not further our spiritual life in spite of our circumstances, but in and by our circumstances. Not Knowing Whither, 900 L

[Markopolo]

Awesome message!

[GhostHawk]

Agree, awesome message.

[buckwheatpaul]

Great message....at the core is our free choice that constantly tries to trip us via the devil tempting us....we must endeavor to overcome those temptations and serve God.

[USMC87]

Amen, a great truth today!

[brokeasajoke]

I must admit I fall to temptations more than I care to admit and often makes me question my salvation. Many times have I cried on my knees begging for this to be taken from me yet I face it all too often.

[Thundarstick]

I told my son just last week,"Satan doesn't work to have you because he wants you, but because he doesn't want God to have you!".

[Wayne Smith]

For most of us temptation is based on our wants - read James - If I don't want it it's not tempting. Rather than trying to fight against temptation - which is generally outside of me - focus on what I want and begin to change those. I can't change what's outside of me - the gun in the display or what women wear, or don't wear - those are out of my control. I have to look seriously at my wants and evaluate them realistically.

For those of us who are Christians Satan cannot remove us from God's choice. All he can do is render us ineffective in doing and being what God wants us to do and be.