December 20

 

In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed. In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; Incline Your ear to me and save me. Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come; You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. Ps 71:1-3 (NASB).

Let the earth rejoice and all that is within me praise the Name of the Lord. I will exalt You Lord for thou has lifted me against my enemies and your banner over me is love.

Beloved, when you are confronted with seemingly temptation what do you do? In our daily living we are faced with challenges that only with the help of the Holy Spirit we will scale through. The offer is so juicy but it will cause you your peace. The trip is good but you will be compromised. The relationship seem harmless but it will open door for the deceiver. What should a child of God do when confronted with this kind of situations?

The Christmas season is here and there are a lot of compromise here and here. Let consider first how our Lord was tempted instead of falling, He was able to say “it is written”, how can you and I be able to said it is written when we confronted with seemingly situation?

 Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”—Matthew 4:3

Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet He never sinned (Heb. 4:15). Jesus began His public ministry with His baptism. As John the Baptist raised Him from the water, Jesus heard His Father’s affirmation, “Well done!” Immediately afterward, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the wilderness. There, Satan met Him and presented three temptations.

First, Satan enticed Jesus to use His divine power to transform stones into bread. It seemed like a logical thing to do. Jesus was hungry, but He had a much greater need to follow His Father’s leading. The Father had led Him to fast; Satan sought to persuade Him to eat.

Next, Satan tried to convince Jesus to use Satan’s means to accomplish the Father’s ends. “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down” (Matt. 4:6). Jesus understood that this would be presumption, not faith. It would be attempting God’s work in the world’s way. The world looks for spectacular displays; God uses a holy life.

The final temptation Satan proposed for Jesus to achieve God’s will was by worshiping Satan (Matt. 4:8–9). In return, Satan offered to give Him all the kingdoms of the world. By compromising, Jesus could gain a powerful ally, and achieve His mission without suffering the cross. Jesus knew that only God was to be worshiped and to do this would not bring instant success, as Satan promised, but devastating failure.

As you seek to follow God, temptations will inevitably come. Sometimes they will come to you immediately after a spiritual victory. Jesus relied on God’s Word to see Him through the temptations that could have destroyed Him and thwarted God’s plan. He has modeled the way for you to meet every temptation. Will you be able to follow it?

When king David was confronted with temptation what happened and why did it happened that way?

I Have Three Questions About David’s Sexual Liaison With Batsheba

 1. How could David so easily go from victory and magnanimity to cold-blooded murder?

The answer lies in the unimaginable power of sexual temptation. Believe it, that there is a level of titillation that all of us would find irresistible. Surely we must ask ourselves, “Just what would it take to bring me down?

David was at the apex of his power and prestige. Only recently had he danced in the street before the Lord, and had shown unprecedented generosity toward Jonathan’s crippled son, Mephibosheth. (2 Samuel 6:12-15; 7:1, 2; 9)

Could it be that David’s towering success brought about complacency, (he was lounging when kings routinely go to war), pride, and a false sense of security? “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you dont fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12) (See Proverbs 11:2; 16:18; 18:12; 28:14; 29:23; Isaiah 2:11; Daniel 4:30-37)

2. How could David maintain a religious facade, while leading a double life?

When Nathan the prophet related a story of injustice to David that mirrored his own heinous sin, his immediate response was one of “righteous” rage, “David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must payfour times over… ‘” (2 Samuel 12:5, 6a)

I am reminded of Paul’s indictment of phony religious types, “People will be lovers of themselveshaving a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1a, 5a) (See Matthew 23:25-28)

3. How could David be so blinded to the long term damage to his family and nation?

It appears that David secretly believed he could get away with leading a double life. Yet he paid dearly, thus bearing out the Scriptures’ warning, “You may be sure that your sin will find you outMany are the victims she (the immoral woman) has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng (Numb. 32:23a; Proverbs 7:26) (See 2 Samuel 12-20)

So, how can we ensure that we will not fall into sexual sins, as did David? Here are four suggestions:

1. Regular exposure to, and application of the Word of God, allowing it to impact our lives at the deepest level. (Hebrews 4:12, 13; James 1:22-25)

2. Daily soul-searching, repentance, and brokenness. (Matthew 5:3, 4; Psalm 139:23, 24; 2 Corinthians 13:5)

3. Learning what it means to walk moment-by-moment in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:2, 12-14)

4. Careful observation of others who have fallen in order to learn from their mistakes. (Proverbs 1:20-22)

May God help us to lively worthy while here on earth in Jesus Name. Amen!

 

Remain blessed in the Lord.

Evang. Ifeoma Ohondu

 

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IFEOMA OHONDU is the founder of the MattersoftheHeart foundation, a platform where issues affecting our everyday life are discussed and where necessary proffer solution. She is part of the end time army, who will not break their rank to fulfill the urgent call of God upon her life by declaring His word to the helpless, the doubting, the comfortless and the dying world. The world will experience great restoration and healing in the Word of God through her ministration. She is a voice to emphasize key spiritual truth about Faith, Healing and Encouragement.