{"id":912,"date":"2021-08-05T07:40:06","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T07:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/?p=912"},"modified":"2021-08-03T08:48:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T08:48:15","slug":"empowered-not-excluded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/empowered-not-excluded\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcoming temptation\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Overcoming temptation<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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We all have times when we wrestle with temptation. We can be left wondering why we have these feelings and what can be done to avoid them. The biggest problem with temptation is that it is just so tempting. There are times when it is a massive struggle to avoid falling to it. Immediately after Jesus was\u00a0baptised, He was\u00a0lead\u00a0out into the wilderness to be\u00a0tempted, but\u00a0did not fall to any of the temptations. He was offered wealth, adulation and authority, but rejected everything and defiantly commands the tempter to go.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Then Jesus said to him,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u201c<\/span><\/b>Away with you, Satan! For it is written,\u00a0\u2018You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.\u2019 \u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0 – Matthew 4:10<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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We may not always feel strong enough to reject all the tempting things which come our way. The best way to avoid giving into temptation, is to avoid the temptation itself. Jesus instructs us to pray exactly that in His model prayer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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And do not lead us into temptation,<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But deliver us from the evil one.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0– Matthew 6:13<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jesus knew that we will all have times when we are tempted to pull away from the perfect standard He set. God understands our weaknesses and how easily we can fall to sin or be tempted to give up in our Christian walk.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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When we pray,\u00a0\u2018lead us not into temptation\u2019, we are pleading with God to guide us and sustain us through those times when we are tempted to stray, so we do not fall. This is not a plea for God not to tempt us.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Blessed\u00a0<\/span><\/b>is<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>13\u202f<\/span><\/b>Let no one say when he is tempted,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u201c<\/span><\/b>I am tempted by God\u201d; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>14\u202f<\/span><\/b>But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>15\u202f<\/span><\/b>Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>– James 1:12-15.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Our own desire tempts us, but sometimes it seems to start in all\u00a0innocence\u00a0and we find it hard to know if those things we are thinking about will eventually lead us to sin.\u00a0So\u00a0how do we know if the thing we are thinking\u00a0of\u00a0doing is bad. The answer is\u00a0pray\u00a0about it and genuinely ask\u00a0God\u2019s\u00a0opinion. How comfortable are you in asking God\u2019s blessing on what you are about to do? Some things are more obvious than others, such as,\u00a0Lord I\u2019m about to go out and get drunk,\u00a0or steal money\u00a0would you be able to bless that?\u00a0Some things are harder to see, but we can avoid a lot of issues by praying in this way. If\u00a0you don\u2019t expect God to bless something, then don\u2019t do it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Above all, we are not\u00a0alone\u00a0and we can turn to Christ Jesus in our time of temptation, because He understands how it feels. He felt the pull of temptation and knows how to resist it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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For we do not have a High Priest who cannot\u00a0sympathise\u00a0with our weaknesses, but was in all\u00a0<\/span><\/b>points<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0tempted as\u00a0<\/span><\/b>we are,<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>yet<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0without sin.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>16\u202f<\/span><\/b>Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0– Hebrews 4:15,16<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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If you\u00a0ever\u00a0feel\u00a0tempted, or\u00a0<\/span>hopeless<\/span>ly\u00a0trapped in sin, there is deliverance\u00a0in Christ. Don\u2019t be afraid to come to God, He understands our weakness and will pull us out of the mess we are in, then gently bring us back to where we should be. God can be trusted to deliver us, because it\u2019s His kingdom, His\u00a0power and the glory, not just for now, but FOREVER.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Overcoming temptation\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 We all have times when we wrestle with temptation. We can be left wondering why we have these feelings and what can be done to avoid them. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[148,153,88],"tags":[142,60,170],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":918,"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912\/revisions\/918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worried.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}