Is Temptation Strangling You?

Let me be clear about one thing.  God does not tempt you.  He may test you no doubt, but He will never tempt you or try and seduce you into sin.  He allows the devil to tempt us in order to refine our faith and help us grow in our dependence on Him.

The devil tempts us at the point of something we want:  Where our desires are.  In James 1:14 we are told that we are led away by our own lusts or desires.  If you do not desire something, the devil could be there all day long and not have any effect in tempting you.  He finds something you want and begins to hammer away, tempting at every opportunity.  It is not wrong to want something when it is in the will of God, and to want it with all of your heart.  God’s word tells us He will give the righteous the desires of their hearts.  However, when we desire it so much that we will do anything to keep it or to get it, we fling the door wide open to the devil.  He marches in and begins pounding away at that point, magnifying that desire, talking to you about something you want, telling you that you ought to have it no matter what the will of God is.

Notice when Jesus was in the wilderness when the devil was tempting Him, He took the Word of God to the devil and by His faith said to the devil, “It is written and this is the way it is,” the devil found nothing in Jesus.  There is a definite change in Matthew 4:11 the devil left him and the angels came and ministered to him.  Jesus subordinated His desires to the will of God to such an extent that the devil could not find a handle to lead Jesus astray.  You see, when we make up our minds that the word of God is in fact God’s word, and that by our faith we can apply it, the devil has nothing on us either.