Walking Alone Blind

            Blindly walking leads to destruction

Proverbs 7:6-7, For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

            Solomon is standing at his window looking out across the town below. He sees a man who is blindly looking and lusting at a prostitute. What he needs to be doing is running for his life. Instead, he is trapped by the woman’s dress or lack thereof, her smooth talk, and lying tongue ending up in her bed.

            There are a few things he could have done to prepare for this temptation. He could have looked into the Word instead of looking at her. He could have learned the Word instead of listening to her. He could have longed after the Word instead of lusting after her.

            Child of God, you do not have to blindly walk into destruction. The choices you make today will either guide you in God’s holiness or they will leave you looking for the next new thing. That does not have to be you. You could just follow God’s Will in faith and flee. Or you can continue in that sin letting it drag you into destruction! The choice is yours.  

SET FREE FROM TEMPTATIONS

No degree of temptation justifies any degree of sin. –Willis

1 Corinthians 10:13, “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.”

No matter what we face today we are provided with The Way that we do not have to sin. It’s not a sin to be tempted. James 1:14-15, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” It is when we fail to draw nigh to God, giving into our freshly desires that we chose sin. 

One day we will be totally delivered from sin, the temptations we face, and this old sinful flesh! What a day that will be! 

Do you have something you are being tempted with every day? Pray for strength, draw nigh to God, and make the choice not to give into that temptation and watch how the Lord works in and through your life!

WHY SHOULD I READ THE BIBLE?

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2 Timothy 3:16                  

      According to Barna Research group, only 56% of Practicing Christians read scripture regularly. Wow, 56%! Now, think about that for a moment… a little more than half of the people reading this post will make an effort to pick up their Bibles and read it today. I wonder if we took a pole who would make up that 44%? Would it be a Sunday School teacher? Would it be a Junior Church worker? Would it be a Pastor, preacher, evangelist, or missionary?

Reading the Bible is essential for our edification!

Once again, my list isn’t exhaustive…

A.         It powers our Faith-

“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” John 20:31

B.         It direct our Footsteps-

”Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105

C.         It delivers us from Failing in our temptations- ”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 Corinthians 10:13

       How faithful are you to your Bible reading? I recently heard this quote, “Those who spend more time reading books about the Bible than they do reading the Bible are likely to be influenced more by what men said about the Bible than by what God said in the Bible.” R. B. Ouellette.

GOD WON’T PUT ANYTHING ON ME I CAN’T HANDLE...REALLY???

Have you ever heard that saying? Well it’s a lie! God will allow things to happen in our lives that brings us to our knees! Consider Job for a moment- He lost his family. He lost his wealth. He lost his health. All within 24hrs...but God didn’t give him more than he could handle?? I’m sorry... without Jesus hanging onto me I would be blown away! I go crazy just dealing with my cell phone company!!

1 Corinthians 10:13, 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.

Sure, He gives us more than we can handle! He does in order for us to be driven to our knees. He does it so we will call out to His Son!

Free, Free, Free...I said FREE!

What we mean by salvation is this-deliverance from the love of sin, rescue from the habit of sin, setting free from the desire to sin. –Spurgeon

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1

This morning, I am reminded of the fact we are free from the grips of sin. Not by anything I have done but by His grace we have the power to say no. We have the power to choose right. We have the power to be delivered from temptation.

How is that preacher; when we yield our mind, our body, our will over to His. Consider this scripture: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Galatians 5:16-17

What am I to do Preacher?

We are not told that Jesus ever taught His disciple how to preach, but He taught them how to pray. He wanted them to have power with God; then He knew they would have power with man. - D.L. Moody

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41

There is a constant battle between the flesh and the spirit. We are constantly bombarded by the temptations of life and our flesh is like, “Feed Me!” The world throws every temptation at our flesh so the Spirit of God that abides within will be suppressed and we could potentially cave to our fleshly desires. What should I do preacher? Pray! Pray! Pray! And be reminded of Scripture: Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4

Temptations endured equals blessings to follow.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12

I wished that every time I have been tempted I could say, “I endured”. But the truth of the matter is; I have often failed. I have often succumbed to the temptations the world, the devil, and most of all my wicked flesh throw at me. We should be reminded that; “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” As well as, “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 Corinthians 10:13” But as children of God when we find ourselves succumbed to sin be reminded HE forgives!—“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9”