there was this pastor in california
that had to go into downtown santa ana for a meeting. he was late and ended up
parking in a no parking zone. so he
wrote a note to “bribe” the cop and he put it under his windshield wiper. “i’ve
circled this block ten times and i have to make this appointment or my heavenly
boss will be upset with me.. remember… ‘forgive us our sins.’”
when he got back he found a ticket on his car and this note from a police officer.. “i’ve circled this block for ten years. if i don’t give you a ticket, my earthly boss will be upset with me. remember.. ‘lead us not into temptation.’”
today we have come to the 7th phrase as we have been going phrase by phrase through the LORD’s prayer. and GOD may have left at the end of this prayer, the most significant and difficult request of them all. matthew 6.13 (nlt), and don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
is there anyone reading this that does not understand the need for that appeal?
temptation is the oldest problem on the planet, and we all have problems with it. for we all have weaknesses of the flesh, we all have dark areas we don’t keep under control. that’s the bad news.
the good news is: GOD desires to assist us. HE says, “I want to help you get control of your life. I want to teach you how you can handle and overcome temptation.”
now we are going to look at this because i believe that all of us have great intentions to not keep continually falling into these traps. in our self we say, i think that today is going to be different. but it never is.
somehow in some way i always fall back into the same old ways of relating to people and my old bad habits. sometimes i feel like there’s a tug of war going on inside of me. i really want to do what’s best but i always end up disappointing myself and GOD. i’ve tried everything –resolutions, self-help tapes, even hypnosis. nothing seems to work. why do i keep making the same mistakes falling into the same traps over and over? why am i so resistant to change? why do i do things that i know are bad for me? i’m very discouraged and i need help getting unstuck.”
if that is what you are feeling then the next 2 – 3 weeks are for you as we look at how do i keep from falling into the traps of persistent temptations.
just a thought from the front porch…
when he got back he found a ticket on his car and this note from a police officer.. “i’ve circled this block for ten years. if i don’t give you a ticket, my earthly boss will be upset with me. remember.. ‘lead us not into temptation.’”
today we have come to the 7th phrase as we have been going phrase by phrase through the LORD’s prayer. and GOD may have left at the end of this prayer, the most significant and difficult request of them all. matthew 6.13 (nlt), and don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
is there anyone reading this that does not understand the need for that appeal?
temptation is the oldest problem on the planet, and we all have problems with it. for we all have weaknesses of the flesh, we all have dark areas we don’t keep under control. that’s the bad news.
the good news is: GOD desires to assist us. HE says, “I want to help you get control of your life. I want to teach you how you can handle and overcome temptation.”
now we are going to look at this because i believe that all of us have great intentions to not keep continually falling into these traps. in our self we say, i think that today is going to be different. but it never is.
somehow in some way i always fall back into the same old ways of relating to people and my old bad habits. sometimes i feel like there’s a tug of war going on inside of me. i really want to do what’s best but i always end up disappointing myself and GOD. i’ve tried everything –resolutions, self-help tapes, even hypnosis. nothing seems to work. why do i keep making the same mistakes falling into the same traps over and over? why am i so resistant to change? why do i do things that i know are bad for me? i’m very discouraged and i need help getting unstuck.”
if that is what you are feeling then the next 2 – 3 weeks are for you as we look at how do i keep from falling into the traps of persistent temptations.
just a thought from the front porch…
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