you might ask, does following CHRIST
exempt you from temptation? the answer
is no. of course not. in fact you’re probably going to be more
tempted once you become a believer because you’ve got a big bull’s eye on you
and satan hates your guts. he wants to
take you down.
of course you’re going to be tempted. so if you ever hear some CHRISTian say, “i just thank GOD i haven’t been tempted in twenty-five years.” it’s just not true. you’re going to be tempted the rest of your life.
followers of CHRIST – that’s you and me – we have the exact same problems, same hurts, same fears, same difficulties, same sins, same failures as everybody else in the world. we just have two significant differences. one, we realize that because JESUS CHRIST died on the cross for my sins and i can come to HIM and HE will forgive me of any sin that i have done. so salvation and GOD’s grace in my life means i’ve been forgiven. that’s a big advantage. a big advantage! i have been forgiven.
the second thing i have is, i’ve got a church family. in a church family i can find other people who say, we’re with you. we’re going to hang in there with you. we’re going to be with you. the church is not a hotel for saints where they dress up for dress parade. it’s a hospital for sinners. people who say i want to grow. GOD says that’s the kind of people i want.
now the most common temptations without a doubt are sexual temptations. why? i don’t know if you’ve figured this out or not but everybody is either a man or a woman. so as a result sexual temptations are the most common temptations.
not everybody is tempted to do drugs, smoke weed, not everybody is tempted to go get drunk and drive drunk. but everybody is either a man or a woman. and satan tries to get those drives and those desires – good GODly drives –perverted, misused or abused. yet it is the one area of temptation that people least like to talk about.
i love that line that says you’ve never gone too far for GOD’s grace.
just a thought from the front porch…
of course you’re going to be tempted. so if you ever hear some CHRISTian say, “i just thank GOD i haven’t been tempted in twenty-five years.” it’s just not true. you’re going to be tempted the rest of your life.
followers of CHRIST – that’s you and me – we have the exact same problems, same hurts, same fears, same difficulties, same sins, same failures as everybody else in the world. we just have two significant differences. one, we realize that because JESUS CHRIST died on the cross for my sins and i can come to HIM and HE will forgive me of any sin that i have done. so salvation and GOD’s grace in my life means i’ve been forgiven. that’s a big advantage. a big advantage! i have been forgiven.
the second thing i have is, i’ve got a church family. in a church family i can find other people who say, we’re with you. we’re going to hang in there with you. we’re going to be with you. the church is not a hotel for saints where they dress up for dress parade. it’s a hospital for sinners. people who say i want to grow. GOD says that’s the kind of people i want.
now the most common temptations without a doubt are sexual temptations. why? i don’t know if you’ve figured this out or not but everybody is either a man or a woman. so as a result sexual temptations are the most common temptations.
not everybody is tempted to do drugs, smoke weed, not everybody is tempted to go get drunk and drive drunk. but everybody is either a man or a woman. and satan tries to get those drives and those desires – good GODly drives –perverted, misused or abused. yet it is the one area of temptation that people least like to talk about.
i love that line that says you’ve never gone too far for GOD’s grace.
just a thought from the front porch…
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