Facing Temptation, Head On

Good Morning!! This world offers us thousands of way, to commit thousands of sins. And our sinful nature, assaults us from inside our own heads, with a complex and varied, array of lusts, fears, ambitions, and doubts. Yet Jesus' simple, balanced admonition is an effective weapon against every one of these temptations to sin,...watch and pray. Lest we expect God to do all our fighting for us, we are told to watch. It is our responsibility to keep our spiritual eyes open (which sometimes means keeping our physical eyes closed, or averted) for any avenue by which sin might gain entrance into our soul.

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."—Matthew 26:41 (NIV)

We'reto guard our heart from disloyalty, and our testimony from indiscretion,...by actively engaging ourselves in the relentless pursuit of purity and goodness. On the other hand, we cannot possibly expect to overcome our ever-present inclination toward sin, or the age-old cunning of Satan,...by our own strength. And so we must pray. We must rely on the sustaining grace and purifying power of the Holy Spirit's work within us. Because our flesh is so weak, no matter how willing our spirit may be it is imperative that we be in a constant posture of watchfulness and prayer.

You may think that you're only doing a little wrong, or doing wrong just a little,

...but the truth of the matter is; there is simply no way to do wrong, right.

 

Holy Spirit of God, help us to see the direct correlation between our prayerful watchfulness, and our ability to withstand or avoid temptation. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

"The Lord calls for us to stand,...but not always to understand."