Tag Archives: temptation

Morning Musings, Uncategorized

Lot’s Slippery Slope.

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Genesis Nineteen….      Verse 1….

  Lot had started out with his tent pitched towards Sodom (chapter 13:12) and now he was sitting IN the gate of Sodom as one of the chief men. How often we start on a course that we think we can handle, only to find that it overcomes us in the end!

   We don’t know whether Lot’s wife was from Sodom or not, but the family was living in Sodom and part of it by this time with at least two married daughters living there. Lot didn’t agree with the wickedness that went on in the city….his righteous soul was vexed every day by what he saw around him (2 Peter 2:6-9)… but he was too weak and too committed to move out.

   No wonder the Psalmist could say that the man who could keep from socialising with the ungodly, standing with sinners in business or sitting in politics or councils was blessed indeed. (Psalm 1:1-6). It takes a strong committed Christian to be able to be in a position like this and to keep from being sucked into the system.

  So now we see Lot sitting in the gate with the other officials, meeting these messengers from God who had come to warn him to flee from the coming destruction.

Lot started off with good intentions, Now found himself in evil past mention, Through Abraham’s prayers, He was saved from these cares, And taken away from dissension.

                           ***   ***   ***

Life Lessons

Beware of the Temptation in Your Pocket!

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    Do you have an idol? You might ask whatever I’m talking about! An idol? Of course not. The very idea is ridiculous!!!    But do you know what God classes as an idol? An idol is anything that you can’t possibly do without. Anything that you raise up in the place that God  wants from you. Something that, at least for a moment, takes first place in your heart.

    How do you feel if you find you have left your phone behind when you go out? Does something seem to be missing? Is there a feeling of panic?    What exactly do you use your smart phone for anyway? Do you use it merely for messages or talking on the phone? Or do you sneak looks at some of the things on line that you wouldn’t like your mother see you doing?     Whatever your idol is, will prove to be a special kind of temptation for you when you use your phone. If you idolize sexual pleasure, you will probably be tempted to use your phone to look at pornography. Did you know that more than half of all pornography is now viewed on mobile devices like yours? This means that many people like you bought a smart phone so they could text with their friends and take pictures of their vacation, but somehow they ended up using it to look at pornography or other dubious sites. They used this great, God-given technology to do harm instead of good.

    Or perhaps this isn’t your problem, but you like to pass on juicy bits of news with unkind innuendos of the ones you are texting about! If you find yourself being tempted in this way, ask God to give you the strength to resist looking at doubtful sites, and sending those texts. Right now. If that doesn’t work, go back to the ordinary small phone that only does talking and texting until the temptation is out of your system. Remember that verse that says And now, little children, abide in Him (Jesus); that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming  (1 John 2:28).

Morning Musings

Beware of the Temptation in Your Pocket (1)

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This blog has been on this site before, but it doesn’t do us any harm to be reminded of the traps that surround us….

Do you have an idol? You might ask whatever I’m talking about! An idol? Of course not. The very idea is ridiculous!!!   

But do you know what God classes as an idol? An idol is anything that you can’t possibly do without. Anything that you raise up in the place that God  wants from you. Something that, at least for a moment, takes first place in your heart.

    How do you feel if you find you have left your phone behind when you go out? Does something seem to be missing? Is there a feeling of panic? What exactly do you use your smart phone for anyway? Do you use it merely for messages or talking on the phone? Or do you sneak looks at some of the things on line that you wouldn’t like anyone at home to see you doing?

    Whatever your idol is, will prove to be a special kind of temptation for you when you use your phone. If you idolize sexual pleasure, you will probably be tempted to use your phone to look at pornography. Did you know that more than half of all pornography is now viewed on mobile devices like yours? This means that many people like you bought a smart phone so they could text with their friends and take pictures of their vacation, but somehow they ended up using it to look at pornography. They used this great, God-given technology to do harm instead of good.

    If you find yourself being tempted in this way, ask God to give you the strength to resist looking at those sites. Right now. If that doesn’t work, go back to the ordinary small phone that only does talking and texting until the temptation is out of your system. Remember that verse that says And now, little children, abide in Him (Jesus); that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming  (1 John 2:28).

Morning Musings

How Do You Handle Temptation?

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It is Written….

BIBLE2How do we handle temptation? Can we write it off as merely being something pertaining to a time past and in a different culture? Satan is a past master at suggesting that God maybe didn’t really mean what He said. Perhaps  these days are different! Perhaps we had misunderstood what God had said! Perhaps it is just our interpretation (or the other person’s)?

Satan can even quote the Scripture to reinforce his points of temptation….”look, here it says ‘It is written’ ”

We must be so careful to have the correct interpretation of Scripture firmly fixed in our minds, and not take any verses out of context. If Satan had gone a little further in quoting the verses, he would have been showing his own demise.

We must not be like Eve was. She listened to Satan’s suggestions that God didn’t want them to know the difference between being good and bad, and then she had a second look at the fruit. It DID look nice, perhaps God WAS being mean in saying they weren’t to touch it ! Instead of saying to Satan, “GOD says we aren’t to touch it”, she took that second look and was lost. She didn’t even put up any further argument. She saw it looked good and she took it. She could have thrown it away at that point, but she didn’t. She ate it and gave one to Adam as well. Do you notice that Satan didn’t bother to tempt Adam? He left Eve to do that, and Adam fell with her.

Of course the things that tempt us look good. But we must learn to shut our minds to  temptation when it comes, stand firm for what we know is right, and say “It is written…God said it, I believe it, and that settles it!”