Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of Zach Williams singing … Chain Breaker … powerfully singing of how Christians can break the chains of sin, addiction, and death by following our “Chain Breaker,” Jesus.
==============
Highlight Verse[s]: Proverbs 7:24-25 [NLT] … 24 So listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to my words. 25 Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her. Don’t wander down her wayward path.
… Solomon tries to warn his sons (as God warns us) to avoid being lured down the wayward path to sin/death thru sexual sin.
==============
Highlight Passage [context]: Proverbs 7 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Solomon, warns any believer of the temptations the world will use to woo believers down the deadly road of sexual sin.
==============
Reference Passage : … Luke 9:23 [NLT] … 23 Then He said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. …”
… When we deny our human urges and follow our Lord’s way, we will avoid the road to sin/death which Satan wants us to follow.
Reference Passage : … 1 Corinthians 10:13 [NLT] … 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
… When we’re will to surrender to God road in life, He will always lead us way from the path that temptation would lead to death and toward the way of life, which is Christ’s way.
Reference Passage
: … 2 Corinthians 12:9 [NLT] …
9 Each time He said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
… God’s empowering grace is what we need to let God’s power cover our weaknesses and temptations.
Reference Passage : … Ephesians 6:10-18 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul, from prison, shows fellow Christians how to do battle against temptation using God’s full armor, His Spirit-Sword, and taking the high ground with prayer.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Mike Wittmer, used a reference to C.S. Lewis’ book, Screwtape Letters, and Solomon’s teaching in Proverbs 7 to illustrate how Satan uses the temptation of sexual sin to misdirect and waylay Christians from the path to righteousness. … The ODB author wrote: C. S. Lewis warned of this downward spiral [into sexual sin] in Screwtape Letters [see photo], his imaginative look at a demon’s explanation of the art of temptation. Start with some pleasure—if possible one of God’s good pleasures—and offer it in a way God has forbidden. Once the person bites, give less of it while enticing him to want more. Provide “an ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure,” until finally we “get the man’s soul and give him nothing in return.” Proverbs 7 illustrates this devastating cycle with the temptation of sexual sin.
Take it from one who’s been there (yeah, me!!)!! In this hyper-sexual, “pornified,” world, it’s easy, as Solomon wrote about warning his sons in Proverbs 7, to be led down Satan’s path of sexual temptation. Survey statistics show us that well over 60% of Christian men these days are using internet pornography on a regular basis, which, of course, is Satan’s ploy to destroy Christian marriages, families, and churches.
But, as Paul wrote about to fellow Christians in 1Cor. 10:13 and 2Cor. 12:9, we need not follow that very tempting path of sexual sin in our world. We can put on the full armor of God (see Eph. 6:10-18) and, stand against the world, and be victorious in following Christ into battle (Luke 9:23).
And if any reader here would like to find the way off the road of sexual temptation and to move from victim to VICTORY, please contact me thru www.battleplanministries.org … our ministry to help Christians walk away from the road of sexual temptation toward the path to victory and freedom following Jesus.
=============
My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for taking us from being victims of temptation to being victorious in Christ.
=============
My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to walk in the victory over temptation where Christ leads us when we follow Him into battle. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment