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Beware of This Tactic of the Devil

We are well aware that the devil is sly and deceitful. He uses many tactics to deceive. One of those tactics is temptation. He used it on Eve with his cunning words found in Genesis 3:1-5. The devil also used the tactic of enticement on Jesus in the wilderness as we can read in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13. Just as the devil utilized temptation on Eve, Jesus and others in biblical history, he will surely attempt to use it on us today. Satan knows that temptation is a seed to committing sin, so he uses it to attempt to tear us away from God. We read in James 1:13-15, "[13] When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; [14] but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. [15] Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." Satan desires to destroy us. He desires to take us away from God's promise of eternal life. How can we overcome temptations? How can we arm ourselves against this tactic of the devil? We must submit to God and come near to Him. We read in James 4:7-8, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you." We come near to God through reading His Word daily and remaining in communication with Him through prayer. We lean on him for wisdom and strength. Solomon shared this wisdom in Proverbs 3:5-7, "[5] Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; [6] in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. [7] Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil." When we rely on God, He promises to lead us and instruct us as He ensures us in Proverbs 4:13-15, "Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way." Notice here, that God instructs us to avoid the path of the wicked. We must avoid temptation. We must turn away from it. We must remove any temptation from our lives. If we don't, it will lay crouching at our door, waiting for us to have a weak moment just as we read in Genesis 4:7. When we clean our lives of temptations, we can't leave our spiritual house empty. We must fill it with the word of God and prayer. Otherwise temptation will re-enter that empty space and we can find ourselves in a worse situation than before...just as Jesus warns us in Luke 11:24-26. The good news is that Jesus knows the power of temptation. He understands our struggle. We read in Hebrews 2:18, "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Jesus has experienced the confrontation of temptation and therefore, can empathize with our battles. He is always there for us to strengthen us and carry us onward to victory over any temptation. We read in Hebrews 4:15-16, "[15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. [16] Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." God's Word encourages us to come to Him for help. Jesus instructed his disciples to pray in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Jesus understands our weaknesses, which is why He has given us a helper - the Holy Spirit - by which we are given strength, perseverance, wisdom, and self-control. Apostle Paul teaches us in Galatians 5:16 "let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves." How do we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit? We fill our mind with His Holy Word by which we are filled with His wisdom. Through having read God's word, we equip the Holy Spirit to use those scriptures to bring them back to our mind, to guide us, and to lead us on the straight path. The Spirit cannot use what we have not read. God freely gives us, his children, the Holy Spirit to guard us, teach us, and lead us. This was made available to us through the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is because of Jesus that we can overcome and are guaranteed victory as we read in 1 John 5:4-5. So let us stand strong with confidence against the devil’s tactic of temptation. God has equipped us with His Holy Spirit, with His rich wisdom in His Holy Word and He has given us His one and only son, Jesus, who understands our struggles and weaknesses. We only need to lean on what God has provided and we will overcome and have victory over the devil’s schemes. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Visit us at www.facebook.com/dailygodgems and www.dailygodgems.com