1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Temptation is something with which we are all familiar. No matter who you are, where you live, how long you've been a Christian, or what you do for a living, you have been tempted. And you will be tempted again, probably even today. Therefore, let's stop and ask an important question: What is temptation?
Quite simply, temptation is an enticement to take a God-given desire beyond our God-given boundaries. You may say, "God-given desire? There's no way that this desire came from God!" Well, let me ask you something: Who made you? Who built into you those drives and desires that you feel?
The longings for food, intimacy, and relationships all come straight from God. The problem arises when we take these desires beyond the boundaries God has set for us. For example, He created sex for enjoyment within marriage. However, this God-given desire is horribly misused when the physical act of sex occurs outside of matrimony. Then, something that God designed for His purposes becomes the source of guilt and shame. That is not what God intended.
You may sometimes feel at the mercy of your temptation. Know, however, that feelings of temptation are just that: feelings. They can be controlled, refused, and refocused into some other healthy activity.
God has assured us that He will not abandon us in the midst of temptation, no matter how alone we may feel. When you feel the pressure to sin, call on Him to refocus your energies and attention.
Be the first to react on this!
Charles Frazier Stanley was born September 25, 1932, in the small town of Dry Fork, Virginia. The only child of Charley and Rebecca Stanley, Charles came into the world during a time when the entire nation felt the grip of the Great Depression. To make matters worse, just nine months later, his father Charley died at the young age of 29.
However, Charles refused to let the Great Depression or the difficulties of his life define him. Instead, like his father and grandfather before him, he clung to God’s Word and took up the mantle to preach the gospel to whoever would listen.
Dr. Stanley’s motivation is best represented by the truth found in Acts 20:24, “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God's mighty kindness and love.” This is because, as he says, “It is the Word of God and the work of God that changes people’s lives.”
Dr. Stanley’s teachings can be heard weekly at First Baptist Church Atlanta, daily on “In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley” radio and television broadcasts on more than 2,800 stations around the world, on the Internet at intouch.org, through the In Touch Messenger, and in the monthly, award-winning In Touch magazine.