June 10
“Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” (Hebrews 10:35-36)
I heard years ago the phrase from my alcoholic father’s Alcoholics Anonymous program, “One day at a time.” I think there is a lot of wisdom in this advice that I have not always appreciated as I do today. I have had better success at overcoming temptation persistently, day after day, when I make a point to each day ask the Lord for His strength to endure, His hatred for sin, His zeal to overcome, His encouragement, His fellowship, His self-control, the filling of His Spirit, and for whatever else I know I need to keep in mind in order to successfully overcome sin. In addition to this, I promise Him each morning that, by His grace, today I will not commit such and such sin. Praying these prayers and making a promise to God for today helps keep me focused and renewed each and every day to overcome temptation this day. This works better for me than depending on my own strength and relying on a commitment I made days, weeks, or months ago.
I think that this is a crucial difference in thinking, in that we realize that we are totally dependent on Him each and every day for victory, and that we cannot do it without Him. We in our own strength cannot defeat the powers of the devil, no matter how much determination we have or how much hatred we have for the thing today. We need Jesus every day, and every minute of every day. Don’t focus on tomorrow or trust in your own resolve to overcome temptation. Realize that you need His grace to overcome today. “Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Another aspect of persistence in resisting temptation are those times when temptation seems overbearing, too strong. We pray for victory, we cry out to the Lord, we may even rebuke evil in the Name of the Lord, but it seems like it doesn’t work. Temptation doesn’t leave. It is still nagging us in our minds and interrupting our thoughts. We don’t have God’s peace. The things we try to resist don’t seem to be working. If you ever find yourself in this type of situation, realize that this happens some times, and we have to just keep at it. Keep crying out to God for deliverance, keep believing, keep refusing, keep remembering that there is no good thing that will come from it, keep realizing that you are being presented with a great opportunity and reward if you succeed, keep rebuking Satan in the name of the Lord, and keep rejecting sin. Eventually, sooner rather than later, temptation will leave, and you will have relief. But I want to let you know, lest someone say, “I tried doing such and such as you suggested, and it didn’t work; the temptation didn’t leave me and I was overcome,” that there are times when we have to just keep doing battle with temptation and the devil. We have to keep at it, keep it up, and keep resisting. The Lord will not leave us alone; He will come to our aid. But it may not be easy at times. We have to struggle and fight like we mean business.
Focus on today. Cry out to Him today for victory. Keep refusing temptation no matter how difficult and how persistent it seems to be. Cultivate an intimate, continual, abiding relationship with Him today, now, and you will have the ability to overcome temptation immediately, decisively, and persistently, each and every day.