April 27
“If you abide in My word then you are truly disciples of Mine, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free….If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:31, 32, 36)
We have discussed the steps needed to READY ourselves and prepare for temptation. We are working through a process to develop a plan for each of the sins that beset us or tempt us. We discussed (1) Wanting to break the cycle and wanting to understand how we failed and (2) Examining and analyzing the circumstances, feelings, and thinking that lead us to sin. Now we turn our attention to (3) Understanding the truth and how correct beliefs and actions could have enabled us to avoid those sins.
Once we see clearly the points at which we gave ourselves over to temptation and sin (step 2), we can look back and ask ourselves, “Was I deceived about something or disobedient to what I knew I should do?”
Examples of being deceived about something may include not knowing whether or not a particular path or choice was God’s will or not. Perhaps we wanted to reach out to our unsaved friends and be a witness of Christ to them. We had good intentions but ended up being deceived by them or the circumstances we found ourselves in overwhelmed us. Or we may feel so discouraged and depressed about something or may loathe ourselves to such and extent that we truly believe that God has abandoned us and loathes us even more than we do ourselves. We may be deceived into thinking ill about someone else, and perhaps we view them with contempt because we assume ill motives. There are many ways that we can be deceived about situations and individuals and our own thinking.
We must regularly cry out to God for “truth in the innermost being” (Psalm 51:6) and wisdom from above (James 1:5, 3:17, Proverbs 8). We must regularly seek to “be filled with the knowledge of His will, in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9). We need the Lord to show us His truths and set us free by those truths (John 8:31-36). We desperately need TRUTH to replace all the lies we believe about ourselves, about others, and about God. We have to be in the Word daily so that God can remove our errant thinking and replace it with right thinking. Not being deceived by temptation is a key part in readying ourselves and preparing for temptation.
The other possibility is that I am not deceived by temptation but rather I am disobedient – I proceed to do things that I know full well are sin, things that are harmful to me and are repulsive to God. More on this tomorrow.