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Title: Escaping from Temptation   Send to a Friend
Date: 03/19/2011    
 
Friends,

Welcome to another addition of Women of Wisdom's (W.O.W) e-letter! W.O.W's mission is to encourage you to live the divine purpose for your life! Expect to see a W.O.W. e-letter monthly and be sure to pass them on to your friends.

"No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he''ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he''ll always be there to help you come through it. " (1 Corinthians 10:13 The Message Bible)

First Corinthians 10:13 promises us that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, but with every temptation He will also provide the way out - the means of escape.  The end result will be that we are capable and strong to patiently bear up under whatever negative circumstances we face.  I wish that I would always believe God''s promises.  But the truth of the matter is that I have often had to learn that His promises are true after I have made a few mistakes first.  It is only then that I have those ''aha'' moments when I am able to to say to myself, "didn''t God tell you that He would do this or do that?" 

Case in point: My husband and I were on a 21 day Daniel Fast not too long ago. On this particular fast, you are only allowed to eat vegetables and fruit and only drink water.  For us, it has always been a time of spirtual renewal and a holy habit that we started a couple of years ago.  However on this particular occasion, we had a football game to attend.  We both stated that we would not be tempted to eat any of the food that inevitably would be available at the stadium and would just go hungry if the acceptable food items were missing.  We had good intentions.  However, once we got to the game and smelled those hotdogs roasting and the chili bubbling, we were lost.  In fairness, we did glance around to see if there were any veggie trays at the game - but we were already convinced of the idea that vegetables and fruit at a NFL football game were highly unlikely.

So we started to rationalize.  You know the drill.  We started saying things like "well, it wont hurt to have one hotdog...'' and "there isn''t anything in the food court that we can eat..." and "let''s not be legalistic about this fast, God doesn''t expect us to starve..." and on and on we went with one juicy rationalization after another until we had talked ourselves into breaking our fast "just for the game".  We grabbed those hotdogs, headed to the condiments stand and were ''licking our chops'' so to speak, when on our way there we both stopped dead in our tracks.  There in the middle of the food court was a complete salad bar, with made to order salads!  We couldn''t believe our eyes!  When did they put that salad bar in the stadium?   Surely, it wasn''t there earlier when we had walked right past it on our way to our seats?!  Oh-oh!  We had just spent a million dollars on hotdogs and there was our escape hatch right in front of us!

I was reminded of an important lesson that day.  God''s word is always true.  Always!  Even in the small details of life, His word and His promises are true.  He said that there wasn''t anything that would tempt us that isn''t common to everyone and He promised that He would provide a way of escape when (not if) we are tempted.  We simply have to be intentional about looking for the escape route when temptation occurs or avoid situations altogether that we know are a temptation for us in the first place.

Let the truth of God''s words minister to your heart as you face temptation in life.  Jesus fought temptation with the Word of God.  We must learn to do the same.  The next time you are tempted remind God of His promise to you.  The Amplified Bible says it this way:

"For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear].  But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently."  Amen!


Be Blessed!

Mary

Mary Banks

For Speaking Engagements: Contact 281.537.5959
Mary_Banks@wowconsultinggroup.com

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© 2011, Mary E. Banks Permission is granted to forward this e-letter (and it's greatly encouraged) provided the © copyright notice and contact information are included. Thanks!

   
 
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Escaping from Temptation     03/19/11
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