NEW BEGINNINGS 2013 DAY 12: TEMPATION (Part 3)

God is faithful.

No one can tempt God. 
God never tempts anyone. 

These two truths are significant for two important reasons:

1. As one who is never tempted to do evil, or fulfill selfish desires, God is completely trustworthy. He never has an ulterior motive. He has no unfulfilled needs or desires. People can not add to nor subtract from the eternal, infinite, and intrinsic happiness of God. This is both humbling and comforting. 

2. As one who never tempts anyone, everyone can know that God never created needs or desires with no intention to fulfill them. Satan is the tempter and teaser. Selfish desire is the true source of temptation, according to the book of James in the Bible. 

Therefore, God is faithful. Trustworthy. Reliable. He never tempts, but helps people resist temptation. He does this by fulfilling their true needs and desires, and thus giving them the power to resist the deception behind every temptation: that God is somehow or in some way withholding good that Satan is more than willing to give. 

Satan suggested this to Eve in relation to the forbidden. Ignoring the already given was the deception. Adam and Eve were denied ONLY ONE THING! They had God Himself, each other, and literally the world! They could have as many children as they wanted. In fact, God WANTED them to fill the earth with children! They lacked nothing to take care of a world full of children. This in addition to the glory, honor, and power of God. But Satan got Eve to ignore the overwhelming goodness and faithfulness of God. When she and Adam did this, all that is evil in this world came into being. 

Yet God is never tempted, nor does He tempt anyone. He is not selfish, nor does he create needs and desires with no intention to fulfill them. Knowing this truth in the New Year gives power to resist the deception behind every temptation. 

But this is the truth: 

Every good and perfect gift comes from God!

NEW BEGINNINGS 2013 DAY 11: TEMPATION (Part 2)

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 

Three types of people fear New Year temptations: 

The ones battling 
1. passions. 
2. anxieties 
3. and anger. 

Or a combination of all three. 

Apply these to the promise of God: that no temptation will be “uncommon.” 

This means if a man’s vice is sexual passion, for example, he will not be sexually tempted by a woman in a way that has never happened before, or will never happen again. Whatever the seductress says or does to tempt him has been said and done before; it also has been successfully resisted before! Joseph in the Bible is a perfect example. 

If a woman is worried about resisting over-eating, there is no new and irresistible food on earth. Whatever she feels has been felt before, and will be felt again. No matter how strong her temptation, some woman has experienced it and overcome it! 

The man who fears violently losing his temper will not be provoked to anger in a way that has never occurred. Whatever situations he will face that has infuriated him, or will infuriate him, has infuriated many men before him. And many men have controlled their tempers in those situations. 

This truth alone brings encouragement and comfort; one of the Tempter’s lies about temptations is that each is a completely new situation. The tempted man or woman is supposedly alone! No one understands the strength of what he or she is going through, according to the devil. This is a lie that should be resisted. God will not allow this, because He is faithful!

NEW BEGINNINGS 2013 DAY 10: TEMPTATION

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

What people fear most about New Year’s resolutions are future temptations. After all, what causes relapses in bad behavior more than the seduction of old passions? The anticipation of coming situations, with very particular women, fills one man with dread. A woman thinks she’ll resist chocolate today, but the time will come when chocolate triumphs. Temptation. Is it possible to have certainty that they can be consistently resisted and overcome, today, tomorrow, and permanently? God promises this very thing. 

In fact, He promises four things: 

1. No temptation will be “uncommon.” 
2. God will be faithful when temptation comes. 
3. He will not allow any irresistible temptations. 
4. With every temptation, IN ADVANCE, he will make a way of escape or resistance. 

Now if people really believed this, then no future situation or anticipation of temptation would cause any anxiety at all! They would know that no temptation experienced in the past, present, OR FUTURE is unique or new. They would know that God is with them and trustworthy. They would know that Satan, the Tempter, is under God’s control; and that each temptation Satan tailor makes for each person has a God placed limitation, so that it will never be impossible to resist; or even too hard to resist. 

God has promised this. Future temptations against New Year’s Resolutions need not be feared!

NEW BEGINNINGS 2013 DAY 9: EVERYTHING NEEDED

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  2 Peter 1:3 NIV

New beginnings seem hard when people feel they don’t have what it takes. They feel they must acquire qualities that don’t come naturally. Failure is inevitability. Each think, “If only I had what I lack, what I need to succeed in changing!” But God Himself provides this need. He has already provided! 

1. His provision is unlimited power. 
2. It is for life and godliness. 
3. It comes through intimate connection to Him. 

The issue is a lack of power. Whether motivation or ability, some feel they just don’t have it in them. But what if they did? What if the issue wasn’t power, but simply a choice to act? God gives this! By trusting in Him, the issue is never power, but the choice to believe God is all powerful. His power is for their life and the change they seek: godliness. Wherever a person is in life, he can know that God has already given him power in that very circumstance. God always supplies for His will. 

Everything in life that is God’s will already has God’s power. God’s will is godliness: that she may be like Christ would be in her situation. So whenever her goal is godliness, she can assume that God has already empowered her. Perhaps she is a mother, and needs patience. The power to be patient is already hers, the power of God Himself to be patient! If she prays for patience, then acts by faith, then she simply needs to act AS IF SHE IS ALREADY PATIENT, as C.S. Lewis said, 

“Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to act as if you had it already.” 

She must act after prayer if she wants to feel the power already there. She must also stay intimately connected to God, the only source of unlimited power. 

In scripture, to know someone means intimate connection, not mere intellectual knowledge. By intimate connection with God, a man who needs self-control will have the power. He is a plug in a socket. As long as He stays connected, the power is there. 

God already provided everything needed for life and new beginnings.  Everyone has the power they need, and they have no lack of power! Success is natural. Failure is not inevitable. It is not hard because they have what it takes: God’s unlimited power, available through prayer and acts of faith!

NEW BEGINNINGS 2013 DAY 8

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  Old things have passed.  

Behold, all things have become new." Paul, the Apostle

The beautiful thing about being born again is this:  eternal change.  A new nature is a seed that grows in glory with each passing day.  It begins with repentance, blossoms in forgiveness, and culminates in holiness.

To repent is to acknowledge the need to change directions; to completely change course.  This happens with conviction, when the Spirit reveals the truth about self centered goals.

If conviction is accepted, then forgiveness is sought.  A selfish person feels remorse for ignoring the love and purpose of his or her Creator.  He wants nothing more than to acknowledge the One he has ignored.  She wants nothing more than to serve the purpose for which she was created.

This purpose is holiness:  to belong completely to God, set apart for his honor.  This is a total change of heart.  In the past the heart sought its own pleasure and honor.  In the present, the eternal now, the new creature seeks the Creator’s pleasure and honor alone. 

Repentance.

Forgiveness.

Holiness.

When Christ came, he made it possible to permanently change, and to be permanently changing.  The progression of perfection is like the rising of the sun.  Each day shines with new glory for those who are born again.

NEW BEGINNINGS: 2013 DAY 7--NOW!

“There is no other day, all days are present now.  This moment contains all moments.”

An angel in C.S. Lewis’ “The Great Divorce”

Some focus solely on the future when it comes to changing.  They feel that if they can just hold out for 21 days, or a month, or a year, THEN the change will be real and lasting.  But 21 days starts with 21 seconds, 21 minutes, and 21 hours.  In other words, change starts now!  In fact, it is ONLY changing NOW that matters at all!

True, a future goal is necessary, and the desire to establish new habits is crucial.  But again, habits begin on this day and in this moment ALONE!  When people who strive to be different from last year focus on next year instead of this moment, they inevitably miss this vital truth: 

God only promises to help people NOW!

Jesus taught his followers to pray for their DAILY bread, not their monthly or yearly provisions.  He commanded them not to worry about tomorrow because each DAY had enough trouble.  The scriptures teach that TODAY is the day of salvation, NOT TOMORROW.

This is comforting and encouraging because people have perfect control over themselves RIGHT NOW!  At this moment everyone’s mind can be focused on whatever they choose.  Right now, everyone can be whatever they imagine!

For example, take a man who wants to control his temper this year.  Yes, he should be prepared for future provocations.  But the best focus is being a gentle spirit presently, when there are no provocations.  If he must be concerned with the future, RIGHT NOW he can practice in his imagination resisting provocations.  This is beneficial because the mind will learn even when provocations are merely imagined. 

“Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to act as if you had it already.”

C.S. Lewis

Again, people become what they habitually imagine in different situations.  The angry woman imagines arguments before they happen.  If she imagines patient responses in situations RIGHT NOW, she will change her responses IN THE PRESENT, and in the future. 

Yet it is only changing now that matters at all!  A twenty one day goal is good only if it is forgotten for the sake of present moments.  Real, lasting change begins today, not in the future.  Every habit begins in today’s imaginations. 

Today!

Now!

This very moment!

NEW BEGINNINGS 2013 DAY 6 (The Chair Where You Sit)

Here is the chair where you sit.

In that chair sits your body.

In your body lives your soul.

In your soul, your mind is inflamed!

In your mind a passion burns.

That passion's fire is fueled by your will.

From your will beams the light of a new spirit.

The light of your new spirit reveals a new beginning!

A new beginning in your new spirit,

A new spirit in your new will,

A new will fuels your passion's fire,

Passion's fire consumes your mind's focus,

That focus is in your body, the body that sits where you are.

Here is the chair where you sit,

where you sit today,

in this moment,

right here,

right now!

 (Inspired by Susan Marie Swanson's "The House in The Night")

(Images from Google Images)