Quote from Forum Archives on March 26, 2001, 10:23 am

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

This is a good message for us to consider as we begin another
challenging week of work and facing the onslaught of a typical
week --- if you will not be facing some kind of "onslaught", I
wonder if your week typifies those of most of us on this mailing
list. For me, I know that my week will be demanding, it will
require hard work, perseverence, patience at home, patience as I
travel, and the grace of God in my heart as I take on each day.

My prayer for each of us, as we enter into that, is not so much
that God will remove temptations from our lives - they are
everywhere, but rather, that God will be active and present with
each of us, and that we will sense and know His Presence, and
respond to Him, so that we may be delivered safely from the
things that seek to devour us - it needn't be that way - we have
an advocate, and He is more powerful, even than the powers of
marketing and media, which attempt to take over our thinking.

I urge each of you, today and throughout the week, to offer
yourselves first to God. He is eager for each of us to call upon
Him throughout every day. I don't want to miss Him, even for a
moment. Let's pause to ask for His continual presence.

Dear Lord,

I long to be with You always. As I enter a busy week of
activity, please be near me always, and help me to know Your
Presence, to seek You, and to remain in You. I confess that I
struggle to keep You first in my heart and in my priorities.
Won't You help me with this today? I want my entire life to
bring You praise today, Lord, but my ways and means are weak. I
need Your strength, not mine, to carry me. Renew my mind and my
body, for they are Yours. I offer myself continually to You, as
my spiritual act of worship. Amen.

Brother Brain
Subject: Neil Anderson Devotional for Monday, March 26, 2001
From: Crosswalk.com <listreplies@crosswalk.com>

N E I L A N D E R S O N D A I L Y D E V O T I O N A L
from Freedom in Christ Ministries

March 26

AT THE THRESHOLD OF TEMPTATION

The grace of God has appeared... instructing us to deny
ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously
and godly in the present age (Titus 2:11, 12).

Yielding to temptation is another step toward a stronghold being
established in your mind. Whenever you are stimulated to conform
to Plan B instead of God's Plan A for your life, you are
experiencing temptation. The essence of all temptation is the
invitation to live independently of God and fulfill legitimate
needs in the world, the flesh or the devil instead of in Christ.
That's the great contest. And Satan knows just which buttons to
push to tempt you away from dependency on Christ.

The moment you are tempted to get your need met in the world
instead of in Christ, you are at the threshold of a decision. If
you don't immediately choose to take that thought "captive to the
obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5), you will begin to
consider it as an option. And if you begin to mull it over in
your mind, immediately your emotions will be affected and the
likelihood of yielding to that temptation is increased.

The Scriptures teach us that God has provided a way of escape
from every temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). But the escape is
right at the threshold of the temptation. If you don't control
the temptation at the threshold, you run the risk of allowing the
temptation to control you. Rare is the Christian who can turn
around after directing his will toward Plan B.

For example, a man sees a pornographic picture and is tempted
toward lust. He has the opportunity to respond by saying
something like, "My relationship with sin has ended. I choose to
take this thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I'm not
going to look at it or think about it." And he separates himself
from the picture immediately and escapes the lust.

But if he hesitates at the threshold, stares at the picture, and
begins to fantasize about it, he will trigger an emotional
landslide producing a physical response which will be difficult
to stop. He must capture the tempting thought in the threshold or
it will probably capture him.

Dear God, I want to be obedient to Your perfect plan for my life
today. I don't want to give in to Plan B thinking. Strengthen my
will to obey.

-----------
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< devotionals.crosswalk.com >.
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