Word for Today, Monday, February 25, 2008]
Daily-Devotional-for-Monday-February-25-2008.rfc822Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
I am forwarding you a message from one of the many devotional periodicals I either receive by Email or visit on occasion on the Web. This is one I have received in the mail for many years. Every now and then an interesting note grabs my attention. In this case, it was the scripture that caught me. I know it well, and I've made it my own... Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Those were the words of King David once Nathan confronted him with the awful things he had done - David took another man's wife as his own, then covered up the fact by sending that man to the front lines in battle to be killed. That man was doing what David should have been doing - leading his country in battle. Instead, he was at home, gazing, when he saw something enticing.
Have you ever been enticed? For some, it is the person of the opposite sex. For others, it is the lusting after something else that you see and want. Anyone who claims that they have never been enticed is, more than likely, deceiving themselves or perhaps even lying. The pride of life, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes are the three common things that the deceiver tries to pull on all of us. We may not give in often, but chances are we've been caught at one, or all, of these deceptions.
Jesus Himself was tempted by these very things (see Matthew 4). He was victorious over all of them, and gives us the blueprint to follow to avoid these three snares. But when we fail, don't give up, GET UP! Do what David did, confess what you have done as sin, and ask God to create in you once again a clean heart and restore a right spirit within you. I have to do this often, which is why I know this passage so well.
I am forever grateful that I have been saved, redeemed, and renewed!
Yours in Christ,
Brian Masinick
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