James 1:13-14 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
As long as we live on the face of the earth in flesh and blood there will be a constant tug of war in our soul between good and evil. Age does not grow us out of temptation, it just changes the nature of the temptation. A toddler is tempted with cookies, a teenager with computer games, an adult with cannabis and the aged with conceit. There are no exceptions and no age limits to this continuous war of choice. There are three things that we are tempted by – our flesh or weakness, worldly pleasures and wicked demonic attractions. All of us have innate weaknesses. Our formative years play a very important part in the development of our personality. A child from a dysfunctional home could grow up to be insecure, anxious and attention-seeking. Secondly, wrong company or corrupt values could lead a person to compromise character for cheap worldly pleasures. Thirdly demons are actively involved in dragging us into evil desires. Demons are like deceptive snake oil salesmen! They attract us with the pleasure and contentment hiding the pain and consequences of sin.
Judas, the treasurer for “Jesus the Messiah Ministry” was a thief before he became a traitor. John 12:6b Judas was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. His weakness was money and he had been stealing from the ministry money bag. As he started feeding his weakness, the worldly pleasure of power and position deceived him and enticed him to betray Jesus. Weakness when fed with wrongness lured him into worldly pleasure and demonic wickedness. John 13:27b Satan entered into him.
Three tips to overcome the war of temptations:
1. Moods: Frequent mood swings is a good indicator that our weaknesses are being triggered, touched and tested. Stop and question the depressing thoughts that are spoiling your mood and stealing your joy. The reason for the mood swing could be silly but the root of the moodiness could be anchored to a weakness hidden deep within our hearts. Identify the weakness that is causing the moodiness and work with the Holy Spirit to overcome it.
2. Motives: Testing the motives is the ‘test of truthfulness’. Our words and deeds must be tested and proved. We can do the right things for the wrong reasons. Judas complained that anointing Jesus with the alabaster was a waste of money. He said so not because he cared for the poor but because he was a greedy, grumpy and a grouchy thief. A regular test of our motives and continuous scrutiny under the light of the Word of God will keep our intentions clean.
3. Myths: Strangle the voice, shut the door and silence the myths of the snake oil salesmen(demons). Don’t have a dialogue with the demon, they will outsmart you. Eve tried to have a dialogue with a snake and lost her home. Judas had a dialogue with the Pharisees and was dragged to deceive the Messiah and his Master.
Only with the help of the Holy Spirit can we win the tug of war of weakness, worldly pleasure or the wicked demons.
1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, lead us not into temptation of crappy moodiness triggered by wrong motives but deliver us from the evil of demonic attractions and myths. Amen.
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