Being put to the test

What is temptation?
- The act of tempting or the condition of being tempted.
- Something tempting or enticing

- something that seduces or has the quality to seduce
- the desire to have or do something that you know you should avoid

- (1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God "tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., 'didprove'] Abraham;" and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their faith and patience to the test.
- (2.)Ordinarily, however, the word means solicitation to that which is evil, andhence Satan is called "the tempter" (Matt. 4:3). Our Lord was in this waytempted in the wilderness. That temptation was not internal, but by a real,active, subtle being. It was not self-sought. It was submitted to as an act ofobedience on his part. "Christ was led, driven. An unseen personal force borehim a certain violence is implied in the words" (Matt. 4:1-11). The scene ofthe temptation of our Lord is generally supposed to have been the mountain ofQuarantania (q.v.), "a high and precipitous wall of rock, 1,200 or 1,500 feetabove the plain west of Jordan, near Jericho." Temptation is common to all(Dan. 12:10; Zech. 13:9; Ps. 66:10; Luke 22:31, 40; Heb. 11:17; James 1:12; 1Pet. 1:7; 4:12). We read of the temptation of Joseph (Gen. 39), of David (2Sam. 24; 1 Chr. 21), of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 32:31), of Daniel (Dan. 6), etc. Solong as we are in this world we are exposed to temptations, and need ever to be on our watch against them.



Temptation surrounds me daily. It comes in different forms, but for me I believe it comes in one major form or should I say thorn most of the time. My daily devotional book has been talking about temptation for the last while and I am so glad that God is teaching me how to deal with temptation better.
'And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.' 1 Corinthians 10:13

"The faithfulness of God's promise does not consist in delivering us from the place of temptation but in never allowing the temptation to be greater than our power to resist."

If that's the case then how come I fail and fail and fail again? Obviously my self-control isn't very high, but then someone has told a few times lately that "man, you have self-control." Or is it because when I know people are watching I know I have to behave? The other day I was dishonest to myself by not keeping track of something correctly because I knew that I was being kept accountable for it and I didn't want her to know I messed up. Then today she told me she messed up and was sorry and God showed me how silly I was being. "She's real Chelsea, she knows what it's like and she will accept you even if you messed up. How did you feel when she told you that she messed up? Compassionate, loving, that I needed to pray for her more...She feels the same way. Don't hide just be real." So I corrected it and I may reap the personal consequences for it. ok.

'...no weapon forged against you will prevail...' Isaiah54:17
Temptation has a purpose. "'as we grapple we grow.' Goethe said, 'Difficulties prove men.'"
We can't just bear temptation we have to learn to do something with it. "'Jesus didn't just carry His cross - He used it'...A stoic bears a cross; a Christian uses it and makes it bear him."
So is this what it means to 'deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Him" Follow His example and don't go complaining or dragging your lip in the snow, use your cross. I don't know what this means but it sounds good to me. I'm tired of the "woe is me, chelsea, poor me, oh no I lost my tail.

It's not what comes to you that matters, it's what you do with it that counts...but what do I do with it? Just tell me and I'll do it, I just need to know what I do with it when it comes. Unfortunately life isn't that simple. I think that's for me to figure out on my own. So if what I have been doing doesn't work then why do I keep on doing it?

'Consider it pure joy...whenever you face trials...because you know that the testing of your faith develops perserverance.' James 1:2,3

Everything can be used to higher us, including temptation, with the help of God. "A young army officer, involved in the Iraq war, was asked by a television reporter, 'But isn't the weather unfavourable?' He replied, 'Weather in war is always favourable - providing you know how to use it.'"
Everything can advance us if we know how to use it.
'Temptation sweeps in upon us and forces its way into our lives without our asking (and sometimes without our acting), and it is then that reaction plays a vital part. We can react in self-pity and frustration or we can act with confidence and with courage, and make the temptation work to improve our character and deepen our hold upon God.'

AHA, so we should use our temptation to increase our dependence on God and drw closer to Him. Temptation has evil written all over it, but if we resist we achieve spiritual growth...and if we don't, well I think it's back into the fire, or maybe into hotter fire or the burning embers.

'Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.' James 1:12 NKJV

What a promise! What a gift! I am so thankful for this promise. I will receive the crown of life when I endure temptation and have stood the test.

'Why does God allow temptation? in order to answer that we must look at the Greek word for temptation used in the New Testament: peirasmos. It means to test, to try or to prove. The biblical use of the word (unlike the modern use of it) does not contain the idea of seduction or entrapment, but rather conveys the idea of putting a person to a test in order to deepend their personal qualities. The reason God allows temptation, then, is because it can lead to the development of our character.'
Character is developed over time. It's not something that we can achieve in a moment or something that God gives us like Salvation. Character is what we are in the dark, it's what we are when we are by ourselves, and what we are in the inside.. Reputation is what others think of us.
'Character is the strength and refinement of soul that we develop as we stand against the tide of trials and temptation. As we grapple we grow. and out of the growing comes character.'

I wish that the face I put on and my reputation (I think it's good atleast) was what I really was in the inside. Father, I ask for freedom to be real, and I ask for forgiveness for sometimes putting on a pretty face. Jesus I want to be more like you and to know you so much more than I do. Jesus if you allow temptation in order to deepen my character, then I welcome it (gently)
Thank you Jesus!


*note The italicized quotes are taken from my devotional book Every day with Jesus, Strong at the Broken Places. They aren't my thoughts and I couldn't have worded it better than them.