JEJ Episode 90-Standing Strong-Be Prepared
Fixing your heart to seek the Lord, overcoming negative thoughts, discarding stumbling blocks, and standing firm against temptation.
We are still dealing with the theme-Standing Strong against temptation. So far, we have seen that temptation is a desire to go against the will of God in order to do things our own way. We have settled the fact that contrary to popular belief, God does not tempt or test us. In the last episode, we saw that temptation has its root in the wrong desires of our hearts and our emotions
Why do we yield to temptation? We yield to temptation because we allow our thoughts to roam wherever they will; we do not try to rein in our thoughts to focus on positive thoughts; we do not quickly reject evil thoughts when they come; when someone does something bad to us, we do not resist thoughts of bitterness and resentment. Rather we dwell in them and allow them to grow in our minds. When we face trials and problems, instead of focusing on God’s ability to deliver us, we dwell on the bad situation and carry it on our mind. These negative thoughts lead us to desiring and yearning for evil in our hearts from which temptation originate.
So the topic for this episode is-Be Prepared. And we are going to look at how we can be prepared to deal with temptation in advance so as to overcome.
2 Chronicles 12:1 states-“After Rehoboam’s position as king was established and he had become strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the Lord.”
Because Rehoboam abandoned the law of the Lord, God allowed Shishak the King of Egypt to attack and capture Jerusalem.
And in 2 Chronicles 12:14, the scripture says that King Rehoboam did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.
The phrase- he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord, means that King Rehoboam did not intentionally establish or fix his heart to seek and obey the Lord. It means that though he may have seemed to be following the Lord, he was not fully committed to a relationship with God.
Abraham and Sarah prepared their hearts to obey God’s instruction not to return. They made a deliberate choice not to go back and they fixed their eyes on achieving that purpose. Hebrew 11:15 states-“If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.”
Even when it was time to find a wife for Isaac, Abraham did not go back! He sent a servant!
In Psalm 78.8, God described a generation of Israelites as “a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God.”
So you can see that the state of our hearts determine how we respond to temptation. Many many Christians are in the same place as Rehoboam. We have not set our hearts on seeking the Lord. We are indifferent when it comes to pursuing our spiritual walk with God. We are not prioritizing the things of God. We go days and weeks without engaging with God. We are involved in a thousand and one things in one day and probably give Him a fleeting thought when a challenge comes up! Many of us read the bible only in Church on Sundays. Many of us manage to read for 10 minutes in a day or every other day. For many of us, our only engagement with God is when we connect to pray with our favourite man of God to receive miracles!
Having a relationship with God requires deliberate, intentional consistent effort. Imagine your relationship with your spouse; your children or your best friend. Is it possible to nurture these relationships without giving enough time and attention to them? James 4:1 declares-Submit yourself therefore to God, resist the devil; and he will flee from you. How can you be able to resist the devil when temptation rears its head if you have not first submitted to the Lord? That is not possible. Standing strong against temptation requires first submitting ourselves to God; fixing our attention on Him; and intentionally placing ourselves in close proximity with Him.
I read the temptation of Jesus by the devil in Matthew Chapter 4 again recently. And I was amazed at the way Jesus responded to all of the devil’s attempts to get Him to worship him. But do you know what? The temptation was the beginning of His ministry. But Jesus began preparing for his ministry years ahead. At 12 years of age, having unknowingly left Him behind after the Passover festival, His parents found Jesus sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. He was preparing Himself!
If we want to resist temptation, we must intentionally cultivate deeper fellowship with God. We need to establish our hearts on the things of God. We need to be determined in advance by the things we do and the way we live our lives to prepare against temptations and the wiles of the devil.
Temptation is never too far from us. Whether it’s over eating, substance abuse, pornography, anger and bitterness, taking what does not belong to us, telling lies, gossip, greed, etc, we all know the areas of our weaknesses. We need to take action to deal with them.
In Proverbs 22:3, Solomon writes about the importance of preparing for problems coming down the road- The prudent see danger and take refuge; but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
So, how should we as believers prepare to overcome temptation?
Meditate on the Word of God
The most effective way to prepare for future temptation is to meditate on the Word of God in order to be able to use it on the day of temptation. Psalm 119:11 declares-“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you,” while Psalm 119:105 states-“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
We need to feed on the word of God, meditate on them; store them in our hearts; and allow them to change our thoughts and mindset so that we can easily use them against the devil at times of temptation the way Jesus did.
Romans 12:2 is clear that the only way to not allow ourselves to be conformed to the world’s thinking begins with allowing God to transform our minds. The world wants to capture your mind; it would pressure you from the outside to conform your thinking to its pattern of thinking.
We can’t succeed if we don’t spend time with God in His Word and let the Holy Spirit work in our minds so that we can recognize the devil’s lies and respond accordingly with the word of God.
If you have an anger issue, you should always confess that you have dominion over the flesh; and that you bear the fruit of self control because you are controlled by the Spirit.
Practice Accountability
Another way to prepare to overcome temptation is to make yourself accountable to someone close to you. Hebrews 10:25 says, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another….” Talk to a family member or a friend about the areas where you struggle with temptation. Invite them to have conversations with you about where you succeeded and where you stumbled, and how you can work towards defeating that weakness by relying on the word of God and the Holy Spirit. Then you should also do the same for them
Discard Stumbling Blocks
An important way of preparing to overcome temptation is to discard stumbling blocks. A stumbling block is anything that causes you to fall into sin. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.” What stumbling blocks are in your life? Are there places you need to stop going to? Is there someone you need to stop spending time with? Are there apps on your devices you need to delete? Identify and remove as many stumbling blocks from your life as possible. Avoid situations where you know you’ll be tempted to do wrong.
2 Timothy 2:22 urges us-“Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts,”
You must stay away from anything that you know would lead to temptation. This scripture says-run!
The second instruction in 2 Chronicles 2:22 says-pursue righteous living. Seek after things that you know please the Lord. Replace the stumbling blocks you are running from with healthy alternatives. Philippians 4:8 says, “Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Change the programs you watch on TV and sites you visit on the social media; replace friends that do not help your spiritual life in any way with friends that are focused on seeking the Lord. Lastly that scripture says-Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. Read Christian books; watch Christian movies and programs; go to safe places; listen to my teachings here! The more you can fill your mind and life with positive things, the less likely you are to be tempted.
Pray Constantly for Holy Spirit Help
Then of course you need to pray to God to help you overcome temptations when they come.
Notice that Jesus was tired, hungry, alone and coming off a spiritual high of just being baptized. He was just about to commence His ministry. In the same way, many times we would face temptations when we are physically stressed, hungry or tired, or when we are doing a good work for God.
So we need to pray that God would strengthen us in our times of weakness. Jesus promised us that He would send the Holy Spirit to us to help us to live the Christian life. God promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us. This means the Holy Spirit is with us all the time and will help us whenever we call out to Him. So we should ask the Holy Spirit for help to overcome temptation. We should also make prayer for spiritual growth one of our daily prayers. And we should prepare our minds!
Reflect on your current state of readiness against future temptation:
Closing Prayer
Father, help me to be deliberate; to be intentional; to fix my heart on serving you; and to prepare my heart to seek you. Help me to hide your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
What stumbling blocks do you need to discard today? What scriptures will you commit to memory to prepare your heart?