Day 27. Defeating Temptation
In 1989, Jerry Jenkins (Left Behind fame), published a book Hedges: Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect It. A revised edition was released in 2005. A comment from one of the Amazon reviews:
“Through … illustrative stories and personal anecdotes, Jenkins takes the reader through exactly what mistakes people make when dealing with the opposite sex, including what many see as mild flirting. He talks about certain rules like, never be alone with a person of the opposite sex who is not your relative. He explains, without preaching, the importance of planting "hedges" around your marriage (Rick’s emphasis) to keep your odds of infidelity at bay. It is just amazing how many people believe they're completely safe from cheating, but can find themselves in a compromising position without these hedges.
”This book touched me unlike any marriage book I've read. Jenkins is, in non-fiction, still a powerful writer and story-teller. He made me think more seriously about my own marriage, and my relationships with other men. I was convicted, and freed at the same time. Though the book is primarily written with men in mind, women can gain from it as well.” Natalie Jost
Satan has a real toe hold with regard to sexual sin, and Jenkins urges building hedges around our relationships from the very beginning. Warren points out that avoiding temptation is easier than escaping it once we’ve been tempted. And we know the great power of the human mind to rationalize. Every temptation can lead us down the slippery slope if we succumb to the early nudgings (see yesterday’s blog on the seven deadly sins).
Hedges work for all of them. Maybe the best hedge is the simple prayer, “Dear God, tell me what Jesus would do?”
What hedges do you need to build to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ?
Blessings,
Rick
Showing posts with label temptations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label temptations. Show all posts
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Day 26. Growing Through Temptation
Day 26. Growing Through Temptation.
I recently listened to a podcast sermon about “lead me not into temptation.”1 In it the pastor said that the word used was meant to be “test"; and the prayer was one to make us godly people that God no longer needed to test. My guess is that the next line, “and deliver me from the evil one” ought to be trials enough in this life. As I indicated yesterday, Warren uses the term temptation as those troubles caused by Satan. The good news for good people is that Christ has overcome Satan! That means that he has no power over us. We are free to choose wisely! So why do we fail.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other.” (Genesis 3.1a) Need I say more? No frontal assaults here. Have you every wondered why the Seven Deadly Sins were not murder and rape and grand larceny and destruction of someone’s soul? Why just pride and envy and anger and sloth (what is that anyway?) and avarice (and that?) and gluttony and lust? They sure don’t seem deadly. That’s the point. The devil is crafty.
If you were told to murder someone or embezzle from you company or destroy your marriage, you would say emphatically, “No way.” But to be angry (that’s my right), be envious (I deserve it), or welcome attraction in the break room from a good-looking coworker (she/he’s lonely and needs someone to care), seem so innocent. Anyway, I can stop anytime. Sure. The evil one has us just where he wants us, just over the crest of the slippery slope.
Warren starts us out on the right path. We need to know posies along the path that play host to the bumble bees and avoid them at all cost. I’ve long been a fan of Luther’s great saying, “You cannot keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.”
John Wesley would say that if we fill our hearts and minds with love of God and love of neighbor, the choices will come easy. I'm not there yet. So I say..
"Look out for the low, slow birds! And pray!" I like Warren’s instruction, “Cry out.” “But deliver us from evil…” We'll be better for it.
Rick
1Greg Boyd, Woodland Hills Church, "Can God Trust You?" Jan 19, 2008
I recently listened to a podcast sermon about “lead me not into temptation.”1 In it the pastor said that the word used was meant to be “test"; and the prayer was one to make us godly people that God no longer needed to test. My guess is that the next line, “and deliver me from the evil one” ought to be trials enough in this life. As I indicated yesterday, Warren uses the term temptation as those troubles caused by Satan. The good news for good people is that Christ has overcome Satan! That means that he has no power over us. We are free to choose wisely! So why do we fail.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other.” (Genesis 3.1a) Need I say more? No frontal assaults here. Have you every wondered why the Seven Deadly Sins were not murder and rape and grand larceny and destruction of someone’s soul? Why just pride and envy and anger and sloth (what is that anyway?) and avarice (and that?) and gluttony and lust? They sure don’t seem deadly. That’s the point. The devil is crafty.
If you were told to murder someone or embezzle from you company or destroy your marriage, you would say emphatically, “No way.” But to be angry (that’s my right), be envious (I deserve it), or welcome attraction in the break room from a good-looking coworker (she/he’s lonely and needs someone to care), seem so innocent. Anyway, I can stop anytime. Sure. The evil one has us just where he wants us, just over the crest of the slippery slope.
Warren starts us out on the right path. We need to know posies along the path that play host to the bumble bees and avoid them at all cost. I’ve long been a fan of Luther’s great saying, “You cannot keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from making a nest in your hair.”
John Wesley would say that if we fill our hearts and minds with love of God and love of neighbor, the choices will come easy. I'm not there yet. So I say..
"Look out for the low, slow birds! And pray!" I like Warren’s instruction, “Cry out.” “But deliver us from evil…” We'll be better for it.
Rick
1Greg Boyd, Woodland Hills Church, "Can God Trust You?" Jan 19, 2008
Friday, February 29, 2008
Day 25. Transformed by Trouble
Day 25. Transformed by Trouble.
It may be helpful to look at definitions of trouble that Warren will use in coming days:
Tests are those problems God uses for our spiritual growth. Pastor Greg Boyd emphasizes that God wants us to succeed in every test! (It is of these tests that Bible says God will not test us beyond our endurance.) As parents we allow our children to face tests with every hope and prayer that they will choose wisely and succeed.
Trials can be the result of our fallen world. We rejoice in our circumstance, not for our circumstance. God does use them all to form our character. We send our children into a fallen world, one with tsunamis and earthquakes and tornadoes. We do not plan that pain or harm will befall them, but we are prepared with an embrace whenever bad things happen to good people.
Temptations are from the evil one. James says “No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.” (James 1.13) Parents work above all others to prepare our children to face evil, to make the right choices in the face of temptation. Few things alter life like bad choices involving substance abuse or sexual misbehavior. And of course “pride” is there to make us believe we are not susceptible to temptation. Evil is hard at work. We must be too, in both teaching and prayer.
Trespasses are those troubles caused by others by their bad choices, intentional or not. It is of these that Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Regardless of the source of our troubles,
“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8.28
Believe it!
Rick
It may be helpful to look at definitions of trouble that Warren will use in coming days:
Tests are those problems God uses for our spiritual growth. Pastor Greg Boyd emphasizes that God wants us to succeed in every test! (It is of these tests that Bible says God will not test us beyond our endurance.) As parents we allow our children to face tests with every hope and prayer that they will choose wisely and succeed.
Trials can be the result of our fallen world. We rejoice in our circumstance, not for our circumstance. God does use them all to form our character. We send our children into a fallen world, one with tsunamis and earthquakes and tornadoes. We do not plan that pain or harm will befall them, but we are prepared with an embrace whenever bad things happen to good people.
Temptations are from the evil one. James says “No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.” (James 1.13) Parents work above all others to prepare our children to face evil, to make the right choices in the face of temptation. Few things alter life like bad choices involving substance abuse or sexual misbehavior. And of course “pride” is there to make us believe we are not susceptible to temptation. Evil is hard at work. We must be too, in both teaching and prayer.
Trespasses are those troubles caused by others by their bad choices, intentional or not. It is of these that Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
Regardless of the source of our troubles,
“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8.28
Believe it!
Rick
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
