Devotion
Defending Against Temptation
David Jacobs
What is our defense against temptation? Most of us have been in a time in our life where we have just had enough, and end up giving into every enticing urge, every hint of desire. Getting out of this mindset requires an understanding of the process of temptation. Though it may not always seem like it when temptation strikes, it is a gradual process. This is a good thing! It means that if we become aware of it, we can cut it off at any stage.
Typically, temptation starts in our minds. The tempted person sets up imagined scenarios. God has blessed us with the ability to create entire experiences out of nothing using just our mind, but like so many of God's gifts, we must be careful not to abuse it. Fantasies may seem harmless if we keep them in our minds and don't bring them out into the real world, but they can lead us down a winding path, eventually enslaving our minds. We become trapped, unable to spend time with God because we are focused on something else.
However, there is good news! God is faithful, and when we ask for His help, He can show us how to escape our imprisonment. Temptation begins and ends in the mind, so that is where, with God as our general, we wage war on it. Instead of fantasy, we fill our mind with the Word of God and feed on it daily so that our sin will be uprooted and our thoughts transformed. In this way, we are set free.
Prayer
Father, keep my mind steady. I look to your word for sustenance and I am filled, I need nothing else. Keep my mind clear so that I can continue my prayers to you. Keep my thoughts pure so that I will be righteous servant in your eyes. Amen.
Night Prayer
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Inspiration
Sin rules our lives until we accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. When we invite Him into our lives, our old sinful heart dies, and God creates within us a new one, where sin no longer rules our life; God does! Our thoughts and actions begin to change because we no longer desire a sinful lifestyle. We joyfully devote our lives to serving Him and inviting others to understand His promise of salvation.
Prayer
Dear Lord, we are sinners born again and recreated to live according to Your will. We are grateful for Your love and the peace we experience by abolishing our old sinful self. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Devotion
Satan Has Been Defeated
Frances Taylor
Salvation and power have come with Christ and Satan has been defeated. Sin and death have been conquered by the actions of one man, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, both human and divine who came into the world to bring the Good News of salvation by living, dying and rising for us. As Christians we claim to believe this but our actions sometimes deny it. Unfortunately, people seem to resurrect Satan all the time. We allow him to lead us away from God, forgetting the way to the Father that is love, and giving in to Satan's path of hatred, anger, pride, lust, chaos and destruction.
Satan, of course, doesn't present these as bad things, he makes them seem attractive. He presents sin as goods to be desired, as things to make us happy or give us pleasure. It can be hard to stay on the path that leads to God when the world seems to be crowding us and pushing us off of it. How easy it is to forget the sacrifice that bought our freedom! Which of us ...
Morning Prayer
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Inspiration
It is right for us to defer to others and to rejoice with others when they have cause to rejoice over some blessing in their life, instead of sorrowing before them over some problem in our life. It is right also to weep with those who weep, showing compassion and feeling for them in their grief instead of "dancing joyfully before those who mourn" as if insensitive to their sorrow.
Prayer
Give me a discerning spirit, Lord, to know when to rejoice and when to weep. Let me show concern for others and their situation and life events instead of just focusing only on my own. Let me show true compassion and genuine joy in the right way and time to others. Amen.
