Dealing with Temptation Wisely

Welcome to the InTouch podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, September 4th. Is there something that continues to draw you towards sin? Today's message concludes the Wisdom from Above series with practical instruction on how to face and overcome temptation wisely. Temptation. is a part of life.

Everywhere you turn, people are being tempted to this and tempted to do that and tempted to do the other, and usually defending their actions. all the way back in the garden. Adam and Eve yielded to temptation and what did they do? They blamed each other.

So what does the Word of God say about temptation? We've been talking about... Wisdom, living either foolishly or wisely, and the trials of life.

Now what about wisdom for the temptations of our life? I want you to turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians 10, verse 13. No temptation.

Now what is no? What does that mean? Not any. No temptation.

has overtaken you but such as is common to man. That is, everybody's been tempted by many, many things. And God is faithful. who will not allow you. Look at that.

who will not allow you to be tempted, beyond what you're able, that is what you're able to deal with. He set a limitation on our temptations. but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.

Now for the unbeliever, That won't work. He's writing to believers. You don't have the promise that God's going to help you in time of temptation. If you have rejected his Son, who is the source of all of the good things that come our way. the source of our salvation.

In the source of our strength day by day through His indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. You can't use that verse. But this verse should be a part of your daily life. It should be a part of your armor. a part of that wall of protection.

that you use daily. whenever temptation comes your way.

So what I'd like for us to do, first of all, Um in order to deal with temptation, There are certain things we need to understand. and if we're going to deal with it wisely. And here's the first thing. We need to understand what it is. If somebody said to you, well, what is temptation anyway?

You can give them this simple brief definition. It is an enticement. of our natural God-given desires to do what? to go beyond God-given bounds. In fact, in truth is, it's just an enticement to disobey God.

to rebel against him and have it our way.

So that's what it is.

Now let's ask: what is the source of this temptation, whatever it may be?

Well, first of all, it's not from God.

So we have to ask ourselves, where does it come from? And the Bible says that Satan is the tempter. He's the one who tempts us to be disobedient to God. We need to understand the very nature of temptation if we're going to deal with it wisely. And so what you have to ask is this, am I trying to get a need met in my life?

my way and in my time. And so, whatever form it may be, listen, Satan is not going to tempt you in some area he knows you're not temptable. For example, there are probably areas in all of our lives that we're not tempted.

Somebody may say, well, have you ever been tempted to drink? Never. Have you ever been tempted to smoke? Never. Satan is going to tempt you with where you're temptable.

He knows you that well.

So we all have areas of weakness in our life. or at least have had, or may be there even now. where Satan is going to attack. He's not going to attack you someplace that you have no desire for something whatsoever. He's going to strike at this heart, at the heart of your relationship to God.

Whatever it'll take to bring you, listen, in a situation with God that you're living in disobedience, that's what His goal is. His goal is to get you out of the will of God to do whatever will bring you pleasure for the moment as a substitute of the love of God and being obedient to Him. We live in a world of sin, wickedness, vileness, and you name it. And temptation is always there, and you have to decide: am I going to be obedient to God, or am I going to pay the penalty of living in sin and suffering the consequences that will be there for me? Yeah.

We need to clear up some false ideas about temptation because people do have false ideas and they'll say, well, you know, I'm really in sin against God because I've been tempted. Watch this carefully. You listen, say amen. You better listen to all of this. A temptation Within itself, it's not a sin.

If it were, Jesus would have sinned. He was tempted. In the wilderness, three times Satan attacked him, and he did not sin. Did he think about it? He had to think about it because he gave a very rational, godly.

response And he said to Satan what the consequences would be.

So he was tempted.

So did he sin? Absolutely not.

So remember this, that being tempted itself is not a sin. It's what we do with it.

Somebody says, well. Is the best way to deal with temptation, just run from it?

Well, it's In some situations, yes. Just get out of there.

Sometimes, most of the time, you can't run. I guess you could run from your job, but sometimes you can't. If somebody there is a temptation to you. But let's put it this way. wherever you are.

If it's bringing you down and suffering the consequences of disobedience to God or leaving, you better get out. Because if you move out on the basis of a strong desire to be obedient to God, And you just have to say to him, Lord, I just can't handle where I am. I need your help. If you give me permission, God, I'll go wherever you want me to go. I'll trust you for whatever my need.

But I can't handle, I can't deal, I don't feel like that I'm strong enough at this point in my life to deal with this temptation, yes. But you can't keep running.

So what we have to do is to build our defenses.

so that no matter what he fires at your heart, No matter what he throws into your mind. No matter what he presents before you, you don't have to yield. And so How does it work in our life? How does temptation work in our life? And I want to be sure you get this down, so I've made it in just simple statements.

Well, it begins with a thought. All temptation begins with a thought. whatever the thought may be. And that thought builds upon An idea of fantasy or imagination. For example, you have a thought.

and you fantasize about it, which means you begin to imagine. Imagine having all that money, or imagine having a sexual relationship with somebody. You imagine that. And as that imagination begins to grow, what happens? You imagine that, and before long, what are you doing?

You are experiencing in your mind. what you desire to experience in reality. And Satan is already at work. Then you have to make a decision because your will gets involved. Will I do this or will I not?

Will I think this way or will I not? Then there's a choice. He said, do you see how far deep in you already are? Look at that. A thought, imagination, desire, will, choice.

And then there is consent. I will, and then there is sin. And if you'll notice, the word consequence is not even in there. And that's what happens. When a thought of temptation comes, It's just a thought.

Then it becomes an imagination. Then a desire A will, a choice. And then I consent and then sin.

Now Everybody's got vulnerable areas in their life. They're not the same for everybody. And you can have vulnerable areas in some times in your life and sometimes you pass that and that doesn't affect you anymore. You don't have to live in constant fear of being disobedient to God. Listen, you can make some decisions in your life that are absolute, definite decisions.

This does not fit who I am. I will not tolerate this in my life. You have promised to put a limitation on all my temptation. God, I don't want that in my life. I choose, by an act of obedience to you, to trust you that anytime thoughts come into my mind and heart that do not match your will for my life, I choose to let them go and I'm trusting you to empower me to identify them and to let them go.

If I'm going to be victorious over temptation, I have to accept the fact that I am personally responsible for what I believe and what I think and what I allow in my life. As long as you're blaming somebody else, what you're doing is you're keeping the door open for Satan. But Satan says, he made you do it. She made you do it. If this had to happen, you don't get in a conversation with the devil.

because you will lose. Your conversation should be when the thought comes, that does not fit who I am. I choose not to do that. And I do not want the consequences of what I know that will bring. End of conversation.

So We focus on the big picture.

So when you attempt it, This is his little picture. This is how pleasurable this is going to be. This is how profitable this is. Everybody's doing this. This is perfectly all right.

That's the little picture. Here's the big picture. Big picture. This can destroy my life. Big picture.

This is not who I am. Big picture. Do I want those consequences in my life? When you begin to ask legitimate questions, that are very important, you don't want the consequences of that in your life. And see, we said before, he wants you to focus on the possible pleasure.

Isn't it interesting? Watch this. You name it, any pleasure. or profit Satan brings to your mind is only temporary. Consequences are lasting.

That's why he doesn't bring that up.

So we have to be careful about that. And if you think about what's in the big picture. God always has the best for His children. And he does not want you and me suffering the consequences of sin.

So the truth is he's made it very simple how we deal with it. We stop it. as soon as it hits our mind and our thoughts. And this is a word I want you to write down. It's four levers.

Here are the times we're the most temptable. If I should ask you right now, do you have a temptation, if you were to say yes, I'd say, okay, when are you the most temptable? When do you feel the greatest pull and tug at your life?

Well, Remember this word. H-A-L-T. Halt. Don't let yourself get too hungry. too angry, too lonely, or too tired, because look at those four things.

When you get too hungry, your body begins to work a certain way. Too angry. then your mind and your emotion get involved. Too lonely, you feel needy. Too tired, you just want something.

That is grounds for a satanic attack.

So when you start feeling something, ask yourself the question. Am I under attack, H-A-L-T? If so, what do you do? You get yourself something to eat? You lay down your anger.

And Call your friend or somebody you can talk to, and you go take a nap. That'll take all four of them. You don't have to yield if you choose not to.

Now watch this. Another thing you build into your wall is this. When you get tempted, you visualize yourself doing the right thing. Otherwise, when that temptation comes and you grab it and you think, oh, no. You visualize yourself as doing the right thing.

And you do that before the temptation comes. That when temptation comes, I'm going to do the right thing. That's who I am. That's my way of life. That's the Christ whom I serve.

He promised to enable me to do the right thing. And so what you do is you visualize yourself doing the right thing. Then think about it this way. Make yourself accountable to a friend.

Now this is dangerous. You've got to have a friend. in whom you trust. to be confidential. And there may not be many of those.

So that When you find yourself being tempted, you call that friend and say, I just want to tell you that right now I need some help. I need you to pray for me or whatever it might be. And oftentimes, a friend who may have been in the situation you're in or maybe has not. But somebody that you can talk to who will encourage you and do what? Just remind you of the things that we've talked about.

That person may say to you, do you want the consequences of that? You know what the consequences that will be. Is that the consequences you want in your life? And sometimes we need to hear the voice. of a friend remind us of what is true and real.

Then I'll put it this way. You will not be able to defend yourself against satanic attacks if you ignore the Word of God. You won't. This is why the best way to build that defense is in the mornings when you get up. Make it one of the first things you do is get in the Word of God.

Somebody says, well, I don't have time to read the word of God. And you know what? You just opened the door to the devil. Because you said, I don't have time to hear God this morning.

Well, listen, think about who's listening to that. and who's ready to attack you. That's why you need to read the Word of God. And I don't mean that you need to just say, well, if I'm haul around and get you two of these verses that you know real well, read those and take off. That's not building a defense.

That's building chicken wire. That's what that is. You want a fence that is Steel was steel. concrete there to stay. Without the Word of God, you're not going to be able to resist him.

You don't spend any time in prayer, you don't spend any time in the Word of God, and you are suck. Satan will get you. If you ignore the Word of God. You tell, how much do I have to read? God will show you that.

You say, Well, shall I have favorite passages? Absolutely. Will God hear my prayer? Yes, He will. If you're one of His children, He'll listen to you.

But if you don't give Him time to speak to you, You say, well, I go to church on Sunday.

Well, that's not enough. You've got six other days you're under attack. This book must become must become the guidebook in your life.

Somebody says, Well, that stuff is getting on your knees. I don't know about all that. Let me just say this. Do you believe that God is who he says he is? Would you agree that God is holy?

and righteous and absolutely perfect and eternal. Would you agree to that? And he's holy God?

Well, if you believe that, don't you think he deserves some bit of reverence? One way to reverence God is to get on your knees and talk to him. You say, well, is that the only way he'll hear me? No. It would be interesting to know.

How many of you are listening? Ever get on your knees and talk to God about anything. If he's who he says he is, then he is. He deserves my reverence. And the least I can do is to bow my head in His presence.

and talk to him and listen to him. You want to build a wall of defense around yourself.

Now you have to decide. If you will live your life victoriously, Positioning yourself to receive the best of God's blessings all the days of your life. you need to learn how to deal with temptation.

Now you may be listening and you're saying Well now I'm not even a Christian.

Well, let me just tell you this. You don't have a chance. You don't. Only when you receive Christ as your Savior. and the Holy Spirit comes into your life to dwell.

to abide. to give you guidance and direction. and to strengthen you and to empower you to say no when you need to say no. Apart from him, you're not going to make it. Because it's just you against this awesome.

Terrible, hostile, satanic power that all of us have to deal with. When you trust him as your Savior, You have the Spirit of God within you. Then when you hear the principles of the Word of God, Then when you begin to apply them to your heart, He will empower you. and enabled you to live above it. and to be victorious.

and to overcome it. no matter what. And that's a choice we make. And my prayer is that you'll make that choice. Asking the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins, surrendering your life to Him, acknowledging you can't do it.

Look at the consequences of your life of disobedience. It's going to get worse, not better. And if you will trust him, You'll be amazed How much better? it can get. And Father, how grateful we are.

You've not left us on our own. But you've given us the Holy Spirit to live within us, to enable us, to remind us, and to give us those warnings when thoughts are coming our way. that don't belong to who we are. I pray, Father. Seek these truths.

deep into the heart and life of every person who hears them. and give them hope. and confidence and assurance, they do not have to be defeated. Victory and defeat. A choices we make.

And I pray that they'll make the right choice in Jesus' name. Maybe. Um Thank you for listening to Dealing with Temptation Wisely. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org.

This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.