Source: https://images.knowing-jesus.com/i/james-1-12-blessed-is-the-man-the-endures-trials-black
The traditional ‘Our Lord’s Prayer‘ has always have serious impact upon the lives of faithful believers as well as sinners and unbelievers who could muster simple faith in God through Jesus Christ.
“And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.” (Luk 11:4).
Life is war.
Yet, there is only one life, and then death!
We either die unto eternal life in Heaven or die to face the wrath of God in judgment into eternal doom in hell.
No matter how you may look at it, the battle of life is a great controversy between good and evil, between righteousness and sinfulness, between truth of God and untruth perpetrated by Satan the devil and his people.
You cannot stay on the sideline, and neither could you chose to be here and there at the same time.
Despite the daunting challenges and recurring difficulties of life, the future yields, more so always, to the brave, the bold, to the people of faith.
The epicenter of the battle of life is in the heart of man rather than the things around and about us.
The battle for the soul of man is really the battle in controversy for the mind of man.
This fierce and highly contentious battle is waged and fought by Satan to gain and control the attention, the focus, the memory, the nerve cells, the file system of man’s subconscious, as well as ultimately the will of man.
Satan is the originator and source of temptation as he and his evil spirits, fallen angels, and human agents delights in putting temptations in the pathway of God’s people and true believers with the main purpose of making them to fall into sin and iniquity.
Thus, we need to understand that temptation begins with the desire of man, legitimate as they may be, but desires so inordinate and unedifying that they lead men away from the purpose of God, from the plan of God, and leading men away from God’s appointed goals to baser, inferior, and transient ideals.
Through the heart, the devil tempts believers with these things which he himself craves – pride, lust, revenge, envy, malice, anger, etcetera.
By the drumbeat of Satan, violence begets violence, crime beget crime, dishonesty beget dishonesty, pornography begets sexual aberrations, and the dingdong goes on as we become, to a great extent, creatures of our environment.
It all began in the heart, murder without guilt, love without meaning, the enemy within is fiercer, greater, and more ravenous than the enemy without.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9).
Satan, the prince of this wicked world, is the originator of the spirit of hatred, evil, wickedness and revenge, and can bring only evil and no good to all the people who worship him and cherish the lust of the flesh.
Satan, as the prince of this world, promote sin, iniquity, and all sorts of rebellion against God and His divine purpose for man and the universe.
Though Satan operates in darkness and filthiness, and many people chose to follow him.
Jesus is the Just One, the Prince of Peace, and the only begotten Son of God. He came to this world to suffer for all mankind, was arrested by the same people He came to save from sin, was given an unjust trial, crucified, buried and resurrected on the third day, He gained victory over Satan, death and sin.
It takes faith to choose Christ as the Lamb of God whose blood atones for all our sins. It takes faith to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ completely, claiming His salvation, and making Him King over your life.
It requires your faithfulness through grace to continue following Him till the end.
Temptations, tests and trials are common experiences of all men, to saints as well as to sinners, to the young and the old, to the rich and to the poor, to white as well as to colored people.
When we fall into temptation we sin and move away from God, and sin weakens the sinner to fight corrupt manners. It also rob him of essential spiritual energy resist sinfulness and overcome sinful tendencies.
On the other hand, the devil and sinful tendencies would flee from us whenever we resist them as children of God with the power of God. Genuine salvation in Christ embolden us and empower us to overcome temptation and avoid sin.
Despite the mad rush of the world unto Satan and evil tendencies, Satan hates and seek to destroy men all the time. He works overtime to make come across temptation from time to time, seeking for us to fall into sin.
We are often tempted by way of inordinate cravings and lustfulness of the flesh, through our appetites, and also through immoral tendencies and lustful feelings in uncleanliness.
Audacious people often claim that self-confidence is the mark of man, and many have thereby allowed self-dependence, overconfidence, self-management, and self-confidence to lead them into temptation and sinfulness.
Greed and avarice are the precursors of popular get-rich-quick tendencies and overambition, which have led many into sinfulness and calamities.
Despite the tempestuous devices of Satan to make you fall into temptation, God wants us to overcome temptation and be victorious over Satan and his evil cohorts.
“And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (Mat 4:3 – 11).
Satan, the great enemy of all men, would come to us in a subtle, spiteful and very daring way to try us and tempt us. Nevertheless, the old foe can be refused and resisted by quoting the Word of God as did by our Lord Jesus Christ.
We can not fall into sin if we yield not to temptation.
Though Satan will always tempt us and give us trials so as to doubt of God’s goodness or despair of His mercy and love, but we must never distrust of God’s faithfulness and kindness to us.
It is one of the wiles of Satan to take advantage of our circumstances and
outward conditions in the attempt to make us fall into dire straits and thereby sin against God.
Nevertheless, these are mere attempts and wild efforts of the enemy, for which we must need to be watchful and prayerful.
As Christ answered all the temptations of Satan with “It is written;”, we should likewise be well versed in the Word of God to counter all the fiery darts of the foe with the immutable Word of God.
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1Co 10:13).
The omniscient God is all wise and all faithful, and will make our
burdens according to our strength for us to bear, and will also make for us a way to escape so as to remain faithful unto Him all the time.
The Lord also permits temptations as a trial for the perfecting of our spiritual life as bona-fide Christians and children of God.
Like Christ clung unto the Father and the Father’s will at His times of trials and temptations, so are we also to cleave fast to God, His word, and His commandments at our own times of temptation, and we cannot fall.
The believer who overcomes in temptations knows more about the way of God and His unfailing promises. Such faithful followers of Christ would shun the smiles or frowns of the world, her great enemy.
The fear of the Lord, alive and vibrant in the heart of true believers, will always be great means of succor and safety to stand firm and consistently in times of trials and temptations.
victory in Christ is guaranteed all faithful believers who endure temptations to the end, and we are bound to receive a crown of life at the end.
“Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His name?“
“And when the battle’s over
We shall wear a crown!
Yes, we shall wear a crown!
Yes, we shall wear a crown!
And when the battle’s over
We shall wear a crown
In the new Jerusalem
Wear a crown (wear a crown)
Wear a crown (wear a crown)
Wear a bright and shining crown;
And when the battle’s over
We shall wear a crown
In the new Jerusalem.“
Maikel Kaes -- Personal & Career Development 