Tag: Temptation

No Room

Many of us who came from the conference have experienced something different. In a couple of weeks after conference we experience the movement of the spirit stirring within us and making us soar high for the Lord. We ride with the spirit. We fly with the spirit.

As we soar high we see the greater picture of where we are in our lives. We see our relationships, our prayer time, our service, our dedication and commitment, our dreams, our convictions, our challenges, and even our weaknesses. Somehow we get to have a different understanding of ourselves, we see all the opportunities how we can be a better version if not already transforming into one.

The crucial part comes after. How will I change for the better? We go into our innermost self. We look at where we are tied down. My prayer is that in this search of that string that ties us to our old and sinful ways, may we not get lost, may we not enjoy the search too much that we’ll lose focus on what we’re supposed to do.

Our fight with the evil one is not just getting over temptation but it is cutting ties with the devil and all its manifestations and forms.  Not by our own might but with the Holy Spirit, we expunge any trace of the evil one. No room for the devil.

 

 

 

To Die Is Gain

Self-mortification. Every time I’ve heard of this term in the past I would always think of people that physically hurt themselves and that’s it. I’ve learned that that’s just one form of self-mortification.

When temptation comes along, it starts as a simple thought—a suggestion. When we entertain that thought or suggestion, we start to use our imagination to delve deeper into it. Suddenly, we are committing sin and acting upon entertained thoughts. How important it is to cast the first slightest thought of temptation! If we don’t nip it when it starts, we put ourselves on a very dangerous path to spiritual death.

In the heat of temptation it is very hard to follow our intellect that tells us that what we are about to do is a sin and that it’s wrong. Our carnal cravings can easily get the best of us. Redemptive self-mortification is when we prefer to be crucified rather than sin. In the pinnacle of temptation, we truly suffer. We experience an ultimatum: commit sin or die to self. That dying to self entails great suffering. However, we must remember that the Lord always provides a way out of sin. We only need to rely on His grace. If we end up choosing to deny ourselves and to take up our cross, then we truly follow Jesus.

Temptations will never stop on this journey to holiness. This is why we need so much grace. If it were not for the grace of God, we are truly dead. Spiritually dead. God’s grace helps us to know His will and gives us the strength to follow Him and carry our cross.

When we die to self, we lose the fleeting pleasures of the world and the flesh, but what we gain is eternal life in Christ.

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” —Philippians 1:21