Joyce Meyer - How to Handle Temptation - Part 2

TOPICS: Temptation

One of the reasons why trials are good for us is because they bring out of us areas that we need to let the Holy Spirit work on. But we need to recognize we have them before we’ll let him do any work. If I think I don’t have a problem, then I’m not gonna ask God to help me with that problem. The Bible says in James 1 that, «We’re to be extremely joyful when we fall into all kinds of trials and testings and temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith bringeth out patience. And when patience is fully developed, you’ll be lacking in nothing».

Well, I said, «Before I ever got around to patience, my trials and tribulations brought a lot of things out of me,» things that, bad attitudes and anger and jealousy and different things that I didn’t know I had. I would have never thought that I was jealous until a test came my way that brought jealousy roaring out of my soul and I realized that it was something that I had a problem with and I needed to let God help me in that area. Or there are certain things that may happen that will cause me to judge somebody else.

And recently, God had to convict me about that. And so, I love the conviction of the Holy Spirit and I hope you do too, because thank God that he doesn’t just leave us in the mess that we’re in, but he cares enough about us to keep working with us until he turns us into the person that he wants us to be. So, don’t say when you’re tempted that it’s God, but look inside yourself and ask God, «What needs to change,» in you.

You know, God tried Abraham by requiring him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. Isaac was his promised son and oh, he loved him tremendously, but it was a test of obedience. Would Abraham keep God first even as much as he loved his own son? Now, God was not asking him to do anything that he didn’t plan to do himself. And Abraham intended to obey God. He even had Isaac on the altar, tied to the altar and brought in the sticks to be able to light them on fire. And his son asked, where the sacrifice was and he said, «God will provide himself a sacrifice». And sure enough, just as Abraham was about to draw the knife and slay the son, the angel of the Lord said, «No,» for God has provided himself a sacrifice. Sometimes we’ll be tempted in areas just to see, do you love God enough to give that up?

Now, I’ll just kinda take a bold step and say, are there any of you that are in a bad Romantic relationship that you know is not right and God’s telling you to get out of, and yet, you just are having such a hard time letting it go? Well, it may be a test just to show, do you love God enough to put him first, even if it means that you have to suffer, or are you going to keep doing what’s right or what’s wrong maybe, just out of fear that you’ll never have anybody? You know, desperate people do dumb things.

When I was 18 and I left home where my father had been abusing me sexually for 15 years, I mean, the first young boy that paid any attention to me ended up asking me to marry him, and I knew down, deep, inside it wasn’t gonna work. And I did it anyway because I was afraid, I would never have anybody. I was desperate, and so I made a desperate decision that was a wrong decision that caused me five more years of pain added on to the 18 that I had already had. And you know, sometimes we have suffering in our life just because we make bad choices. Now, God will help us, he’ll deliver us from 'em, and he will forgive us, but we need to realize that sometimes we’re the cause of our own issues. God tempts no man with evil. Abraham passed his test. And you can pass your test too.

You know, the Israelites tempted God. God can be tempted to get angry. He’s merciful and good, and we always see that side of him, but there was a few people that got him upset enough that he got angry. The Israelites tempted God by their complaining and murmuring. They tempted him to be angry. 1 Corinthians 10:9-10 says, «We should not tempt the Lord [try his patience, become a trial to him, critically appraise him, and exploit his goodness] As some of them did-and were killed by poisonous serpents». They let the devil in. In this instance, showed up, serpents in the camp that bit a lot of people, and they died. But God’s making a point here that he doesn’t like complaining. He wants to hear praise and thanksgiving. And no matter what kind of situation you have in your life, no matter how bad your problem seems to be, I can promise you that you have more blessings than you do problems.

Let me say it again. You have more blessings than you do problems. Go ahead, write your problem on a piece of paper. Now take another piece of paper and start writing down your blessings. And pretty soon you’ll realize that you really don’t have anything to complain about. I think if we could get through one whole day without complaining, it would probably be a major miracle. We just find so many things to complain about. And we are blessed, and God is good, and he is good to us, and he has a good plan for our life. And even when we get ourselves in trouble and ask God, he’ll get us out of it. So why should we complain? And the Israelites complained. They had miraculous manna rained out of the sky every morning. They drank water out of a rock, and yet they murmured and they complained.

Several times they said, «Well, we’re just gonna go back to Egypt,» where we had our onions and our leeks, and they got tired of the manna and they wanted meat. And it was always one thing or another. And every time they had trouble, they blamed Moses and they blamed God. That’s another thing we shouldn’t do is blame somebody else for our problems. We need to take responsibility for our own messes. «We should not discontentedly complain as some of them did, and were put out of the way entirely by the destroyer», which is «(death)». God was tempted a few times to just wipe them out, but according to his character, he gave them mercy. Moses prayed for them, and he prayed diligently for them, and God heard his prayers.

Psalm 95:8, King James says, «Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness». This provocation caused the Israelites to provoke God to anger by their insistent demands. In plain terms, they got him aggravated. Did you know that you can frustrate God? Moses got him aggravated because God had called Moses to do something that Moses wanted to do 40 years earlier when he was still in Egypt. He killed an Egyptian because he was mistreating the Israelites. He felt a call to help his people, but he got a little bit ahead of himself. It wasn’t the right timing. And so, when Pharaoh found out about it, he threatened to kill Moses, and Moses ran out into the wilderness. And he was out there 40 years, and then God called him to go back to Egypt and to go to Pharaoh and tell him, «Let my people go».

Well, Moses gave every kind of excuse imaginable. «I can’t talk. I stutter. I this. I that. You’ve got the wrong man». And finally, it says, «The anger of God blazed hot against Moses». And he said, «You can’t talk. I’ll give you your brother Aaron, and he’ll talk for you. I’ll talk to you. You talk to him, and he’ll talk to the people». But it’s interesting that God finally got tired of hearing his excuses. Now, don’t get upset with me, but are you making excuses? Is God asking you to do something, and you just keep making one excuse after another, after another, after another?

Let me tell you something. Anytime God asks you to do something, he will always give you the strength and the ability to do it. Forty long years, he was grieved and disgusted with that generation. Sometimes, I think it’s hard for us to look at God and realize that he can actually have some of those same emotions that we have. Of course, he’s totally in control. And we get out of control. Psalm 95:10, «Forty years long was I grieved and disgusted with that generation, I said, 'it is a people that do err in their hearts, and they do not approve, acknowledge, or regard my ways'».

Let’s don’t anger God through our insistent demands and our murmuring and complaining. It’s not a good thing. We spend way too much time trying to figure out where a trial comes from, but we should simply resist them as if they’re satan trying to destroy us. I remember when I was first trying to learn about trials and temptations, and I would want to know, «Well, is this from God or is it from the enemy»? And I finally just learned «Anything good is from God and anything bad is from the devil». Resisting satan in these trials is what we need to do, unless they are something that God is permitting for our betterment. And God will teach you the difference. But I found the best policy is to stay steady in the storm, no matter where the storm comes from.

I love Psalm 94:12–13. It says, «Blessed (happy, fortunate to be envied) is the man whom you discipline and instruct, o Lord, and teach out of your law, that you may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity, until the pit of corruption is dug for the wicked». That he may keep himself calm. It’s not something that somebody else can come and do for us. It’s not even something God’s gonna do for us. It says, «God’s going to teach us how to keep ourselves calm». And I don’t know about you, but I can feel when I’m starting to get upset, just starting to. And that’s when we need to resist it. And you can speak out loud and say, «I resist you, satan, in Jesus' name. You are not going to cause me to get upset. I’m going to stay calm like God wants me to».

Be sure that you don’t trust yourself too much. You know, Peter trusted himself too much. A lot of the other disciples trusted themselves too much. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, «Jesus asked them to stay awake and pray with him one hour». Now, he had poured his life out to them, and he would go off and pray. And every time he came back, they were asleep. And then he would go and pray some more, and then he’d come back and find 'em asleep. And he finally said, and it sounds sad, but he said, «Can’t you just pray with me for one hour»? Wow. What an indictment. And then he said, «The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak». That’s always something for us to remember. What about when others sin? Oh, we need to be aware of getting a haughty and a prideful attitude.

Don’t ever look at somebody who’s sinning and think, «Well, I would never do that». Peter made that mistake when Jesus told him that satan was gonna try to sift him like wheat. But he said, «I prayed for you, Peter». Peter said, «Lord, I would never do that. I would never do that». And of course, we know that he did do it. He was haughty and proud, and he didn’t think that he needed the prayer, I guess. He thought he was strong enough that he could resist. And we need to be really careful when other people sin, and maybe they’re doing something that we wouldn’t do or have never done. But you don’t know what you will do in any kind of a given situation.

And so, the Bible says, «Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual», and of course, that’s us, right? «[Who are responsive to and controlled by the spirit] Should set him right», one, we love that part, «And restore and reinstate him,» three things. And even the part about setting him right, the Bible tells us that we are to always bring correction with a gentle spirit, realizing that we could also be tempted. «Without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also». That’s Galatians 6:1.

Now, let me say it again, because I think judging and criticizing other people is a problem with a lot of us. You see somebody doing something, and I remember a girl that I used to work with a long time ago, and the girl’s husband committed adultery, and she took him back. And that’s when the woman said, «I would never do that. If my husband ever committed adultery, I would never take him back». Well, guess what? A couple of years later, her husband committed adultery, and she did absolutely everything to get him back. Let me tell you that you do not know what you would do in any situation until you are faced with that situation. It’s easy to look at somebody and say, «I would never». It’s a dangerous thing to say, really.

And so, we need to be very careful about critically judging other people and thinking haughtily and proudly that we would never do that. «Let anyone who thinks he stands [who feels sure that he has a steadfast mind and is standing firm], take heed lest he fall [into sin]». We always say, «Well, he fell into sin». Well, I’m not sure we «Fall in». I think sometimes we walk in slowly. Falling in kind of makes it sound like you just all of a sudden fell in, didn’t have any choice or any warning. And I think that we do. If we’re cautious and we’re careful, we will recognize when we have warnings. You need to be careful when somebody else displays a weakness, not to tell them how strong you are in that area, because you may just find out that without God’s help, you’re gonna fall also.

Be careful about bragging about your successes, because God should get the glory for every single thing. And then lastly, today, let’s say, don’t sit inactive in the pathway where sinners walk. Be very careful who you spend your time with and how much time you spend with them. I’m not saying not to ever spend time with sinners because they need our witness, but I always like to say, «Be sure that you are affecting them and they’re not infecting you». Psalm 1:1, «Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] In the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] Where the scornful [and the mockers] Gather».

Well, you know, I’d probably have to read that three or four times before you got it all, but it’s just saying, «Don’t sit down in the middle of a bunch of unbelievers or even believers that are making fun of other people or gossiping about other people». Don’t just sit there passive and inactive, but either speak up for what’s right or get yourself out of the situation because we are greatly affected by those that we associate with. Don’t trust yourself not to get swayed in their direction. Don’t think that you can do that and it have no effect on you.

Last scripture, 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, Paul says, «I wrote to you in my [previous] Letter not to associate [closely and habitually]», that explains it. It doesn’t mean you can never be around anybody, but it says, «[closely and habitually] With unchasted and (impure) people, not [meaning, of course, that you must] Altogether shun the immoral people of the world, or the greedy graspers or the cheats or the thieves and idolaters, otherwise, you would have to get out of the world and human society altogether»!

So, he’s saying, «You can’t live in this world and totally avoid all sinful people». But he said, «Now, I’m writing to you», it’s like he’s kicking it up a notch, «I’m writing you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of [Christian] Brother if he’s known to be guilty of immorality or greed, or he’s an idolater [whose soul is devoted to anything other than giving God the first place in his life], nor a person with a foul tongue, [railing, abusing, reviling, slandering], or is a drunkard or a swindler or a robber. [no] You must not so much as even eat with such a person».

So, he’s even putting stricter restrictions on people that are Christians that are doing these things. He goes so far as to say, «You shouldn’t even eat a meal with 'em». What people in those situations need is they need to be lovingly confronted and told, «This is not the way for you to behave as a Christian». Maybe you can bring them out of the sin and get them back on the right path with God. But if they’re intent on living like that and they’re not gonna change, that’s not somebody that you need to be hanging around with.

So, I just wanna encourage you today, as we close, resist temptation aggressively. Be careful who you spend time with. Be careful about the lies you listen to from the enemy. Be careful about your thinking. Don’t put yourself in compromising situations thinking that you’re strong enough to avoid the temptation. And always pray. Pay attention when you pray the Lord’s prayer, «Lead me not into temptation».

Don’t just let it become such a habit that you don’t pay attention to what you’re saying. Every day let’s pray, «Lord, I know that I could be tempted and that temptation may likely come. But I pray that today you would help me recognize it and you would keep me from temptation, in Jesus' name, amen». Thank you for being with us today. And I hope this helps you because you just might be tempted today and this is gonna help you to avoid it and stay out of trouble. God bless you and please join us again tomorrow.