God will never direct us to be prideful, arrogant and unforgiving, immoral or slothful or full of fear. We step into these things because we are insensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit within us. Charles Stanley

Temptations

 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.  But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
James 1:13-15

 

In the story of Joseph, his master, Potiphar, saw that the Lord was with Joseph and promoted him to be overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. Potiphar’s wife, however, tried to tempt Joseph into sin but Joseph remained steadfast in his commitment to God and refused to submit to her enticement.

 

Temptation is never from God because it is against His nature to deliberately entice a person to sin but when we are faced with circumstances and situations that tempt our fleshly desires, we have to make a conscious decision of our will to flee from that temptation. By His grace, God will always provide a way out of the situation.
It is good for us to study how Joseph reacted to temptation so that we can apply the same principles when we are tempted.

Firstly, we must deal with it immediately and nip it in the bud, without giving it time to take root and grow on us.

Secondly, we must get away from it at any cost to avoid possible situations where we can face temptations just as Joseph avoided Potiphar’s wife. We also need to be consistent in our resistance.
Finally, we need to resist it confidently because we know that in His mercy, our Father will show us the way to escape the temptation. We are accountable to our Father and should desire to honour Him in all that we do.

 

Today know that, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it”. 1 Corinthians 10:13

God gave a way of escape to Joseph and was faithful to him. When we put our trust in the Lord and depend on Him, He will also provide a way out for us as well.

Dear Lord,
I thank You for Your Word that says that He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world and therefore I will be able to overcome with Your strength which is within me. Amen.
 
God bless you,
Theo & Manju