{"id":6269,"date":"2019-11-14T18:12:51","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T01:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?post_type=portfolio&p=6269"},"modified":"2019-11-14T18:12:58","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T01:12:58","slug":"temptation","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/gospel-express\/temptation\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Steps to Handle Temptation"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY RICK WARREN \u2014 191111<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAccept God\u2019s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(Ephesians 6:17 NCV).<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to be able to handle temptation, you need to claim the promises of God that he has given in his Word about temptation. Everybody ought to memorize 1 Corinthians 10:13:\u00a0\u201cGod is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(NIV).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had many people tell me, \u201cI couldn\u2019t help myself. It was impossible to resist. I had no choice but to give in.\u201d When you say that, you\u2019re calling God a liar! God says he\u2019ll always offer an escape from the temptation you face. It may be tough and painful. It might even be embarrassing. But there will always be a way out. God makes sure of it! That is his promise.<\/p>\n

Satan is constantly battling for your mind. That\u2019s where the battle happens. When God gives us an idea, it\u2019s inspiration. When the Devil gives us an idea, it\u2019s temptation. You choose every day which thought you\u2019re going to dwell on.<\/p>\n

You can change your mind by replacing the temptation with truth, and truth is found in the Bible.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Bible says to resist the Devil. How do you do that?<\/strong> By preparing for the temptation. Ephesians 6:17 says,\u00a0\u201cAccept God\u2019s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God<\/strong>\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(NCV).<\/p>\n

There are two things you need to do in order to handle temptation. Salvation is the first step:\u00a0\u201cAccept God\u2019s salvation as your helmet.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0What does a helmet do? It protects your head and your mind, and that\u2019s where the battle is going on. Before you can say no to the Devil, you have to learn to say yes to Jesus Christ. You\u2019ve got to have his power through salvation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The second step is to receive God\u2019s Word to use as a sword<\/strong>. Truth is the antidote to temptation. You can keep your Bible on the coffee table at home, but when you\u2019re at work and you are tempted, what good is it going to do you? No good at all! You need to get the truth that is in that book into your mind.<\/p>\n

Without a doubt, the single most effective tool to combating temptation is to memorize Scripture. If you don\u2019t have any verses memorized, you\u2019ve got no weapon for the fight! When the Devil comes along, how are you going to counter him? He\u2019s not afraid of your opinion, but he does fear the truth. The sword of God is God\u2019s truth, but it only becomes a weapon when you memorize it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

two-steps-to-handle-temptation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":6270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[35],"class_list":["post-6269","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_entries-english-writer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/6269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/6269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6277,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/6269\/revisions\/6277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6269"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=6269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}