Bible Verse of The Day – 5-29-19

James 4:7 (NKJV) 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Temptation is something that we all deal with on a daily basis. Even Jesus dealt with it.

So, whether we deal with temptation or not isn’t the question or the issue. The real issue is how we deal with it when it comes.

Jesus used the word of God to rebuke the enemy when he tempted Him. For each time that the devil tempted Him, He responded with a specific scripture. And while that worked well for Jesus, sometimes we might not have specific verses pop into our minds right away to use.

As we study God’s word more, it will tend to become easier and easier to remember specific verses, which can really help us ward off temptation.

But sometimes we might need to deal with it in other ways or take additional actions in order to fend it off successfully.

The thing is that this tends to get over-complicated by many people. Really, though, it’s quite simple. The verse above says to resist the devil and he will flee from us.

This doesn’t require us to quote scripture. It doesn’t require us to bind the devil. It doesn’t even require us to pray. It only requires that we genuinely, earnestly resist him. Period.

Here’s the key to successfully resisting the devil and keeping him from coming back again and again with a particular temptation or sin: learn to hate the sin and what it does to us and those around us.

That’s right. Hate the sin. Until we despise the sin that’s destroying us and our family, we will forever return to it, only to have it eat away at us one little piece at a time, until it has destroyed us.

Alcohol, drugs, lust, porn, stealing, lying, adultery, you name it. They will all kill us eventually if we don’t learn to hate them and walk away from them. That may sound blunt and direct, but it’s that simple.

It’s up to us to do something to change it. Nobody else can stop us from falling into sin when we’re tempted. Not our family, not our friends, not even God. They can all give us guidance, encouragement, direction, love and mercy.

But until we learn to hate the sin, and actually make a choice to stop, we will be like a dog returning to its vomit.

Proverbs 26:11 (NKJV) 11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.

Let’s stop behaving like dogs and allow God to set us free. Let’s see the sin for what it is and what it is doing to us and the ones we love.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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