Most Beloved Lord, in the Garden, Satan came disguised as a crafty serpent to tempt Eve. Because of his success there, which led to the fall of mankind, his goal has become to try and tempt everyone away from You through disobedience of Your commands. My confidence is that he will not become the victor if I stay close and obedient. Temptation is Satan’s invitation to give in to his kind of life instead of Yours. To resist his temptations, I must seek You for the strength to resist … flee from all occasions of sin … and simply say “no” when confronted with things I know do not conform to Your will. One of Satan’s main ploys is to get me to doubt Your fairness and love. He tries to make me think You are too strict, too stingy, or too self-absorbed to care about my needs. He tries to divert my thinking away from all You have given to me and turn it to fulfilling the yearnings of my flesh.
I am most vulnerable when I am feeling sorry for myself and focus on what I do not have rather than consoling myself with belonging to You and recognizing all the blessings I gain for my allegiance to You. Sometimes I think that freedom is doing anything I want to do. I balk at Your constraints not recognizing the things that You ask of me are for my own good and are intended to prevent me from taking a fall. Satan’s goal is to make me think good is evil and evil is good. And I sure am seeing that philosophy take hold in the world today … which only makes me want to cling to You even more. I must decide if I want to allow emotional, psychological and other behavioral influences to nudge me into decisions I will regret later. I must learn to take one day at a time, one decision at a time with You involved so I do not slip and fall.
Unfortunately, my brain is not wired to easily make rational decisions when I am afraid, confused or enticed by the lusts of my flesh. To put up a lasting defense, I must do what the Bible says and “put on the mind of Christ.” While it is true that no one can comprehend the mind of God, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit I can gain insights into Your thoughts and the plans You have for me. Through my closeness with the Holy Spirit, I can begin to comprehend what You are thinking and start to have meaningful dialogue with You. An intimate relationship with You will come when I consistently spend time with You. To avoid stumbling, I must begin discerning the triggers that push me into inappropriate choices. I must also accept the fact that mistakes have an upside … they are a learning opportunity. Help me avoid the pitfalls that keep me out of favor with You. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
I Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive.