Temptation: "Disecting the Heart"

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:12:35 +0100

Many people of faith wish there wasn't any temptation in their lives, they think that once they come to Messiah Yeshua, temptation will just disappear. The truth is, however, that temptation does exist in the life of every human being on the planet, believer or not! What separates the believer from the unbeliever is the way they see temptation, to the believer it is a lure from the enemy to do something that is against God, but to the unbeliever it is just "being human."
As believers, we must understand the nature of temptation itself! We must ask ourselves the why, what, where, who, when and how? So let us take a look at temptation and discover what it truly is and what it really does!

Temptation is not always a lure set by the enemy, many times it is an old seed that either the world through life experiences or the enemy has already planted in your heart long ago and is now attempting to resurface. For those who have done drugs for example, they may find drugs to be a temptation when going through a trial while to someone who has never done drugs, it does not attract them at all as a temptation in that same trial.

Why? What? and Where?
Temptation is a tool that we as believers can use to self analyze our lives and our true progress in the "working out of our salvation" (Philippians 2:12). You see if the wickedness of that sin was not already a part of your old nature, your natural man, your flesh, then it would not be a temptation to you! Your flesh will only desire those wicked things that it has known from your own life experiences before you came to Yeshua! In other words, temptation is the way that God dissects your heart to allow you to see what is really inside of you! He does this in order that we may not deceive ourselves into believing we are 100% pure in our hearts, remember that scripture tells us "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Now don't misunderstand me, the blood of Yeshua has cleansed us of our sins, has redeemed us from destruction and has purified us before God the father, however, to take the Grace of God and say that once you are born again your being a new creation means that the old nature no longer exists within you is foolishness and such a person deceives himself. I know this because if it were not so, if the old nature ceases to exist all together in the born again believer, then he or she would never experience temptation because the new creation that is in Yeshua does not seek after the things of the flesh but the things of the spirit, so when you feel the urge or temptation to satisfy the needs of the flesh, do you truly believe that is the new nature within you asking for sinful indulgences? Certainly Not! It is the old nature attempting to resurface! Through this we see that temptation truly dissects our hearts and allows us to be honest with ourselves and with God. This honesty with one self, about what negative sinful things are still lingering in our hearts, allows us to come before God in humility with a contrite heart and ask in prayer for His help, so that He may through grace "transform us into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the spirit of the Lord" (2nd Corinthians 3:18). In this way, we are throughout our walk with Yeshua transformed and since it is He who does the work of transformation in us, He alone can receive the glory, so that we are not tempted with pride! To conclude the why portion which in this case is also the what and where since we defined what temptation is (a dissecting tool into our hearts), where it lives or exists (the heart of men) aswell as why it remains even after being born again (old nature still within us), we now see that temptation dissects our hearts revealing to every believer the sinful nature still within their hearts. This revelation allows the believer to maintain a humble attitude and contrite heart toward God. It also creates a dependency on God since it is He alone who can by His spirit transform us from glory to glory, this reinforces the need of the believer to maintain an active, daily relationship with the Lord. And lastly, it prevents us from ever being tempted with the sin of pride when the first three points above are recognized which will deter religiousness and legalism.

Who? When? and How?
Now we move to answer the who and the how of temptation. If you have been paying attention, you can probably guess by now that in order to find the answers to these questions we must once again look at the heart of man. The scripture has a lot to say about the heart of man, which tells us that God looks upon and thinks about the matters of our heart frequently. If there is one thing I know it is that if a thing regarding us is important to God, we have better make it important to us! The word says regarding the heart:

1) "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." (Proverbs 23:7)
2) "Before destruction, the heart of a man is haughty." (Proverbs 18:12)
3) "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord." (Proverbs 16:5)
4) "For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said "it is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know my ways."" (Psalm 95:10)
5) "My flesh and my heart fail." (Psalm 73:26)

Notice that in every scripture the Lord reveals the heart to be the source and cause of the forthcoming effect.
A man thinks (cause) in his heart (source) so is he (effect)
Haughty or pride (cause) in heart (source) brings destruction (effect)
Proud (cause) in heart (source) is an abomination (effect) to God
And so we see that it is in the heart where the cause originates, now let us take this truth while talking about another scripture. James 1:2 tells us "My brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials."
At first glance this seems like an odd statement, why would a believer count it all joy when he/she falls into various trials? The operative word in this is all, he says count it all joy!
As we all know by experience or testimony when a believer is enduring a trial it comes with may circumstances that are uncomfortable, many times there is suffering involved or persecution, so why would we take joy in all of this? Let us recall the nature of man and his heart to get our answer. When people are faced with difficulties, we generally encounter stress, doubt, self pity, depression, negative or bad attitudes, and changes in their approach to every situation in all areas of their lives. Bad conditions tend to bring out the worse qualities in people, but are they circumstantial qualities or simply the reality of what lies in their hearts that only make themselves manifest when pressure is placed upon them? Through our discussion above, we know that it is the revelation of the true nature of the heart and have learned it's purpose. Now as for trials connected with temptation, well; The trial itself is not the temptation, simply a set of circumstances set forth, the temptations are how you react to those set of circumstances!!

As believers we proclaim "without faith it is impossible to please God" yet in trials we are tempted to doubt, we say "I am the head and not the tail" yet we are tempted to self pity, we declare "we are His chosen ones with gladness" yet we are tempted with depression, we testify "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" yet we are tempted to have negative and bad attitudes. Though we say we believe and are certain of our trust in the Lord, our actions during a season of trials will speak louder than empty words spoken during a season of peace (external peace not the Lords peace). The reason we are instructed to consider it all joy is because in having trials we know that the Lord loves us and cares enough to help us grow for the Lord declares "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts" (Proverbs 21:2). In other words the Lord knows those things that are in our hearts both good and bad and desires to bring those negative things to the surface through trials so that we can become aware of their presence and proceed to dealing with them, in doing so purifying our hearts.
Without trials to bring about temptations, we would remain ignorant of our shortcomings and the issues of our hearts. To bring a conclusive answer to the who, how and when let us study James 1:2 concerning trials.
The who and the how can be answered by one explanation and are always fluctuating, usually parallel to one another. Trials which serve the purpose of bringing potential temptation which in turn dissect the heart and brings man to terms with himself and God can come from either the enemy (placing circumstances in you life), God (that He may through a trial purify you by your realization of your dependence of Him), or personal bad decisions (through which God can still work to purify you and your faith) remember He makes "all things work together for good to those who love Him" (Romans 8:28). Also note that I said God will allow or place a trial in your life not that He Himself would tempt you for God cannot tempt any man nor should any man say he is tempted of God (James 1:13) and we have made clear distinction between trial and temptation saying that the trial is not a temptation but a set of circumstances while the temptations do come within those set of circumstances that we may be tested and purified by God.
The when is like the who in that is it fluctuating, we cannot know the seasons of our life or when trials will come our way, though we can control them to a certain extent through good judgment and good decisions. However, external circumstances such as decisions of others can affect your seasons as well. Trials are a part of every believers walk, they will come and go in many different forms depending on the need God sees for every individual child but remember that they serve to edify you and bring you closer to the Lord.

So in conclusion my brethren, consider it ALL joy when facing various trials as they will serve to your edification, purification and dependency upon the Lord! Temptation is a tool, to when you are tempted, stop, be honest with yourself, and cry out "Abba Father" and He will hear your cry and help you be transformed from glory to glory into His image. From this day forth do not look upon temptation as only a horrible feeling or situation but an opportunity to grow in the Lord and grow closer to Him through it!!
Shalom

Sukkot

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 02:35:03 +0100

Well its October 3rd today, which in the Hebrew calendar is Tishrei 15th. This means that today is Sukkot or Feast of Tabernacles! This Feast is from the 15th to the 21st of Tishrei, and can be found in:
Leviticus 23:33-44
Numbers 29:12
Deuteronomy 16:13-15
Zechariah 14:16-19
John 7:2-52
The Feast of Tabernacles is the last of the seven mandated days of observation given by the Lord. The Israelites were to celebrate this feast in recognition of the final harvest of the season and the provision that God had made throughout the year. The Lord mandated that during this feast, and only this feast that Israel should rejoice and be joyful. Along with the command to rejoice and remember all that the Lord had done for them, the Israelites were to leave the comfort of their homes to live in temporary "shacks" for lack of a better word, made of three sides and a roof made of leafy branches so that when laying down, the stars could be seen.
The ability to see the stars was to be a reminder of how the Lord had brought the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt into the Promise Land where they now enjoyed many comforts and blessings. It was to remind them of the goodness, mercy, grace, and love of their God.
The importance of Christians celebrating or observing this holy day is tremendous, though a Christian is not a Jew, we must remember that our Messiah is a Jew, as is our Heavenly Father (The God of the Jews), the Apostles, and every man who wrote the scriptures by inspiration of the Ruach Hakodesh (Holy Spirit). It is of the utmost importance that the body of Yeshua in these last days come together and return to their roots, namely a Jewish Yeshua! Remember that this is an appointed time in the Lords calendar where all believers can do as the Israelites did; not that we should live in a tent and camp in our back yards, unless of course you feel led to do so. The point of the exercise was for the people of God to humble themselves, removing themselves from all the comforts of daily life, out of their comfort zone and into a place of humility where they could truly reflect on all the goodness the Lord has shown to them. Psalm 34:18 tells us that "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." In other words, when a man humbles himself, there is something powerful that takes place, he is able to reflect on the Lord in such a way that modern comforts distract us from doing. Today as we celebrate Sukkot, take time to yourself, humble yourself in your private place and reflect on the goodness the Lord has caused in your life. Remember that this holy day is the only one in which the Lord commands His people to rejoice! Why you ask?
The reason for this is simple: John 1:14 tells us that "the word became flesh and tabernacled among us." When Yeshua our Lord made Himself manifest in human form, He literally tabernacled among us! The Lord Himself knew that this would happen and for this reason said to His people concerning this day "Rejoice and be Joyful." Remember that the old covenant (Tanakh) speaks Yeshua concealed. These scriptures are the shadow of the reality which was to come, namely Yeshua. Sukkot is the shadow of Yeshua, it foretold in secret the redemption of man through the sacrifice of one who was to dwell among us, therefore rejoice all who are called according to His name! Again I say rejoice!
May the Lord bless you in this glorious day in which the promise of redemption was fulfilled!

daily-manna

Temptation: "Disecting the Heart"

Sukkot