Passing all tests is crucial to a new chapter in life.
Growing up is an opportunity to do good, Blessed is the man that endure temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life.
In your journey to spiritual maturity, trials will be a step if you do the right thing, but a stumbling block if you do the wrong thing. the test simply offers you a choice.
Temptation is Satan’s first weapon to destroy you, and God wants to use it to grow you.
Every time you do good by not sinning, you grow to have the character of Christ.
1, To understand this, you must first identify the attributes of Christ.
One of the highest qualities that define him is the fruit of the Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit’s works is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The six attributes are the expansion of the great commandment and the description of Jesus Christ as beautiful parents. Jesus is love, joy, peace, full patience and the qualities that were in Him. Making spiritual eyes is being like Christ.
So, how does the Holy Spirit prepare these six eyes in your life? Does He create them instantly? Do you wake up one morning and find yourself full of these qualities? Not. The eyes are always gently pierced and mature.
The next sentence is one of the most effective spiritual truths you have ever learned. God develops spiritual eyes in your life by putting you in difficult qualities that test you to have the opposite of that spiritual eye.
Character development always provides a choice.
For example, God teaches us love by placing us among unloved people.
Loving people who are loved and love you does not improve your character. God teaches us joy when we turn to Him in great sorrow.
Emotional happiness depends on the circumstances, but true happiness depends on your relationship with God.
God develops true peace in us, not by making things go the way we want them to, but by allowing time to buy and ignore each other in our lives.
Anyone can enjoy a beautiful sunset or relax. We learn true peace by choosing to trust God in situations where we are tempted to worry or fear.
Similarly, our patience grows in situations that require us to wait on the ground and that we regret or are tempted to give up.
God uses the opposite of the eye for choice to grow any eye in us. If you are not tempted to be evil, you cannot be called good.
You can’t be trustworthy if you’ve been tested for untrustworthiness and haven’t had a chance to do so before.
Honesty comes by overcoming the temptation of dishonesty.
Humility comes by overcoming selfishness. And patience grows in you every time you stop giving up.
Every time you overcome temptation, you become more like Christ.
How the test works
It is useful to know that Satan’s work is predictable.
He’s been using the same and old strategy since creation. All tests are carried out in the same way.
Paul therefore said, we do this so that Satan will not deceive us, for we know what his designs are.
In the Bible we learn that temptation has four steps, with which Satan tempted Adam and Eve and Jesus. In the first step, the devil identifies the will in you.
That may be a sinful desire to blind or control others, or it may be a righteous desire, such as wanting to be loved by others and to feel great happiness.
Temptation begins when Satan suggests that you get into something wrong or tells you to do the right thing in the wrong way or at the wrong time.
Always know the twists and turns. They are always the tests.
Satan whispers that you deserve this, you must have it now.
It makes you happy, encourages you, or makes you feel good. We think there are trials around us, but God tells us that He will begin to lead us.
If you are not willing inside, temptation cannot drag you.
Temptation doesn’t always begin in circumstances, but in your mind.
Jesus said, For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
All these evil things come out of the man, and defile him not.
James tells us what caused the quarrels among you? Is it not your desires that are fighting in your flesh?
The second step is skepticism. Satan tries to make you doubt what God has said about sin, isn’t that really right?
Did God really command you not to do that?
Has God never allowed what He has forbidden to anyone else or at any other time? The Bible warns, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
The third step is to cheat. Satan cannot stand in the truth, he is called the father of lies. Everything he tells you is a lie or only half of it is true.
He uses lies to replace what God has said in His Word. Satan says, you will not die. You will become as wise as God. You can do that.
Nothing can tell that exactly. He will solve your problems for you. That, except, everyone is doing that. He is a minor sin.
But a little sin is like a little pregnancy, it slowly reveals itself. The fourth step is disobedience. Eventually you will obey the thoughts you have been thinking in your mind.
What starts as an idea is born as a habit. You get into something you’re really focused on. If you believe Satan’s lies, you will fall into the trap that James warned about, but each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own evil desire.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Be not deceived, my beloved brethren
Overcoming the temptation
Knowing how the test works will help you, but there are also steps you need to take to overcome the test.
Many Christians are discouraged by the thoughts of temptation and feel guilty for not being the mountain trial.
They are ashamed of being tested. this is a deficiency of understanding caused by immaturity. You cannot destroy the test.
On the one hand, trials are a sign of praise. Satan does not tempt those who carry out his evil plans, they are his.
Temptation is a sign that Satan hates you, not a sign of weakness or that you belong to the world. It is also part of humanity or living in a fallen world.
You should not be surprised or shocked or discouraged. You cannot completely eliminate temptation by anticipating that you may face it.
Imagine that you may face temptations, and you cannot completely eliminate them. The Bible says this.
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
Temptation is not a sin. Jesus was tempted but did not sin. The temptation of sin is when you enter it.
Martin Luther said, you can’t stop the birds from barking your head off the mountain, but you can stop them from building their nests on your hair.
You cannot stop Satan from giving you ideas, but you can choose whether to live by them or not.
For example, many people do not know the difference between attraction or sexual desire and physical desire. They are not the same. God made us all have sexual desires, and that is good.
Sexual attraction and arousal is our natural response to physical beauty, but lust is knowingly acting on the thought.
Lust is choosing in advance in your mind what you are going to do with your body. You may be attracted or aroused without committing a sin of lust.
Many people, especially Christian men, are ashamed that their God-given hormones work in this way.
When a woman immediately attracts them, they think it is lust and blame themselves in shame. But being drawn is not lust, until you start living in it.
Indeed, the closer you grow to God, the more Satan will tempt you. As soon as you become a child of God, Satan considers you his enemy. You are his enemy, and he facilitates your defeat.
Sometimes when you pray, Satan sends you evil thoughts to destroy or shame you. Don’t be ashamed of this, but understand that Satan is afraid of your prayers and will try everything he can to stop you.
How did I come up with such a thought? Instead of blaming yourself, still focus on God, knowing that it is a destructive idea from Satan.
There may be some circumstances that make you more vulnerable to temptation than others. Some situations will cause you to stumble immediately, while others will not worry you at all.
Situations like this contribute to your weakness and you need to identify them, because Satan really knows them, he knows the exact trap you are falling into.
So, he constantly tries to put you in situations like this. Peter warns, Be sober, be vigilant: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Ask yourself, when will I be tested the most? What day of the week? What time of day is it? Ask yourself, Where am I most tested?
In the workplace? At home? A neighbor’s house? At the workout facility? At the airport or in an out-of-town hotel?
Ask yourself this question, Who is with me when I am most tempted?
Are they my friends? Are they the people we work with? Are there many guests? Time to sit alone? Also ask, how do I always feel when I am most tested?
Maybe it’s when you’re tired, or lonely or depressed or upset or worried. Perhaps it is when you are hurt or angry, or after a great success, or when you are spiritually strong.
You should identify the specific strategies of your tests and be prepared to remove those strategies as best you can.
The Bible repeatedly tells us to be strong and fight trials. Paul said don’t give the devil a chance. Wise planning reduces temptation. Follow the advice in the illustration book.
The kingdom of heaven is open twenty-four hours a day to give you immediate help. God wants you to ask Him for help to overcome temptation.
He says, Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
It begs this one, I call it a very short swim, because it’s quick and focused on its spots.