Test or Temptation?

"Many fail in battle because they wait until the hour of battle...
Anticipate your battles; fight them on your knees
before temptation comes."
~ R.A. Torrey

Test or Temptation?

"If it had not been the LORD who was on our side ...
Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have gone over our soul;
Then the swollen waters
Would have gone over our soul."
~ Psalms 124:2,4-5 (NKJV)

"And lead us not into temptation ... "
~ Matthew 6:13 (KJV)

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
~ James 1:13 (NKJV)

If anything is Greek to me, it's understanding the distinction between the related words peirazo, peira, peirasmos, peirazo as they are translated tempt[ation], try/trial, and test.

I also admit that Jesus instructing us to ask the Father "lead us not into temptation" presents an odd contrast with the Scripture which says God does not tempt. Of little help is the explanation I've heard that temptation is from the devil trying to make us fall and testing is from God trying to make us strong. When I'm going through it, temptation, trial and testing have little differentiation, and I seem as likely to stumble upon all three.

Perhaps the day will come when I can successfully discern between temptation, trial and testing, and more clearly see the best response. For now, I look at all three as a test allowed by God to make me more Christlike.

For now, I simply accept Jesus' instruction, and regularly offer this prayer:

Lord, when temptation comes, please use it to make us more holy, like You. Please use it to wash us not drown us, refine us not burn us. Please draw us to walk closely at the side of You, our Shepherd, and to acknowledge You in all our ways, so that we will follow You safely leading us around or above or even through temptation, but never into it, until we are beyond it.

Contrasting points-of-view, questions and feedback are invited. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
#discipleship
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Friday Freelance: FLOW

"Temptation usually comes in through a door

that has been deliberately left open."
~ Unknown

Friday Freelance: FLOW
#discipleship

My husband and I visited Alaska one August while the salmon were running. You don’t appreciate the effort a salmon makes to swim upstream until you watch the fish vault the rapids as mist from the pounding water floats into your face. The fish are driven.

When we came to their destination, thousands of dead salmon clogged the water. They had expended every bit of their lives to fight their way upstream and lay their eggs. One need not be a Darwinist to believe in survival of the fittest. No weak salmon reached its journey’s end.

I’ve walked against the flow of a crowd on occasion. The only way to make it through is to be assertive. Without the determination to continue toward a fixed goal, one is swallowed by the throng and carried in their direction.

Can you anticipate where I’m taking this? We do not draw closer to God by being carried along with the crowd of this world. Direction is maintained by setting our eyes on Him we seek and purposefully pursuing Him.

Do not be deceived:
"Evil company corrupts good habits."
1 Corinthians 15:33 (NKJV)

Though we may set our sights on following Jesus, we walk in a world heading away from Him. If in our compassion for people we turn to them in the effort to change their direction, we risk being swept up with them and backsliding. But if we turn a blind eye to them, we lose the strength of Spirit we would have gained through love.

A discerning heart is needed. We must take a hard look at what areas of weaknesses we have, and understand that we cannot afford to maintain close associations with those who might cause us to stumble in such areas. The recovering drug addict might think he can reach other addicts for Christ because he speaks their language. Both they and he will benefit if he first associates with stronger Christians, becomes strong himself through God's Word and Spirit, and only returns to minister in his old haunts accompanied by a friend who's had no such temptations.

Same for those with struggles of any kind—gossip, gambling, sports, porn, alcohol, gaming, media, sex, money, power—the list of obsessions goes on. It's not a matter of how long we've been walking with the Lord, but of how weak we may be in a given area. It doesn't mean we must completely cut off old friends, but that we use wisdom in how we associate with them.

We regularly hear of renowned Christians who take hard falls because they were overcome by some kind of temptation. Each of us probably knows someone personally whose life has been shipwrecked by something they thought they had under control. Rarely does someone fall alone. We are social creatures, and those who crash usually had help.

I hear often, "Jesus associated with sinners." He did indeed. Hebrews 4:15 even says Jesus "was in all points tempted as we are." But He was never weak, never sinned, and never encouraged sin. He ministered to sinners effectively because He ministered from strength.

Going against the flow is not for the weak fish. <><>BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
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