Temptation and persecution are two experiences a Christian believer must not run away from. These will come at every stage of the life of any christian believer. Their occurrences are inevitable. We should therefore not be taken aback or be in despair when we are confronted by them. As believers, we must be ready to weather every storm they bring our way and keep marching on like true soldiers.
The life of a true believer is that of a true soldier. As such, he must be battle ready at all times. The enemy and antagonist that we contend with is never idle. He too is a mighty and cunning enemy. He monitors and trails our every move as we march along seeking to discover or detect any loop holes in our lives which he could exploit to derail us from our track.
One thing; a very important one at that, is the fact that even as Satan and his cohorts are drilling you about with persecution and temptations, God Himself is watching your reactions whether they are positive or negative. Whether you are manifesting faith or double mind. Your reactions, to a great extent, will determine how God too will get involved in your battles.
If your reactions are positive and show manifestation of faith in the faithfulness of God, strong and unwavering, then rest assured that God will be there to rebuke your adversary, the Devil.
What exactly is persecution? Persecution is the act of subjecting a person to intense ill-treatment, harassment, intimidation and oppression for holding contrary opinion to that of the persecutor. Such opinion could be on religion, political, social, and such like.
But the most persecuted in the world is the Christian believer. Persecution is meted out to the victim in order to frustrate and make him fail in his ambition or pursuit or make him change his mind and belief to suit the persecutor and oppressor.
What is Temptation? Temptation is a means used by the Devil to cause failure or lead a person into doing the wrong thing, especially against God, and the will and commandments of God.
Many people mistake temptation for the actual sin. But let me clear this misconception by saying that temptation itself is not a sin on the part of the person being tempted. But it is a sin for the tempter; i.e. the Devil and those he uses as subjects to carry out the act of tempting.
When a person is tempted, he has not committed any sin at that point of being tempted. But if he succumbs and dances to the tune of the power tempting him, then he has fallen into that temptation and as such it becomes a sin.
It is written that blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.
Some temptation come to the Christian when he begins to get too ambitious and indulge in things that are not in line with the will and plan of God.
For example, when a Christian begins to crave for worldly possessions, prosperity, riches and begins to toe the path of the world in his quest to get rich quick, the Devil will pick the loop hole he’s been looking for. He will begin to exploit this weakness and start dangling all sorts of ideas and options at the Christian to entice him to go into sin.
Many have fallen out of the way like this and never recovered again to continue their Christian race. Temptation itself is not a sin, but falling into it is a sin and no sinner will go unpunished or be guiltless. Every true believer must be determined to overcome every temptation because temptation will surely come, one way or the other.
Don’t forget that Jesus Christ our Lord was tempted by Satan during his days here on earth, but he overcame. The way the Lord tackled the Devil is the same way we, his followers, should tackle him. Jesus Christ has laid an example for us by the way he responded to the suggestions of the Devil, “It is written…”
Just as the Devil can use anyone and anything to persecute a believer, he can and does use anything to tempt you. If Jesus, the Lord could be tempted, it is therefore clear and certain that no one on earth is above temptation. As such too, we must take our stand and be determined to overcome the tempter whenever he comes tempting us.
Any believer who cannot face and endure persecution and temptation, cannot get to heaven. Be very sure of this bitter truth. Unfortunately, a majority of Christian believers who have fallen by the way side from their pilgrimage, have done so because of persecution and or temptation.
Many so called Christian believers shout all over the place about how “the Lord is good all the time” because temptation and or persecution has not come. They declare their love for God when all seem to be going well and smooth for them. But the moment a little problem comes along the line,they quickly forget their earlier declaration of love for God.
A Christian Believer Must Not Compare Himself With Others. If you are reading this piece and you are looking at the lives of other people and comparing yourself with them and desiring to be like them beware. You are building a dangerous ladder for the Devil and his army of demons to climb into your life to scuttle your journey and divert your destiny.
We must bear in mind; we must have it at the back of our mind, that we must not stop our journey with the Lord half way. This our journey and relationship with God must terminate nowhere else than in Heaven, our destination.
These last days, we have been reading and hearing of pastors and prophets who are now operating with strange powers on the pulpit; on the altar. Because of the “abracadabra” they do, performing questionable miracles, those who have eyes but cannot see and ears that are deaf and hearts that cannot perceive, throng their assemblies every day just to get a piece of their poisonous ‘cake’.
Those who know the truth but choose to feign ignorance shall face the same punishment that the false prophets and magic pastors will face. Because, like Esau, they are just after the “Red Pottage” Satan uses as a bait to capture their souls after they had allowed themselves to be enticed, because of their lustful and destructive desire to be like others who they feel are doing better than they.
So, if you are indeed a true Christian that fears God today, beware. Nobody is above temptation. Satan tried it against our Master and Lord Jesus Christ. So, whatever the height you must have attained in your walk and relationship with God, Satan is ever lurking around “seeking whom he may devour”, so, “let him that thinks he is standing take heed lest he falls”. For your adversary, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.” So, by all means, resist him, even with the last drop of your blood. The Bible says “he will flee”.
How can you overcome the Devil’s temptation? By making your face like a flint and always looking unto Jesus your Lord who has called you unto salvation and focus on Him alone all the way.
Check the lives of those who were tempted but they stood their ground. Their stories are written for our learning and encouragement in our own time.
One of the heroes who were tempted but he overcame is the young lad, Joseph. He is a good example of how to overcome temptation
If you are one of those who fall into and out of temptations every now and then, and each time you put the blame on Satan while exhornorating yourself of any blame, well I’m afraid, you have not yet begun any journey with the Lord. You are rather preparing yourself for damnation and eternity in hell fire.
You will do well to check out the life of the young man Joseph when he faced a serious temptation in the hand of Potiphar’s wife.
The woman, his master’s wife, wanted to lure him into the sin of immorality, begging him every day to come and lie with her. How did Joseph respond or react to her ceaseless pestering?
Joseph rhetorically asked her “…how can I do this great wickedness and son against God?”
That was the initial response of Joseph to the tempter. In the dialogue that took place between Potiphar’s wife and Joseph, Potiphar’s wife was the physical tempter, but the real tempter was the Devil himself.
When his master’s wife came and made her desire known to him, Joseph responded with an obvious shock. He then took time to point out to her, i.e. Potiphar’s wife why he could not fall into her trap.
Number one was that his master, who was her husband had put him in charge of his entire house and possessions to the extent that his master did not know the worth of his property, his assets and wealth.
Number two, he made it clear to her that by virtue of his promotion by Potiphar his master, no one else was greater than he in that house, except his master himself alone.
Number three, he told her that his master had kept nothing away from him except her, and that was because she was his wife.
Number four, he asked rhetorically “how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” In other words, he was making her understand that he had the fear of God and would never do anything that would displease Him.
I need to quickly point out that at that time, Joseph was all alone in a strange land. None of his relations was there in Egypt to monitor his behaviour. I need not mention that he was also a youth, full of energy and youthful exuberance. But one thing was clear, apart from the respect he had for his master, he feared God.
He made it clear to Potiphar’s wife that he would not go out of his way to sin against God, referring and describing what he was being tempted to do as “great wickedness”.
Many men and women of God met their Waterloo in the hands of women and men of easy virtues like this Potiphar’s wife. Though Joseph was neither an official man of God nor a prophet, yet he remembered God and stood his ground, maintaining a high level of integrity and uprightness before God and man, daring the consequence.
How many so called men and women of God have secretly fallen time without number into immorality with members of their church; other people’s spouses and their consciences never pricked them at all? They still mount the podium shouting all sorts of things and topping it up with cheap speaking in tongues, deceiving themselves.
Joseph declined to join forces with his master’s wife to serve Satan. Remember he was in a land where most people were idol worshippers, who never knew the true God, yet even as a lone ranger, he did not join the bandwagon of idol worshippers or follow the multitude to tread the path of ungodliness and hypocrisy.
Fellow believer, you and I have no reason to fail in this holy race. And let me just add that the Christian race is one that does not give room for any careless recess, stoppage or slumbering.
Some Men Who Missed Hell Fire by the Whiskers Because of Temptations:
The first one that readily comes to mind is the man Samson. If you are a true Bible Scholar, you would have discovered this fact. Samson was a great man endowed with divine strength. He was appointed a leader right from his mother’s womb by God Himself.
Samson judged Israel for twenty years and in all those twenty years Israel was at war with the Philistines throughout. But the Bible records his exploits with women, which ultimately ended his ministry tragically.
God appointed Samson to deliver Israel from her oppressors, the Philistines. But, he quickly began to meddle with women from the enemy’s camp. He even went to sleep with a harlot! A man of God with God’s anointing flowing on his head. He did not regard the gift of God.
When Samson went to Gaza to look for a harlot, the people of Philistine conspired to kill him that day, if they had succeeded in killing him that time, he would have missed heaven. But he was able to escape.
All the Philistine women he joined himself to conspired with their people to kill him. Delilah was the third Philistine woman that Samson got entangled with and she it was who cut the locks of his hair; the symbol of his awesome strength. She got him for her people to pluck out Samson’s two eyes which eventually led to his untimely death in the temple of dagon, the god of the Philistines.
How about Solomon? Solomon was a man that God loved so much. A special child of King David. He was profusely endowed by God and ordained a king over His people Israel as an innocent youth. But his ministry was completely ruined by women.
He had 700 official wives and 300 concubines. 1000 wives by one man. Who can beat this? Most of these women were daughters of ungodly kings of idolatrous nations where God had specifically warned the people of Israel not to marry from.
The Bible records this concerning Solomon, “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet, among many nations was there no king like him who was beloved of his God and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless, even him did outlandish women cause to sin.”
It means that king Solomon was led into the sin of idolatry by outlandish (i.e. foreign) women; women whom God warned them never to marry.
Satan is a slave master and never wants his captives to go. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt is a perfect example of how Satan behaves when he loses his sin slaves to Christ. He does not let go at all. Believe it or not, Satan knows the weaknesses of his captives. It is these weaknesses he has discovered in your life that he will use to lure you back again to sin against God if you are not watchful.
For example, if you were a brawler; a quarrelsome person before you were converted, this is your weakness and Satan will still lurk around watching and waiting for your unguarded hour to strike and bring you down using this weakness. If it is anger, he will find occasion to push you into anger. He used it against Moses, hence that man of God could not make it to the promised land.
As a wicked slave master, Satan still lurks around to recapture not only the newly converted believer but any believer for that matter. Hence, we need to be sober and vigilant always no matter what we are passing through.
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