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When Tempted, Humble Yourself Before God by Rick Warren7. January, 2010General PenfieldNo comments“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). There is always a way out! You may sometimes feel that a temptation is too overpowering for you to bear, but that’s a lie from Satan. God has promised never to allow more on you than he puts within you to handle it. He will not permit any temptation that you could not overcome. However, you must do your part too by practicing biblical methods for defeating temptation. First and foremost, you want to refocus your attention on something besides the temptation. It may surprise you that nowhere in the Bible are we told to “resist temptation.” We’re told to “resist the devil,” and that is very different (James 4:7). The Bible says we’re to refocus our attention because trying to resist a thought simply doesn’t work. It only intensifies our focus on the wrong thing and strengthens its allure. Let me explain: Every time you try to block a thought out of your mind, you drive it deeper into your memory. By resisting it, you actually reinforce it. Whatever you resist, persists. This is especially true with temptation. You don’t defeat temptation by fighting the feeling of it. The more you fight a feeling, the more it consumes and controls you. You strengthen it every time you think it. Since temptation always begins with a thought, the quickest way to neutralize its allure is to turn your attention to something else. Don’t fight the thought, just change the channel of your mind and get interested in another idea. This is the first step in defeating temptation. The battle for sin is won or lost in your mind. Whatever gets your attention will get you. That’s why Job said, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman” (Job 31:1 NLT). And David prayed, “Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless” (Psalm 119:3a TEV). Incoming search terms for the article:
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When Serving God, Listen to your Heart by Rick Warren1. January, 2010General PenfieldNo commentsA man’s heart reflects the man. Proverbs 27:19 The Bible uses the term “heart” to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams, and affections that you have. Your heart represents the source of all your motivations — what you love to do and what you care about most. Even today, we still use the word in this way when we say, “I love you with all my heart.” The Bible says what is in your heart is what you really are, not what others think you are, or what circumstances force you to be (Proverbs 27:19). Your heart is the real you. It determines why you say the things you do, why you feel the way you do, and why you act the way you do. Physically, each of us has a unique heartbeat. Just as we each have unique thumbprints, eye prints, and voiceprints, our hearts beat in slightly different patterns. It’s amazing that out of all the billions of people who’ve ever lived, no one has ever had a heartbeat exactly like yours. In the same way, God has given each of us a unique emotional “heartbeat” that races when we think about the subjects, activities, or circumstances that interest us. We instinctively care about some things and not about others. These are clues to where you should be serving. Another word for heart is passion. There are certain subjects that you feel deeply passionate about and others that you couldn’t care less about. Some experiences turn you on and capture your attention, while others turn you off or bore you to tears. These reveal the nature of your heart; listen for inner promptings that can point to the ministry God intends for you to have. When you were growing up you may have discovered that you were intensely interested in some subjects that no one else in your family cared about. Where did those interests come from? They came from God! God had a purpose in giving you these inborn interests. Your emotional heartbeat is a key to understanding your shape for service. Don’t ignore your interests; consider how they might be used for God’s glory. There is a reason that you love to do these things. Listen for inner promptings that can point to the ministry God intends for you to have. Incoming search terms for the article: |
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