Temptations - are you struggling with temptation?

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness where He fasted for forty days. The devil tried to take advantage of Jesus in His hungry condition. We can imagine that after having been without food, Jesus's physical body will have been quite worn down. So satan tries to tempt Jesus into caving in to his own physical needs. But Jesus has just spent days in communion with the Heavenly Father, so even though in His body, he is in need of nourishment, He is strong. Jesus rebukes and says : Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Satan continues on with other temptations but Jesus remains firm and strong and never gives the devil even a bit of ground and the angels come and attend to Him and take care of Him. Matthew 4:11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him

Many times when people are discussing temptation, and trying to justify falling into temptations you will hear them say - Well, even Jesus was tempted, but He was God so, of course He didn't sin. That is true - Jesus is God and He didn't sin.
There are two aspects of temptation that I would like to address. The first is  the real definition of temptation and secondly standing strong in the face of temptation.

1) What is the definition of temptation?
The answer is found in James 1: 14-15  where it says : But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Temptation is the act of Satan presenting something unrighteous (something that he thinks you might desire) before you, perhaps with a thought in your mind or a picture in a magazine or on TV.  If you have made the decision to live faithfully for the Lord you will have absolutely no desire for whatever it is that satan places before you. You will honestly say No, I do not want that, I do not need that and you refuse to take a second look or toy with the thought at all. It is awesome if  you can quote a Bible verse at such a time since satan cannot stand against the Word of God. That is what it means to not sin in a temptation.
If on the other hand, satan places a thought into your mind or puts a picture in front of you and you desire it in your heart- you have already sinned and you need to repent before God even though you have only sinned in your thoughts and desires at this point.  At this point lust has been conceived and sin is present. When not dealt with, this then will lead to death - spiritually and in relationships, and sometimes actual physical death.

How to Stand Strong against Temptation?
Let's think back to Jesus in His temptation experience. Jesus had just spent 40 days with God so though He was weak physically, He was strong in His Spirit. If Jesus needed to get away from people and busyness of life and spend time with His Heavenly Father - how much more do we need to get serious about spending time with our Heavenly Father. The closer we walk with the LORD,  the more victory we will experience in every area of our life. So we need to daily, ( I mean daily) spend time in the Bible and become quiet before the LORD and allow Him to soak and saturate us with His Word and in this way His desires become our own personal desires. The more we have with the LORD, the less we want of the world and it's useless pleasures. We need to get Scripture into our minds so that throughout our day, we are thinking and meditating on the things of the Lord. We need to have Scripture in our mind and in this way we can quote it and Satan cannot stand against the Words of the Bible and He must flee.
Our desire becomes to do only that which pleases the LORD and brings glory to Him!!
Psalm 37:4  Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Prophecy Update - JD Farag - January 25,2015 ( Middle East )

For some time now I have been listening to the Prophecy Update each week by Pastor J.D. Farag and it is something that I look forward to each week. So now on a weekly basis I want to share the link with you here on my blog so that together we can be watching for the Lord's return as that is what He instructed us to do. 

Mark 13:33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

So here is the link to this week's Prophecy Update from JD Farag,
JD Farag Prophecy Update - January 25,2015


Pastor J.D. talks about how the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East has seemingly changed overnight and contends there’s a common denominator that will not bode well for the United States or for Israel.

Picture of JD Farag, ( pinterest.com )

Mid East Prophecy Update - JD Farag, January 18,2015 - Why is Evil Prevailing?

For some time now I have been listening to the Prophecy Update each week by Pastor J.D. Farag and it is something that I look forward to each week. So now on a weekly basis I want to share the link with you here on my blog so that together we can be watching for the Lord's return as that is what He instructed us to do. 

Mark 13:33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

So here is the link to this week's Prophecy Update from JD Farag,

Prophecy Update - JD Farag, Sunday January 18,2015


Pastor J.D. gives several reasons for why it is that evil is seemingly prevailing and why it really matters.

picture of  JD Farag - (jerusalemchannnel.tv )

Praying for the Brokenhearted - Kathy Riggs

Luke 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Have you suffered some heartbreaking experiences in your life? Jesus has come to heal your broken heart. He has provided for you and He is able and willing to meet your need. I would like to share a link with you where sister Kathy Riggs ( I have come to appreciate her through the blog talk radio ministry with John McTernan ) shares a message of healing for those with broken and shattered hearts. In the video she prays for the Lord to heal the broken in heart.  Please take the time to watch this video.

Kathy Riggs - Healing for the Brokenhearted

Prophecy Update - JD Farag The Terror Attack in France

For some time now I have been listening to the Prophecy Update each week by Pastor J.D. Farag and it is something that I look forward to each week. So now on a weekly basis I want to share the link with you here on my blog so that together we can be watching for the Lord's return as that is what He instructed us to do. 

Mark 13:33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

So here is the link to this week's Prophecy Update from JD Farag,
January 11, 2015  - JD Farag Prophecy Update, January 11, 2015

Published on Jan 11, 2015

Pastor J.D. taks about the Islamic terror attack in France, and what it means to both Israel and America.

JD Farag, ( pinterest.com )

Standards for Shepherds - Sexual Fidelity - by John MacArthur

I came across this article by John MacArthur. I feel it is a very important and over looked truth, the severity of destruction that sexual immorality brings can not be stressed enough. You can link to John MacArthur's website here - John MacArthur 

Here is what John MacArthur wrote: 

“The NFL's doing a better job at it. CBS is doing a better job at it. Kmart is doing a better job at it. Virtually every institution on earth is demonstrating that they are doing a better job at restoring people than the Church.” ^[1]These are the words of a disgraced pastor whose sexual sins made national headlines. It’s hard to find a clearer example of how worldly views on leadership exist among Christians.

God does not demand perfection from those who shepherd His flock, but He insists on men who are above reproach. The highest office ordained by God requires the highest standards in personal character.

And those standards are not obscure or mysterious. God’s Word is abundantly clear about the character qualifications for church leaders.

An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. (1 Timothy 3:2–3; cf. Titus 1:5–9)

The overseer or elder must first be above reproach in relation to women. He must be the husband of one wife. The Greek text literally reads “a one-woman man.” Paul is not referring to a leader’s marital status—whether he’s married or unmarried. The issue is his moral, sexual behavior. Many men married to one woman are not one-woman men. Many with one wife are unfaithful to that wife. While remaining married to one woman is commendable, it is no indication or guarantee of moral purity.

Why This Standard?

Some may wonder why Paul begins his list with this quality. He does so because it is in this area, above all others, where leaders seem most prone to fall. The failure to be a one-woman man has put more men out of the ministry than any other sin. It is thus a matter of grave concern.

Various interpretations have been offered that evade the meaning of this standard. Some have argued that its intent is to forbid polygamy. A man could not, however, even be a member of the church, let alone a leader, if he was a polygamist. If that were all Paul meant, it would be an unnecessary prohibition. Further, polygamy was not an issue in Ephesus. It was uncommon in Roman society, in part because extramarital sexual encounters, as well as divorces, were easily obtainable. Nor was polygamy a feature of first-century Jewish society.

Others maintain that Paul here forbids remarriage after the death of a spouse. As already noted, however, this standard, like all the rest, refers to moral character, not marital status. Furthermore, Scripture permits and honors second marriages under the proper circumstances. Paul expected younger widows to remarry and raise a family (1 Timothy 5:14), and widows could be described as one-man women (1 Timothy 5:9). In 1 Corinthians 7:39he wrote, “A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.”

Still others hold that this qualification excludes divorced men from spiritual leadership. That again ignores the fact that Paul is not here referring to marital status. Nor does the Bible forbid all remarriage after a divorce. InMatthew 5:31–32 and 19:9, our Lord permitted remarriage when a divorce was caused by adultery. Paul gave a second occasion when remarriage is permitted, namely, when the unbelieving spouse initiates the divorce (1 Corinthians 7:15). While God hates all divorce (Malachi 2:16), He is gracious to the innocent party in those two situations.

Since remarriage in and of itself is not a sin, it is not necessarily a blight on a man’s character. If divorce resulted from a man’s inability to lead his family (1 Timothy 3:5), however, then it is a disqualification.

Nor does Paul intend to exclude single men from the ministry. If that was his point here, he would have disqualified himself, since he was single (1 Corinthians 7:8).

A one-woman man is a man devoted in his heart and mind to the woman who is his wife. He loves, desires, and thinks only of her. He maintains sexual purity in both his thought life and his conduct. That qualification was especially important in Ephesus, where sexual evil was rampant. Many, if not most, of the congregation had at one time or another fallen prey to sexual evil. If that was before a man came to Christ, it wasn’t a problem (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17). If it happened after his conversion, even before he assumed a leadership role, it was a problem. If it happened after he assumed a leadership role, it was a definite disqualification.

Those same standards apply to men in positions of spiritual leadership today. Scripture makes it clear that sexual sin is a reproach that never goes away. Proverbs 6:32–33 says of the adulterer, “The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out.”

Some time ago I listened to the deeply disturbing audio of a “recommissioning service.” It was for a pastor who had made national news by confessing to an adulterous affair. The man was returning to public ministry with his church’s blessing after little more than a year of “counseling and rehabilitation.”

It is beyond ridiculous to think that a year’s leave of absence and some counseling can restore a public reputation of integrity to someone who has squandered his reputation and destroyed people’s trust. Tragically, that story is not an isolated incident. The evangelical highways and byways are well covered with restoration teams waiting like tow-truck drivers anticipating the next leadership “accident.”

Like the pastor I quoted earlier, many confuse forgiving a repentant sinner with restoring them to leadership. While we should be ready to forgive, forgiveness does not requalify the man for leadership. There are some sins that irretrievably destroy a man’s reputation and disqualify him from a ministry of leadership forever. Even the Apostle Paul feared such a possibility: “I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). By referring to his body, Paul obviously had sexual immorality in view (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:18). He was acutely aware that if he succumbed to sexual temptation then he too would be disqualified from leadership. Today the church needs to treat this poisonous sin with the same degree of seriousness.

Prophecy Update - JD Farag , January 4,2015

For some time now I have been listening to the Prophecy Update each week by Pastor J.D. Farag and it is something that I look forward to each week. So now on a weekly basis I want to share the link with you here on my blog so that together we can be watching for the Lord's return as that is what He instructed us to do. 

Mark 13:33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

So here is the link to this week's Prophecy Update from JD Farag, January 4, 2015:

Prophecy Update, JD Farag January 4,2015

Published on Jan 4, 2015

For the first prophecy update of 2015, Pastor J.D. looks at Bible prophecies that are at the top of the “Prophecy Watch List” by virtue of how fast they are beginning to come to pass.

JD Farag, ( jerusalemchannel.tv)

For the first prophecy update of 2015, Pastor J.D. looks at Bible prophecies that are at the top of the “Prophecy Watch List” by virtue of how fast they are beginning to come to pass.