Deception

 If you were hungry and saw the apple above hanging from a tree, would you choose to pick and eat it? 

OR ...

Would you be more likely to choose this apple? 

I imagine, like me, your choice would be apple #2. Why would you choose the second apple and not the first? I imagine besides looking inauspicious and threatening, the ominous appearance probably leaves you feeling very uneasy! It gives the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen.  But what if I told you apple #1 and apple #2 were actually the same apple? It's just that the picture of apple #2 disguises its danger in hopes of deceiving you into taking a bite. Could apple #2 fool you into believing there is no threat or rottenness inside and thus it's safe to eat? Doesn't it look appealing and good enough to consume? In a spiritual sense, appearances mean nothing! Looks and appearances can be used to tempt us to sin. They suck you in with pleasantries. Remember Eve in Genesis 3:6? "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye" she did eat. It wasn't being tempted that brought death to Adam and Eve (we're all tempted in many ways and with many things), it was her following through ... when she finally took a bite and swallowed the forbidden fruit. The fruit was then inside her. Sin is no different. James 1:15 warns us, "Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin when it is finished, brings forth death." Or in simple terms, when a wrong desire has become more than a thought and you actually act upon and carry out that desire, it's finished. Death is imminent. Sin always disguises itself as something good, pleasurable, or exciting.

Each day we are met with the challenge of temptation and the potential of committing sin – 1 Pet. 5:8-9, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."  What brings about sin? "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed" James 1:14-15. We cannot blame anyone for our weaknesses but ourselves. We are responsible for our own actions. If you read the third chapter of Genesis, when God asked Adam and Eve if they had eaten of the forbidden fruit, Adam immediately blamed EVE for his actions, "The woman which Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat."  Likewise, when God confronted Eve she blamed Satan (represented by the serpent) "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." Talk about passing the buck! Each person reading this blog is responsible for his or her actions. No exceptions. Temptations are inevitable. They are a part of life because sin entered the world. We are Satan's constant target. Scripture uses the terminology WHEN (we are tempted of Satan). There is no "if" we are, or "maybe" we will be. The word is WHEN. WHEN WE ARE TEMPTED. We must be ready! Ephesians 4:27 tells us, "Give no place to the devil." Notice the word GIVE? You have to give permission before Satan can overcome you! Committing a sin cannot be blamed on your upbringing, the bad life you experienced, the beers you drank one night, or the drugs you pushed into your arm. It wasn't the reefer you smoked or because your dad abandoned your family or molested you as a child. It's not because your horoscope says you are prone to a bad temper or anything else. Despite our weaknesses, there is help! James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” We must also put on our spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:11-18). Jesus totally understands how we fight and how we fail. Why? Because, "For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." Remember, even Jesus was tempted but He didn't eat any forbidden fruit!

Even though we will be tempted, we don't have to give in. We can actually go to God the moment we need to overcome and walk away from temptations grasp. God's grace is sufficient! "For we don't have high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrew 4:15-16). Rarely does cunning and crafty Satan “slap us in the face” with the possibility of sin.  He doesn’t dump a cold bucket of iniquity on us – He sneaks up quietly on us! Satan draws us away from what is right. Temptation can be very strong so we must beware of over-confidence toward temptation, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). Even Peter himself boasted he would never deny Jesus, yet look what he did the night Jesus was arrested. The scariest thing about temptation is that it is customized to fit each person! Did you know that? Satan will strike at you in your weakest area(s) to recommit the sins you've confessed and given your oath to abandon. When we come to Christ we confess our sins and basically promise the Lord, with His help, that we will abandon our old ways and follow Him. As we do this day to day, learning as we go, maturing in the spirit, we must learn also to deny self. Jesus said, "And He said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." NOTICE THE WORD DAILY? Daily we must follow and pray. Not occasionally, not only when disaster strikes or on a Sunday while in a church service; daily!!  If we are to have victory, we must stay in communion with the One who is there for us in time of need. The intentions of our heart can be a real challenge while we are here in the flesh, thus John's instructions: "Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). Scripture goes on to say, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." These are the exact three things Eve fell weak in.

And these are the same three general areas of lust that will tempt us! However, the Bible tells us that when we are tempted, God will always give us an escape option: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). No matter how tempted you may be in a situation, Jesus felt that same temptation. God promises us that no matter how hard the temptation is, He will always provide an escape route. We can always choose obedience over sin.

How can we respond to these temptations? The same way Jesus responded to Satan. When Satan tempted Him, Jesus took the Word of God and rebuked him. We should all have God’s Word in our minds and hearts, ready to speak, so that we can resist and rebuke Satan at every turn.  Remember, the Bible says this: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). We will not be removed from temptations but we can endure them and be blessed for doing so (James 4:7; John 17:14-16.) May God deliver you from temptation, and keep you from the evil one. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23).

Until He comes,

-Pat-