5 steps to avoid temptation

5 steps to avoid temptation

1. Recognize the tendency towards sin (James 1:14 “but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.”)
2. Recognize the way (I Cor 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”)
3. Resist with the word of truth (Heb 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
II Cor 10: 4-5 “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”)
4. Refocus with praise (Psalm 147 “How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!”)
5. Run away and Repent quickly when you fall (1 Cor 6:18 – 20 “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
1 Cor 10:14 “Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.”
I Tim 6:11 “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness”
II Tim 2:22 “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”)

Jesus was tempted as we are tempted now: Heb 4:15 “we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
Action plan:
1. Analyze you temptation / sin patterns
a. With whom are you tempted to sin (Psalm 141:4 “Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers;”)
b. Where are you tempted (Proverbs 22:5 “In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls, but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.”)
c. When are you tempted to sin
d. Why are you tempted to sin (I Thes 4:8) “Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.”
e. What are the first steps you might take on the path to sin (the thought process – forethought, action etc)
2. Choose scripture verses to read and to mediate (Psalm 119:11 “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”, Joshua 1:8 “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” – eg. Jesus Matt 4:1 -11
3. Spirit is willing – work with the Spirit (Matt 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”)
4. Remember 1 John 2:16, 17 “For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

Prayer Power

WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN WHEN WE PRAY?



This is one of the nicest e-mails I have seen and is so true:



I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.


The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section, my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed." How is it that there is no work going on here? ' I asked.

"So sad," the angel sighed. "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments"

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings? " I asked..

"Simple," the angel answered. Just say, "Thank you, Lord. "

"What blessings should they ever acknowledge God for?" I asked.

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world ' s wealthy. "

"And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity..."

"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness .. You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day. "

"If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... You are ahead of 700 million people in the world."

"If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world."


"If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare."

"If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair........"

Ok, what now? How can I start?

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

Gods plan of Salvation

God's Simple Plan of Salvation
By Ford Porter
________________________________________
My friend: I am asking you the most important question of your life. Your joy or your sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer. The question is: Are you saved? It is not a question of how good you are, nor if you are a church member, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven when you die?
God says in order to go to Heaven, you must be born again. In John 3:7, Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Ye must be born again."
In the Bible, God gives us the plan of how to be born again which means to be saved. His plan is simple! You can be saved today. How?
First, my friend, you must realise you are a sinner. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
Because you are a sinner, you are condemned to die. "For the wages [payment] of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). This includes eternal separation from God in Hell.
"... it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
But God loved you so much he gave his only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear your sin and die in your place. "For he hath made him [Jesus, who knew no sin] to be sin for us ... that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus had to shed his blood and die. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11) "... without shedding of blood is no remission [pardon]" (Hebrews 9:22).
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Although we cannot understand how, God said my sins and your sins were laid upon Jesus and he died in our place. He became our substitute. It is true. God cannot lie.
My friend, "God ... now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).
This repentance is a change of mind that agrees with God that one is a sinner, and also agrees with what Jesus did for us on the cross.
In Acts 16:30-31, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas: "... Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved... ."
Simply believe on him as the one who bore your sin, died in your place, was buried, and whom God resurrected.
His resurrection powerfully assures that the believer can claim everlasting life when Jesus is received as Saviour.
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12).
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).
Whosoever includes you. Shall be saved means not maybe, nor can, but shall be saved.
Surely, you realise you are a sinner. Right now, wherever you are, repenting, lift your heart to God in prayer.
In Luke 18:13, a sinner prayed: "God be merciful to me a sinner."
Just pray:
"Oh, God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my substitute when he died on the cross. I believe his shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection were for me. I now receive him as my Saviour. I thank you for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of your merciful grace. Amen."
Just take God at his word and claim his salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember, God does the saving. All of it!
God's simple plan of salvation is: You are a sinner. Therefore, unless you believe on Jesus who died in your place, you will spend eternity in Hell. If you believe on him as your crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, you receive forgiveness for all of your sins and his gift of eternal salvation by faith.
You say, "Surely, it cannot be that simple." Yes, that simple! It is scriptural. It is God's plan. My friend, believe on Jesus and receive him as Saviour today.
If his plan is not perfectly clear, read this tract over and over, without laying it down until you understand it. Your soul is worth more than all the world.
"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).
Be sure you are saved. If you lose your soul, you miss Heaven and lose all. Please! Let God save you this very moment.
God's power will save you, keep you saved and enable you to live a victorious Christian life. "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).
Do not trust your feelings. They change. Stand on God's promises. They never change. After you are saved, there are three things to practise daily for spiritual growth: Pray you talk to God. Read your Bible God talks to you. Witness you talk for God.
You should be baptised in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, as a public testimony of your salvation, and then unite with a Bible-believing church without delay. "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord ..." (2 Timothy 1:8).
"Whosoever therefore shall confess [testify of] me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32).
Additional Helpful Verses
• John 3:16, 1 Peter 2:24
• Isaiah 53:6, James 1:15, Romans 10:9-10
• Ephesians 2:8-9, Proverbs 27:1
• 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, John 10:27-31, 1 John 5:13
If you are saved through reading this tract, send us word so we may rejoice with you.








• Ye must be born again - John 3:7

• “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

• “For the wages [payment] of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

• "... it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

• For he hath made him [Jesus, who knew no sin] to be sin for us ... that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

• “…without shedding of blood is no remission [pardon]" (Hebrews 9:22).

• “For the life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11)

• "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

• “God ... now commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30).

• Acts 16:30-31, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved... “

• “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (John 1:12).

• "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).

• "God be merciful to me a sinner." - Luke 18:13,

• "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).