Is There Good in Temptation?

IS THERE GOOD IN TEMPTATION?

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man ..." 1 Corinthains 10:13

I shared this devotional with you back in 2006, but I think it is one that needs to be repeated since every one of us face temptations on a daily basis:

"The word temptation has come to mean something bad to us today, but we tend to use the word in the wrong way. Temptation itself is not sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human. Not to be tempted would mean that we are already so shameful that we would be beneath contempt. Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we have refused to allow God to lift us up to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.

A person's INNER nature, what he possesses in the INNER, spiritual part of his being, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the true nature of the person being tempted and reveals the possibilities of his nature. Every person actually determines or sets the level of his own temptation, because temptation will come to him in accordance with the level of his controlling, inner nature.

Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal - it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don't know whether something is right or wrong. When I YIELD to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my fear that prevented me from falling into sin earlier.

Temptation is not something we can escape; in fact, it is essential to the well-rounded life of a person. Beware of thinking that you are tempted as no one else - what you go through is the common inheritance of the human race, not something that no one has ever before endured. God does not save us from temptations - HE SUSTAINS US IN THE MIDST OF THEM! (See Hebrews 2:18; 4:15-16) - Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest)

I know that I needed to hear this today. I trust it will be helpful to you, my brothers. - Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 17; Proverbs 27-29; 2 Corinthians 10

Great Quote: We cannot be right with God when we are wrong with others. - Dr. Lehman Strauss