"A Common Temptation"

 

“A Common Temptation”

 

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!  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.        1 Corinthians 10:12-13

 

I have been told MANY TIMES that there is NOTHING STRONGER or more POWERFUL than the ALMIGHTY GOD.  So, when I read this verse it gives me HOPE that there is NOTHING that this SINFUL, CORRUPT, DEPRAVED, EVIL WORLD can throw at me, that MY GOD, can’t provide for me at WAY of ESCAPE.

 

The Apostle Paul, gave the Corinthian Believers, a little bit of a Hebrew history lesson, concerning the EXODUS of the Israelites from EGYPT to the PROMISED LAND.  And MANY of them put the LORD GOD to the TEST.  They engaged in sexual immorality and revelry, and GOD was NOT PLEASED with them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. This is a WARNING to NOT SET your HEARTS on EVIL THINGS.  WE SHOULD NOT TEST the LORD. 

 

As we get CLOSER to the CULMINATION of the AGES we will encounter MORE and MORE of a WICKED, PERVERTED, CORRUPT and DESPICABLE WORLD.  And TEMPTATIONS will be RAMPANT, and many will FALL, even those who THINK they are STANDING FIRM.  They MUST NOT PUT the LORD to the TEST, because they are subject to FALL.  However, our Scripture tells us that there is NO TEMPTATION that has OVERTAKEN us, but that the TEMPTATION is COMMON to MANKIND.  And the ALMIGHTY GOD is FAITHFUL and He will NOT LET us be TEMPTED BEYOND what we can BEAR.  But when TEMPTATION COMES, He will PROVIDE a WAY of ESCAPE, so we can OVERCOME it, through ENDURANCE.  For some, though, the problem is; when they are faced with temptation, they are NOT LOOKING for a WAY OUT, through ENDURANCE, but they have FALLEN, and are LOOKING for a WAY IN through, INDULGENCE. 

 

Those who are LIVING SINFUL LIFESTYLES, and REJECTING the Son of God as their SAVIOR and LORD, are those who have FALLEN into the TEMPTATIONS that have come their way.  They have surrendered to their passions and INDULGED in REBELLION AGAINST the ALMIGHTY GOD.  They are facing an ETERNITY in HELL, with ALL its HORRORS, and NO WAY to ESCAPE, after they are there.  However, REMEMBER, the ALMIGHTY GOD has PROVIDED away to OVERCOME the TEMPTATIONS, which is; His PLAN of SALVATION.  In order to be SAVED from an ETERNITY in HELL, with ALL its HORRORS, you MUST BE WILLING to TURN AWAY FROM your sinful lifestyle, and TURN TO GOD, with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART.  You MUST CONFESS your sins to Him, and ask Him for His FORGIVENESS.  You MUST BELIEVE, with ALL your HEART, that JESUS died for YOU, and that He is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you before God.  Then you MUST ACCEPT His Gift of SALVATION, and DO NOT PUT HIM TO THE TEST, but TRUST Him to make a way for you to ESCAPE your TEMPTATIONS, and to keep you from an ETERNITY in HELL and to GIVE you an ETERNITY in HEAVEN, with ALL its BLESSINGS.  So, do this NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and COMING SOON!!!