Temptations
by Cynthia Jennings on October 30, 2019Temptations
MMMMM….ooh this is sooo good!!! I wonder if anyone is looking. I just can’t stop. I know this isn’t good for me and I shouldn’t be indulging, but it keeps calling me. When I think about it euphoria just engulfs me.
I can see all the eyebrows raised trying to figure out what temptation has overtaken me. Don’t be like that….LOL! We ALL have some temptation that we struggle with.
The question is, are you willing to continue indulging in behavior, activities, or vices that you know are not good for you naturally and more important spiritually?
My dirty little temptation is…….{I’ll get back to you with that}.
Is your dirty little temptation something that convicts you every time you indulge? Or are you internally convincing yourself that you only live once, so I’m gonna die doing what I want?
Is that temptation so important, or should I say soooo good that you are willing to continue to put yourself in harms way (physically or spiritually) by continual indulgence?
OK, I must confess. My dirty little temptation is…. crushed ice. I know it’s not good for my teeth. But it’s soooo good. Just me typing about it is tempting me to get some. But I will refrain…lol.
Some of you are probably thinking that’s your dirty little temptation. Really!!!! I know it might seem small and trivial to some. But it made me really evaluate how something so small (or what seems so small) can have an adverse effect on me physically and spiritually. You’re probably thinking I know chewing on crushed ice can damage your teeth, but what does ice have to do with anything spiritual? It’s not the ice in and of itself, it’s my desire and dependency to some degree for the crushed ice that gives me an artificial euphoria that keeps me chasing it.
For me as a Believer I don’t want to be dependent on anything that gives me (or could potentially) replace the euphoria I get from being a servant of Jesus Christ. So, I have made the commitment to begin decreasing to the point of eliminating crushed ice from my diet because it has begun to negatively affect my body. I know eating crushed ice is not a sin, however I am not willing to continue to enjoy this small pleasure that has now become a detriment to my body. If I do that then I will be willfully and intentionally not taking care of my temple, thus putting me in violation of the scripture that tells me to take care of my temple.
It’s the little foxes that spoil the vine (Song of Solomon 2:15). It might be ice for me. What vice do you have that will cause you to make sporadic decisions resulting in physical and spiritual detriment?
PEARLStoPONDER: Are you willing to acknowledge your vice then make a commitment to decrease and or eliminate your dirty little temptations?
1 Corinthians 10:13--No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Romans 6:12-14—12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
1 Corinthians 6:19-- Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
MMMMM….ooh this is sooo good!!! I wonder if anyone is looking. I just can’t stop. I know this isn’t good for me and I shouldn’t be indulging, but it keeps calling me. When I think about it euphoria just engulfs me.
I can see all the eyebrows raised trying to figure out what temptation has overtaken me. Don’t be like that….LOL! We ALL have some temptation that we struggle with.
The question is, are you willing to continue indulging in behavior, activities, or vices that you know are not good for you naturally and more important spiritually?
My dirty little temptation is…….{I’ll get back to you with that}.
Is your dirty little temptation something that convicts you every time you indulge? Or are you internally convincing yourself that you only live once, so I’m gonna die doing what I want?
Is that temptation so important, or should I say soooo good that you are willing to continue to put yourself in harms way (physically or spiritually) by continual indulgence?
OK, I must confess. My dirty little temptation is…. crushed ice. I know it’s not good for my teeth. But it’s soooo good. Just me typing about it is tempting me to get some. But I will refrain…lol.
Some of you are probably thinking that’s your dirty little temptation. Really!!!! I know it might seem small and trivial to some. But it made me really evaluate how something so small (or what seems so small) can have an adverse effect on me physically and spiritually. You’re probably thinking I know chewing on crushed ice can damage your teeth, but what does ice have to do with anything spiritual? It’s not the ice in and of itself, it’s my desire and dependency to some degree for the crushed ice that gives me an artificial euphoria that keeps me chasing it.
For me as a Believer I don’t want to be dependent on anything that gives me (or could potentially) replace the euphoria I get from being a servant of Jesus Christ. So, I have made the commitment to begin decreasing to the point of eliminating crushed ice from my diet because it has begun to negatively affect my body. I know eating crushed ice is not a sin, however I am not willing to continue to enjoy this small pleasure that has now become a detriment to my body. If I do that then I will be willfully and intentionally not taking care of my temple, thus putting me in violation of the scripture that tells me to take care of my temple.
It’s the little foxes that spoil the vine (Song of Solomon 2:15). It might be ice for me. What vice do you have that will cause you to make sporadic decisions resulting in physical and spiritual detriment?
PEARLStoPONDER: Are you willing to acknowledge your vice then make a commitment to decrease and or eliminate your dirty little temptations?
1 Corinthians 10:13--No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Romans 6:12-14—12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
1 Corinthians 6:19-- Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
