My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Galatians 6:1.

How can we arm ourselves against such a clever and powerful foe? Paul (Ephesians 6:10-20) teaches us that we cannot, in our own strength, do battle with such powers organized against us. We must first submit to God, then fight the devil in God's strength (James 4:7). Jesus has fought the battle, and he won. So Jesus within us fights for us. Our tactics involve watchfulness (1 Thesalonians 5:6), prayer (Mark 14:38), internalizing the Word of God (Psalm 119:9) and active opposition (1 Peter 5:9).

But how can we know if it's God or the devil testing us? Basically, Satan tempts us to make us fall, God tests us to help us stand. Only the devil is at work when we are tempted to do wrong.

Temptation, in itself, is not sinful. But yielding to it is. Luther once said we can't stop the birds flying over our heads, but we can keep them from nesting in our hair!

The strongest Christians give this advice: starve your evil nature. Don't read books or watch movies that might nourish lustful thoughts; don't go to places where you'll be likely to fall. If you don't want to slip, don't go where it's slippery.

Thank you, Lord, that when I am tempted by the world, the flesh and the devil, there is a way of escape. May I take it - fast! Amen.

TAKE CARE.

Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Galatians 6:1.

What can we do about obsessive thoughts or actions? W E Sangster once wrote that evil thoughts are not driven out by dwelling on them, even guiltily or prayerfully. In the battle between imagination and the will, imagination usually wins.

Feed your mind with good thoughts. Above all, desire to please Christ; dread his disapproval above everything else.

The Bible teaches that in times of temptation we should run from immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18), from youthful passions (2 Timothy 2:22) from worldly lust (2 Peter 1:4). Cherished sin is the surest gateway by which the devil can invade our hearts. If we yield to temptation, we're weaker next time; if we triumph, we're stronger next time. Temptation is like a fork in the road, giving either God or the devil the opportunity to enhance or ruin our lives.

The strongest temptations are probably reserved for those the devil perceives to have the strongest defenses. The child in us would have preferred a world of magic rather than a world of toil and struggle. The desire to 'snap one's fingers' and create bread from a stone is like every childish fantasy: a desire to have everything provided to avoid hard work and effort.

As they say, 'It's a tough world out there' Lord. It's also a tough world 'in here', in the realm of my thoughts. Please help me. Amen.

TEMPTATIONS ARE REAL!

But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O God! Psalm 70:5.

When you first trusted Christ, perhaps you felt all your futility just flowing away from you and life looked new and wonderful. You were forgiven and you were free. You knew what it was to do things you had never done in your life before. There were the rewards of acts of obedience, as maybe in your baptism, and you were convinced it was a wonderful thing to be a Christian.

Then, one day, something happened. All those old temptations were back again. Perhaps even fiercer than before. And you were tempted to believe that your experience somehow was lacking somewhere. It wasn't the genuine thing. 'If... If you are the son of God...' You were being tempted by the devil. And he speaks with a devilishly plausible voice. And I'm afraid that sometimes he is helped very much by some of your fellow Christians, who insist that because you don't feel something in a certain way as they do, there's something wrong with your experience.

That's all wrong. Jesus knew that this experience of his was real. His feelings had nothing to do with it. The Father's voice had been real; his commission at his baptism was real; now these temptations were real. Temptation is not the penalty of being human, it is the glory of being human, said William Barclay.

You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay! Amen. .....