Temptation, Enduring

We have been called to a life of avoiding, enduring and overcoming temptation. Here is the process of temptation, sin and their products, and destruction.

It offends our sense of justice to see the wicked prospering while the righteous suffer. We may need to adjust our expectations for leading an easy life.

God uses trials to test our hearts, but He never places a trial before us to tempt us. God uses trials we bring on ourselves to draw us closer to Him.

Christ endured many more than three temptations; rather, He was tested continuously, and perhaps the intensity increased as He neared the end of His life.

Martin Collins, describing different reactions of certain substances to fire, uses this variation of reaction as a metaphor of our differing reactions to fiery trials. As Christians, we can be conditioned to rejoice in trials, paradoxically having joy in t. . .

God promises certain Christians that He will keep them from the Tribulation—the "hour of trial." Here are the characteristics of those whom God will protect.

Mark Schindler, entering after a stirring song from Lancelot from Camelot compares Lancelot's boldness and vanity with Satan's self-adulation and self-worship in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. God has not set up us for failure, but if we can't control our inord. . .

In this Unleavened Bread sermon, Richard Ritenbaugh asserts that learning God's way (and unlearning Satan's way) takes a lifetime- spiritually speaking, perhaps the most difficult and arduous task on the entire earth. Over a lifetime, with our cooperation,. . .

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 did not have a blind naïve faith, but one built incrementally by careful examination of the evidence- adding things up or calculating- from cumulative life experiences. From this acquired fa. . .

We must emulate Christ, who learned through suffering, preparing Himself for His role as High Priest. Giving in alienates us from the fellowship with God.

John Ritenbaugh stresses that without continuous maintenance and attention, it is difficult to maintain a spiritual mind in a carnal physical body. We, like Christ, were made a little while lower than angels to be made perfect through suffering. He has bla. . .

John Ritenbaugh warns us against blaming our sins on something other than ourselves. God holds us personally responsible for our part in any sin (James 1: 12-16). Joseph's example proves that even the most difficult temptation can be resisted and overcome,. . .

A key ingredient in dating is faith in God's purpose. The relationship one has with God takes precedence over any relationship with any other human being.

Richard Ritenbaugh, cuing in on Hebrews 3:7-17, a passage referring to the stiff-neckedness and evil hearts of our forebears, admonishes us not to imitate them in their hard-heatedness. The whole generation rebelled and went astray, never believing God; th. . .

Religious hucksters use the bait of self-gratification, selling non-essential or even heretical ideas. The elect resist deception by knowing the real article.

Coveting—lust—is a fountainhead of many other sins. Desiring things is not wrong, but desiring someone else's things promotes overtly sinful behavior.

Though we are surrounded and sometimes buffeted by numerous difficulties, trials, and threats, God is always faithful to provide what we need to endure and overcome them. Keying in on I Corinthians 16:13, Mike Ford illustrates what we must do to persevere . . .