Temptation

Temptation itself is not a sin; it is something we are bound to face simply by virtue of being human
- Oswald Chambers

Our lives are filled with temptations. They are all around us. You can't drive or go anywhere in America without temptation staring you in the face. You can't even escape it in the privacy of your home. It's there, no matter what you do, and you can always expect it to come around again after you have defeated it the first, second, or third time.

Yet many of us suffer from temptations we should never have to suffer, simply because we refused to allow God to lift us to a higher level where we would face temptations of another kind.
- Oswald Chambers

Before I became a Christian, the temptations I faced were all the things the Bible tells you not to do. All the things you would put on a list of "Sins". Temptation for drugs, for alcohol, for sex, for lying, for cheating, for murder, for stealing. These are the things I battled against every day, that sometimes so filled my mind and my heart that it seemed I was suffocating.

After becoming a Christian, the temptations are quite different. I'm no longer tempted to steal, because I have no desire to do so. Temptations for drugs and alcohol and sex are silly, because there is no inclination in me towards them. As long as I follow Christ, my mind and soul centered on Him, He fills all my needs and I find that my spirit matches His Spirit and finds no joy or satisfaction in sin anymore.

Satan does not tempt us just to make us do wrong things - he tempts us to make us lose what God has put into us through regeneration, namely, the possibility of being of use to God. He does not come to us on the premise of tempting us to sin, but on the premise of shifting our point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.
- Oswald Chambers

And so I learn that just because Satan can not pull me with the chains of sin anymore, because I have been set free, he will try just simply to distract me. All it takes is to get me seeking something good instead of seeking the kingdom. All Satan has to do is convince me that seeking a degree should be my focus, not the kingdom. That seeking to minister to people God has put in my life should be my focus, not the kingdom.

Seek ye first the kingdom.

God, Satans tricks are harder to discern now. It's no longer a matter of things I did or didn't do but now things of the mind Lord. "Take every thought captive" has never seemed so real or so necessary in my life. Give me ears to hear and eyes to see, that I may have the self awareness to discern thoughts of my own that are folly and thoughts that are not from me or from You. Give me Christ awareness God that would fill my mind and trump any other inclinations in my spirit. Command me Lord and then give me what You command that I may obey in all instances, at all costs.