Temptation

Temptation

8/7/20

When we think about this term and all of the implications that it brings with it, it can quickly become an overwhelming topic.  Also, when we study this word we can find out that its presence can encompass almost every realm of human life and it’s infiltrating properties just as deep and thorough.  Temptation is a process that destroys the established program already rooted into place with established foundational material that all of us need to maintain a secure level of stability; yet, for many reasons we entertain this word and allow its penetrating qualities overtake our lives until we willingly change our values and foundational support to accommodate its intended destructive paths.  God never intended for us to have to deal with such impurities, He Created us and then placed us into a perfect society in which we had only one Law, obedience.  Even after our choice to disobey, God placed over us a plan of action that would allow our restoration but this time through a process of work and need to survive under God that serves as our foundation.

The old argument whether or not this nation was founded on God and His Ways of existence shall never die out; in fact, those arguments and testaments continue to fuel divided results within our nation and provide a certain level of animosity on both sides of the argument aisle.  This process of questioning and discussion is not a bad one and in truth should be practiced regularly on a civil and meaningful level but somehow most of the time we tend to allow emotions to invade these procedures and the sides end up leaving further from each other than whence we began.  It is recorded in the documents of the early settlers and the Pilgrims as to the reasons why they moved from other lands and came to these shores, and it was not just to start a new life without monarchs and other governmental controllers over their every move.  However, it is evident that shortly after these people arrived in America, their attitudes and ways of living shifted and began to trust in themselves instead of God.  Eventually, these ways became laws and these laws began a new era of “obedience” that fell to the promises of mankind instead of God.

If these ways are continued for any length of time, if any way is whole-heartedly followed for any length of time than those ways of teaching shall prevail in the minds and hearts of those taught those values; just a normal human trait that the Bible addresses many times throughout its content but mostly ignored.  When we take a look at those who came over in the beginning of our nation we find that God was their passion and the freedom of worshipping Him was by far the utmost plan of their hearts.  As stated above, soon those ways began to change and pretty scouring and hideous events began to unfold in order to keep control of what was supposed to be religious freedom first.  This pattern would continue for quite some time and if one is, to be honest, the persecution of those who seem different still come under tight scrutiny.  However, today the form of such scrutiny comes from the worldly population and moves towards what has been the foundation of this land, its identity and it looks like it is here to stay.  One of the most common forms of scrutiny comes in the name of immigration.  There have been so much talk, testimony, hearings, and even laws passed for those who wish to come into this nation.  It is this example that God is going to use in order for us to see how much our views have changed over the years since our establishment so that we can see that our actions today represent temptations instead of true freedom.

Genesis 3:12-13

“And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”

Matthew 6:9-13

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

Genesis 3:21

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

Most of have witnessed story after story of how people pay so much money to illegally enter into this country.  We have also watched many programs and documentaries detailing how stiff our laws are when it comes to those who choose this type of pathway.  However, there is a great way to enter this nation legally and to go through the proper channels when real commitment to this nation is warranted.  The first people of this land from England did such a thing in the name of God, elevating His Ways over the laws of mankind, just as God commanded the Israelites to do when they entered into the Promised Land.  The early settlers praised God continually and built churches and temples so that people could worship freely.  This was not a temptation but a calling from God to complete a mission that He wanted to be done for anyone who wanted to worship Him could do so whenever and however they felt.  When anything or anyone changes their stance on God and where they place Him in their lives, their appearance of their lives and living space changes as well; this act alone renders our attractiveness to countless people a temptation.

Today, we see interview after interview of wonderful people claiming many different bounds as to why they want to enter into this country from their country of origin.  If we sat down and watched and listened to these interviews, I guarantee that the majority if not all of them would be for personal beautification of their lives or so-called governmental dislikes that would be the fueling aspects of their arrival.  While these events if true are noble they are a far cry from what this nation was established to be, a land of the free to worship God.  After listening to these folks speak about the many reasons why they travel to our borders I have not heard ONE of these people say that they came to this nation so they could worship God in the manner in which they wanted.  Not one!  This is where our beliefs and foundation has been sold to hungry people through temptations instead of our original destiny under God.  It is a fact, that when people get their eyes and hearts off of God they shall automatically be susceptible to temptation and at the same time look at temptation from a different perspective, one from the world instead of from God.

When we look at the first passage in Genesis we find that Adam and Eve have allowed sin into humanity’s existence and there is no longer any protection from this deadly entity.  Excuses become the rule of Adam and he starts the blame game instead of taking up the whole of responsibility since it was him who God commanded to obey first.  Then God turns to the woman and asks her why she did what she did and once again the blame game came out in a partially complete story, the serpent beguiled me.  Neither of these two created beings asked for forgiveness nor did they admit that they were the ones to do wrong, it was someone else’s fault, a setting we see and hear almost every day.  The humans fell for the temptation that was before them; we also notice here that the amount of time that the temptation was present was not mentioned, it does not matter, it is the presence that counts, more on that detail in a later article.  From the words of God Adam and Eve’s directional foundation was changed from the original godly one to a godless widowed site, temptation (sin) is the only source for this fall.

When we look at the second passage of Scripture, we recognize it as its familiar name, “The Lord’s Prayer”.  But when you look at the order in which Jesus says this prayer we must understand that there is a reason for the list of sentences and how they are placed together.  When Jesus says what He does about the flow of the God’s Kingdom He does so in a manner of perfection and glory, just like God created on earth in the Garden of Eden.  Then He states some problems within the hearts of mankind, forgiving and forgiveness two of the hardest things for humans to accept and to do.  Next Jesus brings up temptation and how if we do not follow the previous words of this prayer first, then we will be led into a process of temptation; then, we now can deeper know why and how Adam and Eve (us) fell into this trap.  Once temptation is sought by humans, all doors to your life are exposed to our enemy, and since others have acquired this same temptation spirit too, everyone becomes an enemy in the name of pleasures (temptations).

The third passage of Scripture deals with restoration and how God is the only One able to provide such a passage of acceptance.  We found out earlier in Genesis 3 that when Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves it did not work for the price they spent in order to cover themselves was far down the chain and worth dirty sinful rags in value.  Genesis 3:21 says that God provided coats of skins for both Adam and Eve, what does skin do for our bodies?  It covers the vital portions of our bodies and encloses these organs so that they can continue to function as they were designed.  Skin operates as a protective covering and holds us in place and as long as our skin stays intact, we are protected.  God demonstrates just what needs to occur if we are to be eternally covered from the ruler of the world, and while the skins were freely given to Adam and Eve (us) it is a difficult journey to keep them and this journey is called choice.

The other day I watched a video of a pastor who had received a vision and Word from the Lord.  It is a powerful statement from God and one that shall ever ring true when it comes to this nation and to the Church as well.  He stated that “The God of the universe have determined that you shall receive all that you have given unto mankind.”  This statement from God sums up everything that this nation stood for when she was created and what she stands for today AND the difference between those two eras.  When anyone deals with God on a personal level it shall always be on a deep and spiritual content, but when the world becomes a part of our lives it removes this spiritual content and replaces it with a superficial and physical first nature.  It is this superficial nature that informs our eyes to entertain temptation and thus our nation has turned to only temptation as its source of reference and foundation.  So, it does not matter if you recognize that this nation is dealing in temptation or not, God sees it and has told us exactly what He thinks about it and what He is going to do about it.

Some would argue that we have done some pretty good things over our tenure as the leaders of the free world, that is a correct statement to made; however, good deeds alone represent selfishness of mankind and cannot amount to anything everlasting.  Satan knows this and will use these good deeds to bring in his agenda through the natural progressive nature that God gave us when He Created us.  It is this point that we have led people astray for our motives have dictated worldly passions and have instructed many others that God is not essential and that we can do things on our own without His help, guidance or relationship.  This is why this video from this pastor is so important, for it relays the truth about where our passions lie and what we hold dear and true in our hearts.  Temptation cannot suffice God or His intentions for your life, God’s plan shall always be planted deep within your heart and grow from there, but we have suppressed this so much that we find it necessary to destroy everything around us in order to start over according to what we believe is true through anger and entitlement.

Church, you are not going to escape this judgment from God either, so get ready to face the consequences that we have allowed for ourselves.  See, God gave the Church the authority to change the world by preaching the gospel to the dying world but we have refused to do this correctly.  We have adulterated our mission, the mission that Jesus commanded us to do, to please our own blinded temptations, eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil if you want to place it into that perspective.  When God commissions anything, His will shall be done, period.  Hence the words Jesus used in Matthew.  We may not like what God has to offer us but when it comes to making us realize what we have done, He has no choice.  We have failed Church and since God is not the being that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden but He is the same Being in Genesis 3:21 we now can say we have the origin, definition, and actions of temptation.

I know that this topic is a tough one to deal with and to even understand thoroughly, but it is one that lays out the foundation of sin and how it infects our lives on a routine and daily basis.  There is no possible way that we can survive eternally with just a superficial knowledge of God and His Ways, it is impossible to live faithfully in such a manner.  All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God but we have a hope of restoration that if we accept, will provide us the covering needed to live forever.  The God that provided Adam and Eve a covering still operates in that same business today and if we turn to Him and give our hearts to Him 100% He will forgive us and heal our land.  We must understand something here, judgment is coming upon our land and this process is already in motion according to the spirit realm, it cannot be stopped.  This procedure shall affect everyone around the world, not just in this nation alone things shall change completely as we know it nothing shall be the same.  We demand that everything revolve around us and our lifestyles, we demand that everything we do be noticed and admired by all, okay we are about to witness this level of acknowledgment from God.  But when things are all said and done, always know that God is still on His throne and He alone is always in control.  Let the restoration of our hearts begin.

DLB