Here are some practical pointers from Jesus for handling temptation: <\/p>\n
(1) Your temptations are like the ones He faced.<\/i> \u2018For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.<\/i>\u2019 (Hebrews\u00a04:15\u00a0HCSB) You say, \u2018But you don\u2019t understand how bad my temptations are.\u2019 No, but Jesus does. The fact that He was tempted in every way, means He has been there, felt the urge, and understands your vulnerability first-hand. You can turn to Him when temptation hits, confident He has walked the same path and He will help you. <\/p>\n
(2) Temptation often comes after spiritual victory.<\/i> Jesus had just been baptised, the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and God declared His pleasure in His Son\u2014then Satan struck full force (see Matthew 3:16\u201317;\u00a0\u00a04:1\u201311). High spiritual moments can leave you with your guard down, susceptible to attack. Paul says, \u2018Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall<\/i>.\u2019 (1\u00a0Corinthians\u00a010:12\u00a0NKJV) People often crash and burn after big accomplishments. Ministers, for example, can be prone to temptation after delivering a great sermon. <\/p>\n
(3) Temptation comes when you\u2019re exhausted. <\/i>Forty days without eating had left Jesus physically depleted. When your resources are drained, you\u2019re a target for attack. Lack of sleep, unhealthy diet, stretching yourself too thin, no exercise, anxiety, and discouragement can open the door to temptation. When you feel down, your focus blurs, your awareness is dulled, your spiritual edge diminishes, and you\u2019re not on guard against the Enemy\u2019s approaches and schemes. The Bible says, \u2018Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour<\/i>.\u2019 (1\u00a0Peter\u00a05:8\u00a0NASB)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here are some practical pointers from Jesus for handling temptation: (1) Your temptations are like the ones He faced. \u2018For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.\u2019 (Hebrews\u00a04:15\u00a0HCSB) You say, \u2018But you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucbmedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}