How to overcome temptation – part II

HOW TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION PART II

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7 NLT)

We have been learning about what temptation means: the impulse to do something, especially a bad thing or something that can bring grave consequences to our lives.

Yesterday we learned 2 things that help us overcome temptation and today we will learn two more.

1.- Resist the devil. In other words, we don’t renounce or resist to his attacks passively, rather confront it and fight.

  • Accepting God’s salvation. You will not be capable of saying no to the devil unless you have said yes to Christ. Without Christ, we are defenseless.
  • Use God’s Word as a weapon against Satan. Example: when Jesus was tempted, He used the Word. Don’t argue with the Devil, cite Scripture by memory.

2.- We should seek holiness through the Holy Spirit.

  • You need to be full of the Holy Spirit to overcome temptations. In our own strengths, we cannot achieve it, only with help from the Holy Spirit.
  • Holy = means consecrated. It means chosen and separated from the rest of the world of from what is in the rest of the world and destined for God’s service. Anything that enters into a particular relationship with God is holy.

 

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7 NLT)

Think about it:  

Do you have a habit of reading God’s Word daily?
Have you been able to overcome temptation in your own strength?
What temptations do you believe you would only be able to overcome with help from the Holy Spirit?