Joab had defected to
Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. —1 Kings 2:28
CHAMBERS} “Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining
absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and
ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the
weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one
person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see
1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great
crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least
likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you
have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to
stumble and fall. We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been
through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of
the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the
least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great
spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may
not be forceful and dominant, but they are there. And if you are not careful to
be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great
and intense trials— now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally
examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep
your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness,
because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping
strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their
weak ones. “…kept by the power of God…”— that is the only safety. (1 Peter
1:5).”
{ELGIN} What is it about
temptation and sin … why is it that we continue to struggle with it? Here is what I think. The Bible speaks about the god of this age or
this world (1 Corinthians 4:4) His name is Satan. He has dominion over this world which is why
he could offer it to Jesus during Jesus’ temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:8-9) “Again, the devil took
him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and
their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and
worship me.’” As Christians we are all
tempted to sin – in other words to choose to revert to our old nature and yield
to the god of this world, which means we abandon our devotion to the God of
heaven. Listen .. you only have two
choices … yield to Satan or yield to God … it is impossible to not do one or
the other .. no matter how much you want it to be possible. If you think that you can reject God and
reject Satan at the same time … to be your own person .. you are deceiving
yourself.
So, as a Christian, when you yield
yourself to sin you must be restored (1
John 1:8-10) “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have
not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” Don’t imagine that you can get a “pass” because
you have only sinned in some small way or perhaps in a big way. You might choose to ignore sin in your life
and imagine that you can brush it off and you will be OK spiritually. Not so.
In Psalm 51 David pleaded with God to not reject him but to forgive
him. God can have nothing to do with sin
.. He is holy … and we are called to be holy like Him. You can’t do live your new life without
Him. “Without Him I could do nothing. Without Him I’d surely fail. Without Him life would be hopeless. Like a ship without a sail. … without Him
(Jesus) how lost I would be” Don’t hide
it . .confide it and find restoration.
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