Practicing Your Faith When You Face Temptations

(Sorry for posting it late. My modem is not working. I was rather busy in the office yesterday. It did cross my mind to post this but I didn't do it. Here's a shout out to all my readers out there. Be good! Keep the faith. Let nothing and no one diminish it.)

In the month of April 2008, the theme is the Practice of Faith as part of the main theme of Foundation of Faith. We will examine Joseph's life in Gen 37-41.

When Tempted to Sin (Gen 39)

What is Temptation?

Jas 1:13-17 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. (14) But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (15) Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (16) Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. (17) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

God is the source of every good thing. We cannot say we are tempted by God. Temptation is an entry to sin in our life. We cannot blame others for our temptations. Adam cited the woman God gave him as the reason for his disobedience.

1Co 10:6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

Mat 5:28
But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Eph 4:22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

Rom 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Temptations begin in our heart. Temptation is not sin, it's an advertisement to entice us to purchase! Until we purchase we have not sin. The 3-step process of temptation: lust – sin – death. Temptation cannot be evil or wicked. It is part of living.

Conclusion: What lies before each type of sins? Temptations.

What is one of the most important lessons in your hiliness journey?

Immediately identify when … (we are tempted.)

Why?

Because it is at that very moment that you must turn away.

We need to look to God, upgrade our gear and flee rom temptation.

The Relationship – Foundation (Gen 39:1-6a)

Gen 39:3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.

1. Joseph's relationship with God was visible to others.
   
2. Joseph's sensitivity to the Lord's presence filled him with a sense of purpose.
   
3. Joseph found meaning in service, he left his past behind.
   

Gen 42:18-21 On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God: (19) if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined where you are in custody, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, (20) and bring your youngest brother to me. So your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so. (21) Then they said to one another, "In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us."

Joseph dealt with his hurt. Until and unless we dealt with our hurt and suffering, we cannot fulfill our purpose in life.

The temptation every believer face is complacency.

The Bottom Line – Character (Gen 39:6b-9)

Gen 39:8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge.

1. Temptation is persistent, see Potiphar's wife's emphatic command.
   
2. Joseph's utter or complete refusal.
   
3. Joseph's appeal to Potiphar's trust in him. He doesn't want to violate Potiphar's trust.
   

Gen 39:9a He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife.

Joseph gave three reasons not to sleep with Potiphar's wife:

1. No one is greater in the house than him. He will not undermine / violate the trust given to him.
   
2. The couple's marriage vows. The wife made a vow with Potiphar.
   
3. Joseph's personal harm. He will be removed if he sins. (He was put in to prison later but that's another story.)
   

Gen 39:9b How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"

Our ability to resist temptation depends on our spiritual orientation / principles of God, not based on what we think or what people say. Joseph doesn't want to miss the mark.

Character = all the qualities that make a person or thing what he, she or it is. Habit is actually character. Character is the sum of your habits. It is how you habitually acts.

Life is built on character and character is built on the decision we made daily. When we don't like to read the Bible but we still read, when we bless even when we are cursed, that it character.

CHARACTER =

Self-discipline

+ Core Values

+ Sense of Identity (what the Bible says we are, not self-perception)

+ Emotional Security

If we grow all of these together, we will build a strong character. Character is revealed through behavior.

Question to Ponder:

When we are tempted to sin, what commitments of your own could help you overcome that temptation? What core values / foundation can help us?

The Approach – Faithfulness (Gen 39: 10-15, 19-20)

Gen 39:11a But one day, when he went into the house to do his work …

1. Temptation is persistent (Gen 39:10)
   
2. Joseph's spiritual sensitivity (Gen 39:10)
   
3. Joseph was faithful.
   
4. Flee from temptation (Gen 39:12)
   
5. Perhaps part of the wantonness displayed by Potiphar's wife was due to her idleness.
   
6. Continual allurement to sin and disobedience has the capacity to diminish our resolve toward faithfulness.
   

Refuse = he did not listen or hearken unto her, i.e. fell on deaf ears.

An idle mind is the devil's battlefield.

Do not expose ourselves to a situation which invites suspicion / false accusations AND tempts us to sin.

What could it cost your long-term if you fail to resist the temptations you face? Perhaps we need more accountability? The moment we share the temptation we face, the power of temptation is broken.

What price would you be willing to pay to avoid giving in to temptation?

In what ways have you paid the price for resisting temptation (Gen 39:19-20)?

1Co 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it].

In our quest of personal holiness we need to understand temptation as mentioned in this verse. The greatest struggle in the church today is not that we don't have the Word or we don't read the Word.

Greater is He that is in us that he is in the world. But how great do we allow Jesus to be in our life?

Principles

1. Temptation is common to all.
   
2. God is faithful in His action on our behalf.
   
   1. God gauges the intensity of the temptation.
      
   2. God provides the provision of an escape. ("make" in 1 Cor 10:13 is the same as the one where God made man and women.)
      
3. We are to do the bearing
   
   1. "Bear" = "to bear up under"; the idea of endurance and fortitude under stress & distress
      
   2. We can always find strength to be able to endure it
      

It is useless to pray for victory over temptation if we do not hate the sin.