God is Bigger Than Your Temptations

There is so much in this world that fights for our attention. Putting God first is something we say we want to do, but in how often does it really happen. The truth is sin is anything that is serving ourselves over God. We tend to define sin into categories, ranking them into the “big” ones and often making excuses or justifying the “little” ones.

When we put ourselves first, when we make up our own rules, it’s like saying we think we know better than God. We’re ignoring what He tells us is true and following what we think is best.

Overcoming the desire to serve ourselves isn’t easy, but it is what God asks of us.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.

Matthew 16:24-25

Thankfully, God gives us some examples of how He can help us overcome temptation.

Be Ready

Know when temptation is coming.

Temptation often follows a spiritual high. When you are in a place where you’re feeling good about your faith, this is often a time that Satan chooses to tempt you and try to bring you down. You may have experienced coming home from a spiritual retreat or mission trip, feeling fired up and ready to serve, only to get hit by trials or hardships that threaten to derail your ambition.

Even Jesus’ temptation followed this example. In Mark 1, we learn that Jesus was baptized by John, the heaven’s opened and the Holy Spirit descended. The voice of God came from heaven saying “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.” Talk about a spiritual high. All three persons of the trinity physically in one place announcing the blessing of God on this event. Then Mark tells us that “immediately” Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Know how to handle the temptation.

Jesus was ready to handle the temptation by using scripture and knowing the truth. He knew that Satan had nothing to give Him that He did not already have. With each temptation, he quoted the truth of scripture to overcome the deceptive reasonings of the devil.

Joseph is another example of a man who was ready for temptation. (Genesis 39) Potiphar’s wife had a plan for Joseph to fall and he knew it. When he ignored her sexual advances, she only became more aggressive. Joseph had determined “in advance” to do the right thing, no matter the cost. When she approached him again, he had already decided that he was going to get away from the situation and he ran, leaving his clothes in her hands during his escape. She shifted the blame on him and used the opportunity to take him down, leaving Joseph is prison. God ultimately redeemed the situation in a way that would never seem possible. This decision to follow God no matter what ultimately had a connection that affects us all. (Read more about that HERE!)

Don’t get TOO close.

Be careful about the situations you allow yourself to be in. Temptation is much easier to resist if you’re too far away to fall in.

Find the Way Out

When we are tempted God doesn’t leave us alone.

I Corinthians 10:13 tells us

No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.

God promises to give you a way out when you are tempted. Look for it. Pray for his help. You always have the opportunity to choose the right way. Even if you’ve fallen for it a thousand times, God can give you the strength overcome. When we do what is right, God uses our intentional obedience to do amazing things.

God is Bigger Than Your Fears

Fear. It seems a certain amount of it is healthy. It keeps us from getting too close the edge of a cliff, reminds us to buckle our seat belt in the car and knows how to be careful when hanging out around a campfire.

But a lot of what keeps us up at night isn’t as much about staying safe in risky situations, but about the things in life that could make our life harder. Will disaster or disease invade my comfortable existence? Will I have what I need or what I want in life? Will I be left alone? Will I be accepted?

Fear is something we can’t escape, but God does give us a remedy. FAITH. Here are a few concepts to keep in mind when fear comes obnoxiously crashing into your day.

FAITH is knowing who we are.

Knowing that we are a child of the one true God, created with an eternal purpose that begins right here on Earth helps you overcome fear. It starts now, where you are. You don’t have to wait until you know more, become healthier or grow more spiritually. Focus on what God has planned for you. Talk to God and read His word to find things He wants you to do. When we follow Him, we can trust God with whatever comes our way.

FAITH is knowing who God is.

God is everywhere. He knows everything and He has all the power. He also wants what is best for your life, so whatever comes your way is for a purpose. Trust that He is working something we may not understand.

FAITH is remembering God’s faithfulness.

Sometimes purpose is hard to see when we are in the middle of something difficult, but when we can look back on what God has done for us in the past and remember the ways He had brought us through, it gives us confidence to go on.

God’s Hall of FAITH

Hebrews chapter 11 is often known as the “Hall of Faith”. It is a list of people from the Bible who overcame fear, trusted God and followed His plan, even when it didn’t make sense. Noah gave the world a new start by building an ark when it had never rained. Sarah became the mother of countless generations in her old age. Moses was rescued from the Egyptians when God held back the water of the Red Sea and they walked through on dry land. We can look to these stories of faithfulness and countless others in God’s Word to remember how big God is.

Focus on what is good, true and lovely.

Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.

Philippians 4:8

So much of what we fear, we’ve built up in our own minds. We’ve told ourselves lies about ourselves and others. When lies creep in, fight them with scripture. We know that the words of the Bible are truth.

God is bigger than the Boogie Man

There’s an old Veggie Tales song that comes to mind whenever I hear the line “God is bigger.” It says…

God is Bigger than the Boogie Man. He’s bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV. God is bigger than the Boogie man and He’s watching over you and me.

It’s just a simple kid’s song, but it reminds me about what to focus on. God is watching over me. If God is for me, who can be against me?

And about those “monsters on TV” Sometimes those scary shows and movies can be fun, but there is something to be said about what we let into our minds. I’m not just talking about horror films and scary stories. Even the news can bring ideas into our head that we would not have otherwise known to fear. Crime shows and murder mysteries capture our attention, then come back to haunt us when we’re walking to our car at night. Like anything else, what we put in our mind is what we focus on, so the more often we can put in what is good, true and lovely, the more often our mind will be conquering fear.

They say that 90% of the things you worry about never happen. I’m not sure that’s a scientific statistic, but it’s a good concept to consider. The time we spend worrying would be much better spent moving forward, being thankful, or helping others. And when one of those things we would have worried abut does happen, we can be confident that God will be there to see us through it.

ACTION PLAN

Make a list of verses and Christian songs to get in your head next time fear attacks!

Click her for a few verses to get you started.

Check out this playlist for conquering fear.

How to Pray Scripture

Although it seems like it should be easy, prayer can feel confusing. Sometimes we don’t know what to say or feel like we’re not saying the “right” words. When you find yourself looking for direction when talking to God, try using the Bible to guide your prayers.

Why should you use scripture to guide your prayer?

1. We know God’s Word is true and is God’s will. When we pray scripture, we can know that what we are asking for is pursing the right direction. Scripture teaches us more about God. As we pray scripture, we learn His ways and become more like Him.

This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.
1 John 5:14-15

2. Praying scripture helps us be more thorough in our prayers. We tend to pray the same things over and over and go back to the ideas that are familiar to us. When we pray using scripture, it expands our thinking to include new concepts that might not come naturally to us. This grows our faith and teaches us to learn God’s ways and what is important to Him.

How do you pray scripture?

While You Read

Reading your Bible and praying don’t have to be separate experiences. In fact, they shouldn’t be! While you are reading God’s word, talk to Him about it. If you’re confused about what a verse means, ask Him to help you understand it. You have 24/7 access to the author! Think about the concepts or the stories you are reading and pray that God would show you how they can be used in your life.

The Holy Spirit

1 John 2:27 tells us that the Holy Spirit will teach us. Even if we never had access to preachers, teachers or Bible study resources, the Holy Spirit helps us understand scripture, AND there’s more… If you believe in God, the Holy Spirit lives in you and knows you. He can help you to use that scripture and apply it to your specific situation. This is one way God’s word is described as “alive and active”. It means something different to us depending on what is happening in our life. The words of the Bible written 2000 years ago are still relevant to us today.

Prayer activates this understanding, so before you begin reading God’s word, ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand the words you are reading and know what they mean to you today.

Use Prayers from the Bible

The Bible is full of prayers already written for you. The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) gives us a structure of how to pray. Paul often wrote prayers for the people in the churches when he wrote his letters. The Psalms of David are full of prayers. Jesus even prayed for those who believe in Him. We can also use these prayers to talk to God. Here are a few prayers from the Bible to get you started.

David – A Prayer of Thanksgiving – Psalm 30

Paul – Prayers of Power and Strength – Ephesians 1:15-20; Ephesians 3:14-21

Paul – Prayer to Know God’s Will – Colossians 1:9-14

Hannah’s Prayer – 1 Samuel 2:1-10

Jesus’ Prayer for Believers – John 17:20-23

Choose a Verse to Pray

If you are looking for direction in a specific situation, if there is an area that you need to grow spiritually or if there is something that God is teaching you, you can choose a verse to focus on. Spend a day, a week, a month or more using that verse to dwell on and pray about as you go through your day.

The Bible is also full of verses that tell us the promises God has for us. Praying the promises of God gives you confidence in who you are in Christ, what he has planned for your life and His power to complete it. Here are a few verses of promises from God.

The Lord is the one who will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.
Deuteronomy 31:8

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.
James 1:5

Using a Journal Can Lead to Deeper Prayer

It doesn’t have be fancy, a simple spiral notebook will do. It doesn’t have to be long or eloquent. Write down the verse you’re praying. If you would like, journal or list a few things you learn while praying or answers God has given. Using more of your senses by writing helps you to understand more deeply, to remember what you’ve prayed and to see patterns God is working to teach you. Looking back through your prayers, reminds you of God’s faithfulness. Praising God and thanking Him for what He’s done changes your perspective and transforms your life!

Remember that methods of praying and ideas are meant to be helpful, but don’t get caught up the logistics. Above all, JUST PRAY! Hopefully you often find quality quiet time to talk to God, but if you’re waiting for that to happen to pray, it won’t! Pray where you are, when you think about it, when you feel worried, challenged, confused, thankful or in awe. Just talk to God about everything that is going on. Bring Him into your every day and every moment.

Tag: Bible