Ministering: Pastor Bello
Patience has a perfect walk. You can be patient yet not perfect. In this critical time, when there are worries, we must learn how to exercise patience. We are all engaged in a warfare of temptation on a daily basis. The aim of temptation is to bring us down, to bring us to a place where we are offended. Many fall into this trap of declaring that the troubles they are faced with is not worthy of their efforts. That is the intention of Satan. He wants you to say unworthy things to God. His intention is to make you declare God as unfaithful.
Job 1:8-10
When people are afflicted in their body, they get many suggestions and always want to find relief. The affliction of the flesh is intended to bring a person down, but when he overcomes it, he is promoted. A temptation in this sense is an urge, an intense pressure to seek for relief through an illegitimate means. There are examples of people in the bible who had being through difficult times. Job was afflicted in his body with sickness, during which time he said many unpleasant things. He even cursed the day he was born. His wife even advised him to curse God and die. Many people in time of trials seek unworthy means of relief for the affliction of their souls. Job was an example of a man who allowed patience to be fully displayed in the midst of a life-threatening crises and yet saw no reason to kill himself. We all need Jesus in our temptation. Except Jesus intervene during temptation we are all victims. Knowing this, you will understand why God instructed that we pray not to be led into temptation (Matthew 6:13).
Temptation is evil and we must pray that God does not lead into it. Temptation is a serious warfare that we engage in on daily basis. It is the warfare between your spirit and flesh. It is warfare between the people around you and the decision you are taking at that point in time. If you cannot stand the small, daily temptation with which satan engages you, it will be difficult to overcome the big temptation of denying Christ. The mind of a man is the battle ground for temptation and Satan is the tempter. His aim is to bring offense and the offense is against God. We must also understand how God operates with us as His children (Hebrews 2:2). God is always just in governance.
Sometimes we fall into temptation because we have not recognised God as our ultimate source of help. At other times, though we recognize Him as our source of help, we do not wait patiently for His time (Isaiah 55:8-9). Seeking relief from illegitimate source is what we need to deal with. We need relief but it must not be from satan. When we cut corners, we fall into the temptation of satan. Temptation puts you under intense pressure and except you understand the technology, you will say unpleasant things about God and other people. Job 6:1-3 – Here Job expresses that God and his friends do not understand what he was going through. Remember this; the temptation you go through is not beyond what you can overcome. On a positive side, when you go through trials, get set for a promotion.
We know we will always be tempted but we must also know what should be our approach in temptation. Luke 4:1-8 – There was nothing really illegal in Jesus eating bread after fasting but He identified it was a wrong approach. People have landed in health troubles or even death because of the way they eat after fasting. When tempted, always enquire if it agrees with norms/ scriptural vogue? During His temptation, Jesus portrayed wisdom in His response. He understood that was the same meal that destroyed people in the wilderness. The word of God is the absolute food for man in the days of trials and temptation. Your mind cannot be right so you cannot trust it. Satan and man can infiltrate our mind and bring all kind of suggestions therefore, you cannot follow your mind. Always look at the technology of God’s word and apply it. Satan does not have power over all people. Though he has power over certain kingdom, he does not have power over all. When tempted you should tell satan he is not your God and see Christ as sufficient. The word of God dwelling richly in you is what you need. People can say things and act to offend you but restraining yourself is a deliberate effort.
The nature of sin is generic in all of us. Romans 10:9-10 offers the recipe for the nature of sin. There are also certain sins you inherit from your parents. These are like genetic traits but unfortunately many people take it as a way of life. The environment where you were brought up can also contribute to the way you live. It is left for you to make intentional effort not to live like you were raised. Therefore, you need to renew your mind. Genetic sins must be deliberately relinquished. You must be intentional about not looking like your parents. When making this decision, you need someone who will reconstruct your life – your apostle. The more you fellowship with the saints, the more their attitude rubs on you. You may also need to leave the environment where you learnt those things. There is a need to shift and create another lineage for yourself.
You need endurance to walk perfectly in patience. This kind of endurance must be without complaint. People, out of lack of endurance leave places where life would have profited them. If one is still complaining while claiming to endure, then your patience is imperfect. God is asking us to have a perfect walk of patience so that at the end, we will inherit salvation.