God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming to strong that you can stand up against it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 NLTWith the wily ways of his nature, the opossum lured my chicken to her death.
After one move, I decided to buy a few chickens. I saw no need to fence them since I lived in the country, but I was wrong. Some immediately headed for the woods. Others became food for wild varmints. Finally, only one chicken remained. I did my best to protect her by putting her in a cage with small holes and placing her next to the back porch. Surely, a wild animal wouldn't get her here. I was wrong again. The next morning, the cage was completely empty. Not a feather in sight. An opossum had lured her with his charming ways and sucked her out of the cage piece by piece.
Satan came in the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden, and Peter classified him as a roaring lion seeking to kill. Paul, however, gives us encouragement. God controls Satan's temptations.
Sometimes, I must remind myself that temptation isn't the same as sinning. Satan tempts, God allows it, and I'm the one tempted, but temptation isn't sinful. Instead, it demonstrates my desire to live obediently to God's commands. If I were already living as Satan wanted, he would have no need to tempt me.
Satan would love nothing better than for us to adopt a we-can't-win attitude. Having this mindset sets us up for defeat—and Satan loves it when a defeatist attitude overcomes us. With a defeatist attitude, we'll give in to temptation more easily. We won't be able to summon up enough energy to fight. Why bother, we'll muse. We might as well give in.
Through interaction, Satan learns our weaknesses and targets them. Once he discovers where we're prone to fail, he'll attempt to suck the life out of us like the opossum did my chicken.
But giving in to temptation isn't necessary. The one who lives in us is greater than the one tempting. Through prayer, depending on the Spirit's power, putting on spiritual armor, exercising caution, staying in the Word, and associating with Christian encouragers, our chances of winning over the wily one increase tremendously.
If Satan has duped you into thinking you can't win over his wily tricks, take heart. Through Christ, overcoming the wily one becomes possible.
Father, thank you for providing me the power to overcome the enemy's tactics.
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