The Battle Within–Week 2

THE BATTLE WITHIN Session 2: In This Corner

Bottom Line: Every time you’re tempted, your confidence in God is at stake, not just your self-control.

INTRODUCTION

When it comes to temptation, there’s always more at stake than we think.

Every time you’re tempted, not only are your future and family at risk, but your faith is at risk as well.

If we could understand what hangs in the balance when we are tempted, then we could really gain some momentum when it comes to overcoming temptation.

TENSION

Your approach to life is, “If I don’t, it won’t.” Basically, it’s up to you to make life happen.

Do you trust God or rely on yourself?

When you and I decide to make things happen that we don’t think could happen without our help, we’re telling God that He can’t be trusted.

Here are the questions we should be asking ourselves: How big is my God? Can God be trusted? Does God care and will He drop into my life on that personal level?

God can and God will.

When you stop trusting, you stop obeying. And when you stop obeying, eventually you stop believing.

TRUTH

Then Jesus was lead by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread” (Matthew 4:1-3 NIV).

“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger, and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known. To teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:2,3 NIV).

“Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws, his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Deuteronomy 8:11-14 NIV).

“You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:17 NIV).

“It is written, ‘Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4 NIV).

APPLICATION

In what area of your life are you most tempted to meet a legitimate need in an irresponsible way, in a way that ultimately calls into question your confidence in God?

Temptation is always a test of faith—not just a test of self-control.

You have to decide if God cares and if He can do anything about it.