Temptation!!!

Temptation has trapped and destroyed many unbelievers and believers since the fall of Adam and Eve. It has crippled many destinies and fractured many happy homes. It has become the easier option, the secret addiction, and the famous “Only God can judge me” excuse to sin in the 21st century church. But there is hope and I am going to give you an example from the Word of God which will encourage you to know that where there is a will, there is most certainly a way.

In Genesis chapter 39 1-6.

Joseph is blessed and highly favoured in all that he does even in spite of his brothers selling him into poverty, because The Lord’s divine Hand was upon Joseph he ended up in the place of prosperity.

Now take a look at what it says in Genesis 39:7

And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph and she said, “Lie with me.”

This scripture is the epitome of how satan creeps around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. satan respects no one, he does not care how long you have served in the house of The Lord, he does not care how many years you have been a Christian, satan does not care if you are a man or a woman of God, satan will try you and God will test you. Now that’s deep right. When all is going well believe me when I say that the enemy is there watching and waiting for you to fail, and fall. Just like he was there waiting and watching in anticipation for Adam and Eve to fail and fall. This is why the bible says in Matthew 26:41 that we must

keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!

Now I want us to understand that temptation comes before sin, temptation is the moment whereby we choose life or death, to overcome or to be overthrown, to stand or to fall. No matter who you are, as long as you are a living human being on this earth you will face temptation. Any man or woman who states otherwise is a liar! My friend all liars will go to hell oooo😄✋️. No one can say he or she has never faced temptation because Jesus the very Son of God who lived on this very earth faced temptation at the most difficult time. Check out Matthew 4:1-11 if you do not believe me.  

Jesus overcame all manners of temptation the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life because Jesus overcame it means you and I, whoever proclaims to be a follower of Jesus Christ not just a believer but a follower(because we have many believers today but few followers that actually live to please God) are able to FLEE from temptation and overcome sin.

Now let’s get back to Joseph and see how he dealt with temptation.

1. Joseph refused temptation and acknowledged that his duty was to serve his master, and not sin.

“But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.” Genesis 39:8

2. Joseph respected his master but most importantly he reverently feared The Lord enough to not sin. Joseph saw sim as a great wickedness against God.

“There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9 

3. Temptation was persistent but Joseph was insistent on refusing to give in.

“So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.” Genesis 39:10 

1. Despite all of Joseph’s refusing the enemy still went as far as to grab hold of Joseph whilst he was alone. This has been the enemy’s trick since Adam and Eve. When the serpent was tempting Eve, Eve was alone. When David lusted after Bathsheba they were both alone, and when the enemy attempted to tempt Jesus, Jesus was alone in the wilderness his followers were unable to stay up and watch and pray with him. It is in our most lonely hour that the enemy will grab the opportunity to tempt us, it is also when we are most idle when we have nothing to do. 

“But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside,” Genesis 39:11 

“that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.” Genesis 39:12 

The key is to stay prayed up, to fellowship and be surrounded by strong believers, to be active, and most importantly FLEE. As believers we often forget this most important thing that if temptation is refusing to leave you alone then honey you better sprint!😄It does not matter what you leave behind, Joseph left his garment behind his life, his salvation, his  PURITY was waaaay more important than that garment.

Potiphar’s wife ended up using that garment for evil(well at least she was not able to use his life for his life was in God’s Hands), and she lied against Joseph. Potiphar threw Joseph into prison but please just check out this beautiful scripture here, you see this is why God is just so amazing!

“But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.” Genesis 39:21

“And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing.” Genesis 39:22

“The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.” Genesis 39:23

Guys!!!!!  

What the enemy intended for evil against The Lord will turn that thing into good! Genesis 50:20

There is no way that God will leave you nor forsake you if you walk in His ways, in PURITY and righteousness there is just no way.

Potiphar’s wife must have been beautiful, she was most probably wearing next to nothing if not nothing at all when she grabbed Joseph, but Joseph refused to wait and reason with temptation any longer he knew that if he wasted any more time explaining why he could not sin he would just end up sinning, and so Joseph did the most wisest thing that every believer must do today, he fled from temptation.

Brethren now we must ask ourselves this question,

Do we really fear God at all?

If we do then we will quit making excuses to fall into sin. We know we will be tempted, and it is not rocket science that christians are humans, Joseph knew this yet he did not say well because I’m human and I tried God will understand. It shows you how mature Joseph was in The Lord, and Joseph was a young man. Brethren what makes the difference is discipline. We have the power to say “NO”! Imagine if Joseph did not resist the devil, then his dream would not have come true, his destiny would have been deleted, destroyed and that’s all that the enemy seeks to do is to deter you away from your God given destiny. Do not give the enemy that satisfaction, FLEE temptation today and be delivered from evil. In this day of grace and mercy it’s time to repent and pray for forgiveness it’s never too late to turn around and get back on track with Christ.

Remember there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus and those that are in Christ Jesus, REPENT.

Pray for PURITY.

PURITY precedes Power.

Amen.