Defeating Persistent Temptations

Have you ever felt like you take 1 step forward and then sometimes 2 steps backward. You wake up in the morning with good intentions... thinking that today will be different... but it never is. Somehow, you fall back into your old ways and habits. You really do want to do what’s best, but you end up disappointing yourself and maybe God. Maybe you have tried praying, reading your Bible, books, self-help stuff but nothing seems to work. You wonder, Why do you keep doing things that you know are bad for you?

Has anyone besides me ever felt that way?

The truth is, good intentions don’t work. If they did, we would all be exaxtly who we wished we were. It takes more than desire and good intentions.

We get stuck in a cycle: Good Intentions - - - Failure - - - Guilt - - - Good Intentions - - - Failure ... on and on.

If you have felt this way, you are in good company. The Apostle Paul struggled with the same thing

Romans 7:14–19 NLT

14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

Paul was a mess!!!

Today, we want to learn how to defeat hose persistent, lifelong temptations that keep dragging you down. These are the stubborn ones that you just can’t shake.

God’s Word gives us a Pathway to Freedom and it says there are 5 things that we can do that will make a difference.

1. PREDETERMINE YOUR PATTERN OF TEMPTATION.

Here’s what I mean. We all have unique patterns I our lives... thumbprints, palm print, eye design, face print... Your heart beats differently than any other... it’s a unique beat to you.

You also have a unique pattern of temptation. There are certain things that tempt you that don’t tempt someone else, and there are things that don’t bother you but do tempt others.

Listen, Satan, your enemy, hates you and he knows your pattern of temptation. He knows what trips you up. He knows what makes you vulnerable. He knows exactly when, where and how he will attempt to trip you up. So it would be wise to figure out your pattern of temptation... If you know where you are most likely to stumble, you can plan in advance to avoid it…

Proverbs 4:26–27 TEV

26 Plan carefully what you do, and whatever you do will turn out right. 27 Avoid evil and walk straight ahead. Don’t go one step off the right way.

The starting point to breaking these ingrained bad habits it to ask the 5 questions.

When am I Most Tempted?

Day of the Week and time of the day.. Are you more tempted to be depressed on a Monday?. Are you more tempted to be lustful on a Friday? Are you more tempted to be irresponsible on a Saturday? You need to know the days of the week and and what kind of temptations get you on certain days..

Should know the time of the day that you are the weakest to certain temptations... morning – grumpy, short tempered with people?. Lunch time? Evenings?

ME – snacks at night...

Where am I Most Tempted?

Work? Kitchen?. Neighbor’s House? When you go into a Fast Stop and see the Magazines? In front of a computer?.

You don’t just need ot know when, you need to know where.. When you know the where and the When, you will learn to avoid places…

Who is With Me When I am Most Tempted?

Buddies at work? They want to do the wrong thing sand you don’t... I’ll just do it. You may lose your temper with certain people... child, spouse, in laws... EX... co-worker... Some are tempted when you are in a crowd of strangers and no one you know is watching...

What Temporary Benefit do I Get if I Give In?

There is always a benefit for falling to temptation. No one would ever sin if sin wasn’t fun for a minute.

Hebrews 11:25 NLT

25 He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.

If sin were painful, no one would fall for the temptation of it. If it were an electrical shock, you would not do it, but sin is fun for a short while... but that doesn’t last long because sin kicks back.

The problem with sin isn’t that it’s fun, but that it doesn’t last. It’s temporary gratification and long-term pain... temporary satisfaction and long term consequences... it’s thinking short term and not long term.

So you need to think about what the temporary payoff is when you fall for this temptation... comfort, release, excitement, false sense of confidence...

Maybe you exaggerate all the time, and wonder why you do that? You feel better about yourself when you do that.

Learn what the payoff is or you will never be able to understand temptation... if you do, you will be able to know that when certain things are happening, temptation is coming

How do I feel Right before I am Tempted?

What are your emotional triggers?

Do you get tempted when you are frustrated? Lonely? Unloved? Depressed? Tired or worn out? Bored...

You need to know how you feel right before you are tempted.

Leads to a principle that’s vital.

2. PROTECT THE CONDITION OF YOUR HEART.

Proverbs 4:23 NLT

23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

If you want to make any kind of lasting change in your life, it begins from the inside out. You don’t have to focus on your actions of even your emotions. You start with your heart. We need a heart change. So let’s do a heart x-ray.

Self Quiz

Physically Exhausted 0 1 2 3 4 Energetic/In shape

Discouraged/Pessimistic 0 1 2 3 4 Encouraged/Optimistic

Bored/Discontented 0 1 2 3 4 Challenged/Contented

Spiritually Dry/Empty 0 1 2 3 4 Spiritually Growing

Geographically Distant/Alone 0 1 2 3 4 Near/Together

Insecure/Unsure 0 1 2 3 4 Secure/Confident

Deeply Wounded/Hurt 0 1 2 3 4 Loved/Understood

Secretly Bitter/Angry 0 1 2 3 4 Have Forgiven Everyone

Sad 0 1 2 3 4 Happy

Alienated/Unsupported 0 1 2 3 4 Close/Supported

How emotionally close are you to your family? Distant and detached or supported…

Add up the points.

35-40 – good shape

25-35 – more vulnerable to temptation than you think... be careful

15-25 – serious danger and you are unprotected against Satan. Headed for a fall if you don’t do something.

Less than 15 – you are in a crisis. See a counselor immediately. You need to be in a small group of some sort.

Next, ask, How long have I been at this level?

If your score was low and you have been that way for a while, you are more vulnerable that you would be if you are just going through a couple of rough days. The more negatives for a longer period of time, the more vulnerable you are.

Paul said,

Ephesians 4:27 NLT

27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.

A foothold is where the devil carves out a little slice of your life that he can hang on to.

He hangs on to that area so he can grab more and more. He wants to control your life.

It’s like soldiers taking over an island. They establish a beach head and then move inland.

What is the number 1 foothold Satan gets in your life?

Negative emotion? When you are physically exhausted? When you are Discouraged? Bored? Spiritually Dry? Insecure? When your are deeply wounded? Secretly bitter? Sad? Alienated?

Any of these things allows the devil to gain a foothold in your life. When you allow 2 or 3 of these gang up together it’s setting you up for a major temptation... a fall. Frustrated, worried and depressed...

Let’s say you are worried, insecure and angry and hurt. The devil is going to come along and say something like this: “You deserve a little pleasure in your life. You deserve a little comfort in your life. I know this isn’t right but there are so many bad things happening in your life you need something for comfort, for relief. You need something for excitement. You need something to calm you down. Because everything’s bad in your life right now you really need just a little bit of good pleasure.”

He doesn’t tell you that he is going to make it worse in the long run. We have to know the condition of our hearts... we have to guard our hearts. When you allow emotions to dam up, you will one day do some pretty (hurtful, stupid, goofy) things.

3. PRAY FOR GOD’S HELP.

Sounds simple and I am sure many of you have tried it and it doesn’t seem to be working. Prayer is not the only think you need to do, but it is something that you have to do. It will give you strength to do the other things you need to do.

God’s word...

Matthew 26:41 NLT

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

You have to learn to pray microwave prayers.

When temptation is coming, you don’t have time to get on your knees and pray a spiritual sounding prayer because temptation happens in the realities of daily life. Sometimes you pray HELP!

Psalm 50:15 TEV

15 Call to me when trouble comes; I will save you, and you will praise me.”

God is saying, send up an SOS and I will be there.

The Bible is full of people who have prayed these prayers and God has helped them. David, Daniel, Paul, Peter, Samson, Elijah. God provides for those who ask.

How do we know that? How can we expect God to help us in times of trouble? Because he cares and he understands.

Jesus Understands all of our weaknesses

Hebrews 4:15–16 NLT

15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Listen – Jesus faced the same temptations you and I face. Anger, depression, frustration, lust, self-pity, loneliness, fatigue, ... He faced everything we face but he chose never to sin. This means that he can be sympathetic, but more than that, he can give us the power to overcame those same temptations in our lives.

Too often, when you are facing repeated temptations, you don’t want to talk to God again about it because you are shamed. He is not going to put you on a guilt trip. When you come to the Lord, you will receive MERCY and find GRACE. You will find someone who has the power to help you change.

4. POINT YOUR ATTENTION ELSEWHERE.

Change your thoughts! Refocus on something else. Shift your attention.

James 1:14–15 The Living Bible

14 Temptation is the pull of man’s own evil thoughts and wishes. 15 These evil thoughts lead to evil actions and afterwards to the death penalty from God.

You have to learn to change your thoughts.

Temptation begins with a single thought. It doesn’t begin with an act or an emotion, it begins with a thought. If you are going to overcome temptation, you have to learn to change your thoughts. Refocus.

Have you ever been driving and looked at all of the traffic coming your way and felt like you were being pulled into oncoming traffic? Or Going over a tall bridge like the HP and felt like you might go over? Or Stood on top of a building looking down and felt it pulling you down.

That’s the law of focus. People are drawn towards what they focus on. Hungry right now? You weren’t until I mentioned it and now your stomach is growling. That’s the power of suggestion.

For instance, If I said, it’s a little stuffy in here... some of you would go, you know ... it is. But you were not thinking that until I suggested it. You start thinking it’s stuffy because it got your attention.

If you think about being upset, you will become more and more upset. If you want to not be upset, You don’t say... I’m not upset. You have to change your focus to something else.

You don’t say, I really don’t to watch this, you change the channel.

You don’t say, I don’t want those cookies... you do.

You don’t say, I don’t want to .... You have to change your focus.

Temptation 3 stages.

1. It will get your attention. Something has to get your attention to tempt you. It will be a thought or something you see. It gets your attention.

2. Arousal. Your emotions kick in. I want that... I deserve that... that would be exciting... That would make me stop thinking about how bad the rest of my life is.

3. Action – You fall for the temptation.

The wrong thing to focus on is the action and your will power to overcome the temptation. You typically say, you are not going to act that way, but you are not dealing with the root. Why do I want to act that way?

You have to get behind the emotion back to attention. What was I thinking when I started acting that way? The Key is you don’t fight it, you flee from it.

2 Corinthians 10:5 NCV

5 and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.

Not easy to learn to control your thought life. It’s something you have to consciously practice and manage. You have developed patterns of thinking that you will not overcome in a day. It will take a powerful overhaul to learn to think differently than you have for years, but you can do it with Jesus Help.

Jesus wants to help you RE-PROGRAM your mind.

You and I cannot control all of the circumstances in our lives... not even most of them. our lives... not even most of them. You can’t even control how you fell about those circumstances that come into your life. You can’t say... I don’t want to feel that way. Fighting a feeling re-enforces it. People say, I don’t want to be like my mother... and they are or will be. What are you focusing on when you say stuff like that? The negative... the problem.

When you control your thoughts, that will control your emotions and will bring change in your behavior which will cause others to behave differently towards you.

The WOG doesn’t say resist temptation. It says to resist the devil, but the bible says to flee temptation... to stay away from temptation. We are to resist the devil. We learn to resist him the same way Jesus did in the wilderness... He quoted scripture to him.

Don’t try to out smart or out argue with the devil... he will win. When temptation calls on the phone, hang up... block the number. Time I threw away the number of a girl... The way you weaken temptation is to turn your back on it and focus on something else.

Romans 12:21 TEV

21 Do not let evil defeat you; instead, conquer evil with good.

Turn your thoughts from the wrong thing to the right thing... from the bad thing to a good thing... from the lie to the truth... from the temptation to something wonderful, positive and beneficial.

This is the principle of replacement.

Overcome evil with good. Fill your mind with good and godly thoughts and it doesn’t have time to fall for bad, depressing, anxious thoughts. If you will do this, you will find it will make an amazing difference in your life and in breaking life-long habits.

We also need help from the outside.

5. PARTICIPATE IN A SUPPORT GROUP.

You need a group of people in your life that will love you and accept you no matter what. Connect groups.

Easier to stay in shape if you have a group of people you work out with. My running group... Same is true overcoming bad habits.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 TEV

9 Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. 10 If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone and falls, it’s just too bad, because there is no one to help him.

You don’t need a lot of friends like this, but you do need a few people who know everything about you, but love you anyway.

When you have this, it’s liberating... you feel free. You realize that other people have the same problems and temptations you do. Talk about people in groups that felt normal seeing this. The first step to overcoming a temptation is admitting it. Everyone is tempted.

James 5:16 The Living Bible

16 Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results.

You won’t be healed until you admit your temptations to someone and have them pray for you. When you share those things with someone who is trustworthy, you find healing and freedom.

Wonderful Verse... memorize it.

1 Corinthians 10:13 The Message

13 No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

God will always help you.

Prayer time

Have you been stuck in a cycle of good intentions, failure, guilt and ...?

Salvation prayer and people to the altar.