One of the most effective ways to deal with temptation is to be able to see it in the light of Satan himself influencing you to indulge in sin.
In other words, dealing with temptation is to see it in the light of Satan influencing you to honor him at the expense of dishonoring God instead of just seeing it in the light of you trying to satisfy a momentary urge you’re wrestling with. To put it clearer, Satan is the one enticing you to rebel against God.
As you can see, Satan is tempting you, but he just doesn’t want you to realize that at that very moment. He hides behind a particular temptation by shifting the focus on you alone.
As a result, he wants the focus to be placed squarely on your desires to be satisfied by that sin while the focus must be placed on God alone by acknowledging the enemy as the one enticing you into sin.
Sin is the materialization of the will of Satan in people’s lives under the guise of self-pleasing, which then creates a platform by which he gets to dominate and manipulate them even beyond their own awareness.
Sin is the outright replacement of God’s will in people’s lives by Satan’s will.
Jesus’ Radical Approach To Satan’s Enticement
Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s (Matthew 16:3).
(The key to resist temptation is to set our minds on God’s interests rather than our own interests behind which the enemy hides himself).
Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the LORD your God and serve only Him.” (Matthew 4:10)
Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the LORD your God.’ (Luke 4:12)
Jesus as the creator, the One who has overcome Satan, the world, and the flesh is able to empower me to resist that sin.
My greatest struggle with dealing with that habitual sin is to find something to counteract the sinful craving raging inside of me.
That craving is literally steering my heart away from God by making sinning against Him to become the only alternative left on the table in order to get a relief.
Sinning has become more attractive to me than the glory of God. To me, it has become the only thing that can fulfill me, which is a lie from the pit of hell.
There’s an out of control beast within which intent is to drive me into sin. There’s a tendency that is sensitizing me toward that sin while causing me to become hostile toward You.
How can I be bold and courageous enough to confront sin as Christ did?
Christ operating within me through the Holy Spirit will empower me to resist that sin as He victoriously resisted Satan on multiple occasions throughout His life. I cannot counteract the sinful craving raging within but Christ can. The battle isn’t mine but Christ’s.
Take authority against the spirit or the tendency of lawlessness: pig or dog driving me into the same old sin I’ve been practicing. But it starts with a genuine desire to respond to temptation how Christ would.
May the blood of Jesus invade my life like a tsunami and wash away every sin and sinful tendency.
Confronting temptation in a Christlike manner
He who is within you (that is the Holy Spirit) is greater than he who is in the world’ (that is the devil). In us is the Holy Spirit. In the world is the devil.