Resist temptation to avoid a lifetime of regret

Temptation.  Well, that is just what it is — a temptation. It is something that you actually are missing in your life. 

A temptation is that which is not yours or does not belong to you but is presented to you as if you can have or own it. 

Temptation is a false perception of ownership. It is only when you yield to the temptation that you realize it is not yours to have. 

Unfortunately, by that time it is too late. The deed is done, and the consequences of your actions will unfold in real time.

God’s Word says that when temptation comes, and it will, He has already worked it out so that all shall be well if you decide to obey His Word. 

Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

God will always make a way so that you can be found moving in His perfect will. 

Look at Joseph. He was totally tempted and yet totally committed to God. 

Therefore, Joseph did the right thing; he did the righteous thing.  At the end of that temptation, he was found in right standing with God. 

This is what your aim must be. No matter what the test, trial, or tribulation, you must be seen as one who stands the test every time.

Genesis 39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

8 But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand . . .

Sin and temptation will cast its eye upon you, not just look at you. The latter would be too easy to escape. Sin and temptation will cast. This word cast stems from the Hebrew word nasa, meaning “to lift, bear up, carry, and to take”.

This is no small thing. For everywhere that Joseph went in the house, he was carrying the weight of her eyes upon him. 

She was eyeing him; she was handling Joseph with her eyes because she wanted Joseph to follow through and handle her with his hands. She wanted Joseph to lift her up, bear her up, carry her, and take her into his arms and into bed. 

How careless the devil wants you to become. The devil’s desire is that you replace care with carelessness. The devil wants you to drop your standard and let everything go. 

The enemy of your soul wants you to seize the moment now to do the easy thing and lose the privilege of later having the goodly thing.

Many persons have given in to “the moment” and lived with a lifetime of regret. 

So many have realized that they should have resisted the easy thing. Now they understand that they should have run and made their escape from that which was so easily offered to them.

Will to resist

What gives you the will to run from the plan of the enemy? How are you able to escape Satan’s devices and tactics? You are able to do so when you truly know that God’s hand is upon your life, and that there are many in the future who will be depending on you to make the right choice right now.

Genesis 39:9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

Joseph understood that greater than sinning against a man (such as Potiphar) was to sin against God. Joseph honoured the covenant called marriage and he was not going to breach the holy covenant that God instituted. 

For one to purposely breach God’s holy covenant is considered great wickedness. 

How do you avoid doing such a thing? You must value the calling upon your life. You must honour and humbly respect the anointing that God has placed upon you. You must understand that The Kingdom of Heaven will be blessed by your obedience.

Do not allow anyone or anything to strip you of those things that God has blessed you with. It will never be worth it. Respice finem.