Day 3 - Week 39 - 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it."

When I read this verse, the thought that comes to my weak mind is, "If God won't allow me to be tempted beyond what I am able to bear, then why have I so often fallen to temptation?"

Well, when I read the rest of the passage it becomes clear to me that the reason I have fallen is that I have not looked to God and asked Him to show me the escape hatch that He has already prepared for me to use as a means of bearing up under the temptation that I am facing.  I have either been too prideful, thinking that I was beyond tempting, so I rely on my own strength (and I fail), or  I have been too willful, thinking that in this particular situation given all of my life's conditions, that God's rules must be able to be bent for me (and I fail). 

What Paul is telling us that IF we look to God in the face of our temptations, He is always there waiting for us and ready to lead us right out of that place and we will not fail.  We will come through victorious and those kind of victories are the ones that build our confidence in our faith and the faithfulness of the Gd we serve.  Rather than regretting, we will be rejoicing. 

Day 2 - Week 39 - 1 Corinthians 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it."

Again, my early morning schedule of this week and other time constraints force me to be brief.  So tonight, I want to share a passage from Robert J. Morgan's book, "100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart" regarding this week's verse.

Paul, a veteran missionary, struggled to remain disciplined in his life.  The Israelites, having experienced the most unique set of miracles in the Old Testament, stumbled.  However mature our Christian experience, we're not beyond the danger of those temptations common to everyone.  But God is faithful.  He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we're able to bear but will provide a way of escape.

The Greek term for 'a way of escape' was the word used for a passageway out of a canyon.  Sometimes people wandered into ravines and couldn't see any pathway out.  They thought they were trapped.  But if they looked hard enough, there was a goat path somewhere, a way out.

Our best escape route is intentionally staying close to Christ on a daily and hourly basis.  Having successfully resisted temptation Himself, He knows the way out of the canyon. 

Day 1 - Week 39 - A great promise for daily use!

Get ready for another great promise...but first, you know the drill...Tuesday review time!

The Gift of Prayer (3)

Hebrews 4:16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

1 John 5:14   Now this is the confidence we have before Him, whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:15   And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

The Gift of Assurance (10)

1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life and that life is in His Son.

1 John 5:12-13  The one who has the Son has life.  The one who doesn't have the Son of God, does not have life.  I say these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life.

John 14:1  Your heart must not be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansion, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3  And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you unto Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or afraid.

Isaiah 26:3-4  You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed . (KJV)

Isaiah 53:6  We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquities of us all.

Praise and Thanksgiving (4)

1 Peter 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Psalm 100:4  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 

Psalm 100:5  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Revelation 4:11  You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.


Promises of God (10)
Matthew 6:33  But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)
Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
1 John 1:7  But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Proverbs 3:-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  (NIV)

I've loved this past week's verse --- it has been a source of confidence for me this week, a week that has been hectic and sometimes hard to handle.  But in my heart, those words would spring forth and remind me that I have a God I can trust with every area of my life --- the parts that make sense to me, and the crazy, non-sensible, hard-to-get-my-hands around parts.  When I don't understand, He does.  When I don't see down the road, He does.  And I can trust Him to nudge me, and sometimes shove me, down the path that He is laying out for me when I acknowledge Him and surrender to His Spirit working within me.

Now tonight's promise!  A lengthy verse, but one that flows forward with an assurance that we will learn to lean on as each day offers so many ways to stray from God's good path....

1 Corinthians 10:13   No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity.  God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.

Now isn't that a good follow up verse to Proverbs 3:5-6.  Not only does God have a great path laid out for us, but when things try to pull us off the path, He always gives us an escape route to avoid the pitfall and stay on course.  He is a good, good God!

Day 7 - Week 38 - Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."

Some weeks it seems harder to completely trust God than others---I think I'm having one of those weeks!  I have so much to get done and so many commitments and at times I think, "I just can't do it!"

And then those words ring loudly in my head, especially the first one, that very loud, self-absorbed, "I"!  For whenever I set out to do all these things according to my plans in my way, I am always going to feel frazzled.  But when I say, "God, you see me struggling and you hear my cry...let me trust in You to sustain me, to direct my steps so that I use my time most efficiently and wisely.  Let me trust in You to show me which things I have to just let go of, or at least put off.  Let me trust in You to set my priorities in the proper order, not my faulty order.

In all my ways, let me acknowledge Your authority in my life, Lord.  And let me then rest and trust that You will enable me and give me the strength I need to accomplish all that I need to, but possibly not all that is laid before me.  For Your path is not burdensome and it is not a path that leads me to exhaustion!

Matthew 11:28-30  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Day 6 - Week 38 - Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path."

Sometimes it is not easy discerning if the direction we are heading is truly God's will or rather if it is what we are desiring so much that we convince ourselves it is God's will.  I think when we find ourselves wanting something very much, then we have to really examine our decision to pursue that course of action closely and ask God to affirm to us that we are moving not only according to our desire, but truly according to His will.

For our wants are driven from our understanding, and just as this verse tells us, our understanding is not foolproof or the deciding force for us as believers.  Trusting in God with our whole hearts is what should guide our lives...allowing Him to move as He wills according to His timing.

Tonight I must be brief as I have a very early morning schedule tomorrow...but I am praying for me and for you that we will yield our lives to react only to the impulse of God's hand and to wait on Him...but when He does prompt us to act, that we have not a moment of hesitation in our response.  It's a sensitivity that comes through a close relationship with God, and one that we should all strive for and pray for. 

Lord, let me trust you completely, and keep me from moving on my own selfish desires.  Let me look for Your hand moving in my life and follow the path that You are laying out for me.  Thank You for loving me so much that you chart out the very best course for me to follow...keep my eyes and ears open so that I do not miss any part of the life that You have planned for me and the blessings that staying on Your course will bring.  In Jesus name, I pray...Amen.