Overcoming Temptations – Dr Lalith Mendis I 14th January

When our values are clear, decisions are easier

 How We Mishandle Temptation
• Magnify our ability to resist
• Minimize possible damage
• Trifle with temptation – I can stop anytime
• Keep moving to the edge – sniff, smell, see,
• Everybody gives in
• Temporary satisfaction
• I can hide – so I lie
• Give excuses

You are not as strong as you think. You Have An Enemy Within = Flesh

1 Corinthians 10:12 NIV
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

Gal 5:16-17 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  (17)  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

How We Must Handle Temptation – I’m putting distance between me and temptation.

Bread Talks & Temptations
• Luke 11:11-12  For what father of you, if the son asks for bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake for a fish?  (12)  Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he give him a scorpion?

Leaven in Your Life
•1 Corinthians 5:6-8  Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?  (7)  Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.  (8)  Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 Friends of the World, Enemy of God
• James 4:3-8  You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.  (4)  You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  (5)   Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “Spirit He caused to dwell is us yearns jealously.”?

Look In, Look Out….
• Proverbs 20:27  The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being. Look in Look out – with eyes of fire, holy eyes, see as Jesus sees.

Connect Group discussion questions 

  1. Talk about some of the decisions you’ve made this week.
  2. Which part of this message was most impactful for you and why?
  3. Read Matthew 26:41. Discuss a time when God helped you make the right decision or avoid temptation. What was that experience like?
  4. What does it look like to “move the line” when you’re fighting temptation? How could you Connect Group help you put distance between yourself and temptation?
  5. What is your thought process like when you make plans for the future?
  6. Consider the areas of your life where you’re most vulnerable to the enemy’s attacks. Share these with your Connect Group. Talk about your escape plan now, so that you’re prepared when the devil attacks.

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