Lead Me Not Into Temptation

Have you been tempted? Do you lust after things of the flesh? Are you looking for a way out of a dark situation? 

Are you struggling with a sex addiction, porn addiction, food addiction, or some other area of your life that forces you to choose darkness instead of Light?

Follow along with Tammy Toney-Butler in this episode as she shines the Light of hope and healing in an area of darkness that threatens to consume and devour.

Listen in and find freedom!

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Transcript

Good morning.  Welcome to this episode of Reflective Hour with Tammy Toney-Butler.  I'm your host today,  but we all know who the host of this show is, and that's Christ.

Holy Spirit, come, have Your way in this hour,  in this time that we have together as we seek to speak Your Truth,  bring Light into areas where there has been darkness.

Hope,  where there's been hopelessness. 

Peace and joy where there's been in anything but that, this is our time together.

 It's our time to replenish, refresh, and renew mind, body, and spirit. 

As we learn certain Truths that will guide us along the path of righteousness for His Namesake.

Where we will resemble Christ and not the world.

We will choose not to compromise with the world,  but we will be tethered so tightly into the Vine of Truth that you cannot separate us. 

Guide us, O God. Strengthen us.

Holy Spirit, have Your way. 

We worship you in Spirit and Truth. 

And may Your Glory manifest in this time that we have together today. 

So that everybody watching this can be set free;  set free from addiction,  from temptation,  from the lies and chains of the past. 

As we explore Your Truth today.

As we look at Scripture to guide and direct us.

Grab your coffee and tea,  and let's spend some time together.

As we dive in, we dive into the Word and let it guide us. 

As we seek His Truth, alone as a Light upon a hill, as the Cornerstone, the Rock.

Today,  we will explore temptation. 

We will look at it through the lens of  Joseph and Potiphar's wife as we dive into Psalm, to some of the Psalms, as we dive into Genesis 39, and Philippians.

Let's start now in Genesis.

I will be reading out of the New International Version, Genesis  39.

[And this episode of Reflective Hour is entitled, Lead Me Not Into Temptation.

Holy Spirit, as we read Your Word,  let Your Truth  Penetrate hearts, bones, and marrow.

May it transform and resurrect as we become new creatures in Christ,  renewed and strengthened in the coming days.

Yummy Word.]

Genesis 39.  
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
39: Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

2: The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

3: When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,

4: Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

5: From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

6: So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,

7: and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”

8: But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.

9: No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”

10: And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

11: One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside.

12: She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

13: When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house,

14: she called her household servants. “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.

15: When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

16: She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home.

17: Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me.

18: But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

19: When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger.

20: Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison,

21: the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

22: So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.

23: The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.
 

You'll be faced with temptation in your walk as a Christian; you must choose between the Light and the dark. 

What will you choose?  Will you follow God's path,  or will you follow the world?

What is God saying to you today? 

Do you need to repent and turn away from temptation? 

Do you need to seek Him and seek His truth?

What is He saying?

Let's look at some principles. At some Truth.

Knowing God's truth is the best way to defend against the tempter's lie. 

Jesus answered Satan's temptations with specific scripture. 

Here are the top 10 lies we experience when tempted and the corresponding Biblical Truth.

The psalmist said:

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.  Psalm 119:11, New Living Translation.

Lie number 1: "No one will ever know what you're about to do. Go ahead. No one is watching. "

And what's the Truth?  

Let's look at Hebrews 4:13 (ESV).

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Lie number 2:  

The temptation is too hard, too difficult.  Go ahead. Give in.  You can't resist it. 

The Truth.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it  [First Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)]

Isn't that what Joseph did? He ran away.

Is God calling you to run from a situation that you're facing to where you may have to compromise yourself,  your values as a Christian, and your belief system?

Is that what He's calling you to do: follow the Light and not the darkness?

Let's keep reading.

Lie number 3:

You keep failing.  You'll never have victory over this sin. You'll always be addicted.  Isn't that the lie that the enemy tells us? 

What's the Truth? 

Philippians 1:6 (ESV):  
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

I can do all things through Christ,  through him, who strengthens me. [Philippians 4: 13 (ESV).]

What's lie number 4?  

Your past is too bad. You can't overcome it. You can't rise above what happened to you. You're dirty. You're full of shame, fear, and regret. 

What's the Truth? 

13: Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

14:I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV).

What's another lie, number 5?  

You can't change. That's the way you are.  You'll never do anything or accomplish anything more.  You're not better than where you grew up.  Why are you choosing that path and not this path? 

What's the Truth?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV).

Lie number 6:

God is keeping something good from you. 

Really? God is keeping something good from us.

Let's see what the Truth says:

10: For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11: For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.

12: O Lord of hosts,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you! Psalm 84: 10-12 (ESV).

Lie number 7: 

Can you avoid the consequences? Your situation is unique.  You're the only one that's addicted.  How could you want to do that? You're dirty.  No one will ever love you.  Let alone Christ. 

What's the Truth?

11: For lust is a shameful sin,
    a crime that should be punished.

12:  It is a fire that burns all the way to hell.[a]
    It would wipe out everything I own. Job 31: 11-12 (NLT).

7: Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

8: For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

9: And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6: 7-9 (ESV).

Lie number 8:

The temptation is so strong that God must want you to sin.

Truth. 

13: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

14: But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

15: Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:13-15 (ESV).   

Lie number 9:

You can overcome this sin alone. Don't tell anybody.  Stay isolated. Don't seek help. Don't seek wise counsel.

What's the Truth?

James 5:16 (ESV) will tell us:

16: Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

The prayer of a righteous man availeth much (GNV).  

3: For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
4: For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up[a] as by the heat of summer. Selah

5: I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.  (Psalm 32: 3-5 ESV).

Oh, this is a good one.

Lie Number 10:

If it feels right, it must be right.  If it feels right, it must be right.

As believers,  we don't go by feelings.  We go by what the Word of God says and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Our soul is where our emotions are.  The mind is the biggest thing that makes it up.  So we can't go by feelings, by circumstances, or feelings in response to circumstances.  Feelings and choices in response to survival and living in survival mode in the aftermath of trauma. 

Instead, we must focus on what the Word of God says and the Truth of His Word.

Truth:

22: to put off your old self,[a] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

23: and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

24: and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4: 22-24 (ESV).  


The source for this content was Biblical Strategies, and you can find that at biblicalstrategies.com. 

And I usually read the Word from the Bible Gateway.

I like to give credit where credit is due. 

Now,  I picked up a book from Christianbook. Com they're a great source for buying faith-based items.

This book is called The Good Man: An Honest Journey Into Discovering Who Men Were Actually Created To Be, and it's by Nathan Clarkson.

And I wanted to read page 37.

It starts with Chapter 3, Heroic.  "It's not who I am underneath. But what I do that defines me. " Bruce Wayne from The Dark Knight, that was a quote, again out of this book, The Good Man.

Let the Word of God define who we are.  We don't need to wonder; we don't need to guess. 

As believers, when we accept Christ when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside of us,  then we walk in the Light. 

We're renewed and transformed with the Heart of Christ.

The Mind of Christ. That changes us. 

We evolve into who we were always supposed to be because He knew us before He formed us in the womb.

We're fearfully, beautifully, and wonderfully made daughters and sons of the King. 

We cannot let the world shape us. We cannot give in to the lust of the flesh,  the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. 

We must walk in the Light and choose to run away like Joseph did.  He could have given in to temptation. He could have sinned, but he knew the only way to escape was to leave that situation.

To not keep knocking on that door, returning to that contaminated well and drinking and expecting a different result. 

Where has sin gotten you?  What are the consequences of sin?

Where Christ is.  Where the Holy Spirit dwells, there is freedom. 

There is peace and joy and a love that you've never known.

That power of the presence of the Holy Spirit that comes to dwell with us to break every chain to strengthen us.  There's nothing like it. 

One moment in His presence changes everything.  It did for me.

There have been so many manifestations of the presence of God in my life. 

His glory follows me where I go because I speak His truth. 

I prophesy when He wants me to.  Speak life where there are areas of spiritual death and famine; a bearer of the Truth and Light to a dark world.

Let His Truth guide you. Let it transform you.

As a survivor of child sex trafficking,  as someone who was addicted to sex even,  I sought love in all the wrong places because I was looking for a father figure.

A love of a father. That was the root because I lost my dad to Vietnam.  And then, after that,  he abandoned us, went his own way, and found a new family.

He became a police officer, and then, on Father's Day, we buried him. He had taken his life.  He lost his battle with complex PTSD. With the aftermath of trauma.

He was coping through addiction. 

You don't have to lose yours.

You can be set free. There is hope. There is healing.

I found it in Christ.  He broke every chain, even my food addiction.

He has truly transformed me.

I had to surrender.

I had to say, not my will, but Yours be done. 

I had to let go of everything that had defined me.  Everything, every other truth, but God's Truth about who I was. 

I had to evolve and move in the direction that He had called me.

Believe Him! 

That I deserve to be on that platform,  that I deserve to be where He placed me,  to set the captives free,  to bring Light into areas of darkness,  healing; water,  to where there's been drought,  feasts where there's been famine. 

He is our Bread of Life. 

Jesus died on the Cross so we could be set free.  He bore all of our inequities, all of our sins.

He took the shame, the guilt, all of it, and put it on the Cross so that we don't have to carry that weight in our lives.

It's too heavy for us to carry.  We don't have to do that anymore. 

Surrender it to Him. Surrender that old self.  The one that defines you.  That's controlled you for so long. 

Don't carry that into where He's taking you. This new season of your life,

Instead, find hope and healing, say no to temptation, escape the situation, and remove yourself from the people around you.

Like Joseph removed himself from the situation with Potiphar's wife. 

If the temptation keeps hitting you and coming at your door and from those closest to you, maybe it's time that you get a new circle of friends.

Maybe it's time that you don't go to that bar. 

Maybe it's time you don't go to that sporting event. 

Maybe it's time that you step into a house of worship. 

Call a friend.  Go to a meeting.

Get help.  Seek out counseling if you need to.

But do not go down that pathway of destruction. 

Sin has consequences. 

It will take you down a pathway that is difficult to come back from.  

Choose Life. 

Choose Light.  

Not in your strength, but in His.
 
He gave me the strength to endure the temptation, turn away, and walk in a new path, direction, and dimension.  

He'll give you the strength to do the same.  

I believe in you.  I know you can do it. 

I know you can do that. 

You can break free because I did!

Walk in the Light.

Walk in His strength and in His Truth.  

And that's today's episode of Reflective Hour. 

And I'm your host, Tammy Toney-Butler.