When the 2nd state is worse than the 1st!
Because Jesus suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)
Jesus entered the arena of ministry in the hardest way. A desert dweller for forty days multiplied by fasting, He walked into a 'baptism of fire'. He began in His own lonely dark hours. Jesus won where Adam didn't. Adam was in THE perfect garden, Jesus was in a wild wilderness. Immediately prior to His encounter with Evil itself Jesus had received water and Spirit filled baptism in the Jordan river.
Satan threw his best three shots at a weakened Messiah. When a man is most vulnerable satan enters with his 'best' appeals.
Satan arrives with the fraudulent promise of easy betterment, 'just listen to me' he invites.
Resisting temptation is seated in the desire to be faithful, and it is fueled by devotion to righteousness.
The reality of temptation pursues each victim with a voracious and consuming disregard. There is no time, place or activity where temptation is unknown.
Temptation is as:
- perennial as the tides
- frequent as drawing breath, and
- guaranteed as day follows night.
The yeast of its desire rises in the heart and is baked in the oven of travail.
Temptation first draws, then delights and finally destroys. The second state has become worse than the first.
The Last Word:
Audit your dark hours correctly, why? Because satan will be close by.