Walking in His Spiritual Enlightenment 2 Corinthians 12:9 But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest on me. Weakness makes us imperfect. Weakness is the flaw in perfection. With it, we are deemed as sheep to be slaughtered because weakness will lead us into temptation. Once tempted, many of us are like Eve, clueless about what to do next except to fall into it. Temptation is nothing to be desired as it is nothing but evil. Hence, Jesus taught us to pray that our Father will not lead us into Temptation but will deliver us from the evil one. Jesus further warned us to: "Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak." That is, our bodies are weak, and whatever we hope to achieve is different from what we can achieve. We can have the best intentions, but they are hard to fulfil because of our inherent flaws: weakness. It is like having an underpowered car that does not allow us to go the extra mile. Having an underpowered car is not a big issue as long as it gets us somewhere. However, having weakness means we have a low resistance to temptation. If ever we fall in, we fall into the pit of no return. Then, it can be a treacherous issue. Eve was one of many being clueless when tempted. Even great men like David and wise men like Solomon were clueless, too. If not, they would not have fallen into sin. We must understand that only if there is a need, then there is a desire. It is similar to the phenomenon of hunger. If a man is hungry, he will naturally desire to eat. If not, he might not be tempted to eat. Likewise, a weakness is like a hunger that opens our appetite to temptation. Paul understood the struggle when he said, "For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do." Nevertheless, it is absurd to hear from Paul, a ruthless man of command and control who has little control over his weakness. That is, weakness is not limited to the non-achievers or losers, who are undetermined or foolish, but it transcends to the superb, mighty, wise, or ruthless. Therefore, no matter who we are or where we are in life, we are plagued with weaknesses at our level of competency, so we do not do the good we want but the evil we do not wish to do. At this instance in the epistle of Romans, Paul was quick to dismiss his responsibility for his weakness by saying, "And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin living in me that does it." Paul disassociated his sinful behaviour as if it had nothing to do with him but the sin living in him. We can link his behaviour to that of Adam, who told GOD, "The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Indirectly, Adam was blaming GOD for the woman He gave him for inducing him to eat from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil and causing him to disobey Him. He was an innocent party, and whatever happened had nothing to do with him as he was caught in the web of decision-making, of which none was his. From Adam, we can see the birth of man's weakness, and after Jesus was crucified, died and risen, Apostle Paul still held on to the Adamic weakness of the attitude that it has nothing to do with me. Paul was as clueless as Adam. Indeed, Adam did not make any decisions on his own except to give all the animals and his women their names. He had all the decisions made for him. GOD chose the woman for him as his companion, and the woman chose the fruit that he should eat. Even though GOD had warned him against eating the forbidden fruit, Adam made no reservations about eating it as his woman gave it to him. He had no reason to doubt the woman that GOD gave him would do him harm. Even if he did not trust GOD, he would not doubt her, who is the DNA of his bone and flesh. Adam trusted Eve and listened to all the decisions she made. He did not utter a word during the conversation between the Serpent and his woman as he watched passively beside her. He did not clarify the misconception when the Serpent distorted the truth. He left her to assume wrongly as the Serpent misled her. When Eve gave him the forbidden fruit, Adam could have rejected it, but he did not because he, like many, could not say no to their flesh. In other words, Adam was the sheep, and his woman was his shepherd. Is there anything wrong with that? Yes, when we listen to the wrong voice and do not do what is right, our whole life will be a mistake. GOD told Cain, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it." The moral is that we must do right if we want to straighten our lives, and it is more than not doing wrong. Adam did not do anything wrong. He did not take the forbidden fruit, but it was given to him as one of the fruits of the garden. Therefore, he was clueless about what went wrong when GOD questioned him when he went into hiding. Only Eve had the answer, and that is, the Serpent deceived her. Therefore, contrary to the belief of many, Adam was punished because he ate the forbidden fruit, but that is only the secondary reason. The main reason GOD said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat." The issue is not about eating but listening, which causes the outcome, which is man's downfall. The voice he obeyed determined his action, resulting in his fate. Listening to the wrong voice was the first step of a thousand miles in the wrong direction. The difference can be between life and death. Despite being warned, why did Adam do it? Adam was stuck in a tug-of-war between GOD's restriction and his woman's inducement. Between the two of them, he had to choose one, and he chose his woman. There was little of a choice. It was either he betrayed GOD, his creator and provider, or himself, as the woman was his bone and flesh. From then till now, little has changed. Many men will still choose themselves over GOD, succumbing to their flesh within or without, causing themselves much grief. David and Solomon were among one of them. Despite their greatness, they could not control their flesh. Therefore, it is not without reason when Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple." Therefore, without the element of hate for anyone, including ourselves, who will turn our ears away from GOD's instruction, we cannot be Jesus's disciples. Adam could not do it for GOD, but approximately 2000 years and 21 generations later, a man did it for GOD. He was Abraham, and he listened to GOD faithfully to the extent of even sacrificing his only flesh and blood, his son. For him, GOD was also willing to sacrifice His Son, so through Abraham's lineage came Jesus. Therefore, because of Abraham through Jesus, we become a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. Hence, anyone who wants to have life must eat his flesh and drink his blood. The implication is that Christ's DNA is in His flesh and blood, and to eat his flesh and drink his blood is to take on His DNA of obedience and listen to GOD. Therefore, the blood of Christ proves its effectiveness once we are willing to listen. After the fall of man, there is a change in plan. The woman took on a new role and became a separate entity from Adam. She was given a name, Eve, to signify the change. Before that, all the animals were given names except Eve because she existed as an integral part of Adam as she came from his rib. She was his extension of him and, figuratively speaking, like his tail, following wherever he went. She did not exist as an individual. After the fall, GOD switched Eve's role from one dictating Adam to one submitting to him. For that reason, GOD said to Eve, "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." If Eve had been submitting to Adam and not ruling over him, that statement would be redundant. It is like asking a child to clean his room when the room has been cleaned. Eve was no longer the voice that Adam listened to. In the new spiritual structure, Eve's voice has been replaced because GOD ordained Adam to rule over Eve, and Eve has to listen to Adam. The new voice will be of Adam's new flesh, not Eve, but his fallen nature. And this voice is passed on to us like an inheritance. We know of it from the next scene of Cain and Abel's offerings. GOD mentioned that sin is crouching at Cain's door, desiring him. What does sin desire Cain to do? It desires Cain to steal, kill and destroy, which is the modus operandi of Satan. The next thing we know, Cain killed Abel. From this, we know sin as his inner voice manages to convince Cain to kill. Cain did not manage to master the compulsion of his sinful nature, which led him to be punished. GOD has a reason to use the Serpent as the personification of Satan and Eve, the flesh, to show how the spiritual world connects to a man in the relationship between Satan, the flesh, and man. As depicted in the book of Genesis, the Serpent never once spoke to Adam directly, only to his woman. Many might take this for granted, as that is how things happen. Do not take any details for granted, as secrets of enlightenment might be hidden behind them. The puzzling thing is that when God asked Adam about what had happened, Adam was clueless even when he was with Eve during the whole conversation with the Serpent, as if the conversation between them was viewed from him. Only Eve had the answer. What can we infer from them? Could it be possible there is a gatekeeper between God and man or Satan and man? The gatekeeper of the physical man is his spiritual man, who decodes, translates, and understands all spiritual matters. Though the physical man might be clueless about the spiritual happenings, the spiritual man understands because spiritual issues must be spiritually discerned. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, "The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned." Therefore, it is possible that Eve, before the fall, was the personification of 'Adam's spiritual man' as the Serpent, Satan. Thus, whatever happened, Eve seemed to know better than Adam. Furthermore, in the Epistle of Romans, Paul wrote, "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Apostle Paul did not write: the Spirit Himself testifies with us that we are GOD's children. He understood the sequence, and when GOD speaks, it is from His Spirit to our spirit. The physical aspect of the man might not be aware of the happening. It is like what happened to Peter when Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but by My Father in heaven." Apostle Peter must have been clueless about what he said on the spur of the moment until Jesus enlightened him. GOD talks to us and guides us literally in ways we do not know. Therefore, Jesus said, "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say. For at that time, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say." GOD's voice is the power within us, giving us the knowledge to defeat our enemies by not falling into temptation so we do not do what we do not want to. Therefore, Paul delights in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties because one word from GOD will change his situation and even his life. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Prayer: Father, thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to dwell in me, so I am no longer a spiritual orphan. I will be able to discern spiritually the things of God and walk according to God's power and strength. Whether I turn to the right or the left, my ears will hear Your command within me: "This is the way. Walk in it." My ways will be pleasing to you, and I will never be clueless in the face of temptation. Amen.

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You are not what you think but the spirit that controls you Ephesians 6:12 'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world's darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.' To a layperson, this statement might sound too bizarre and far-fetched, as if we were walking through the Star Wars movie studio pretending to be Jedi to battle against Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith. It is like we are in a world of make-believe where the spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly realms are warring against us. In other words, we are attacked by alien invisible forces that are not flesh and blood like us. True, our real enemy is something we cannot see. If we are struggling with what we can see, then we are fighting a fake enemy. Most of us might be wondering, since we cannot astral travel, where our consciousness leaves our bodies, and how to fight a spiritual battle against the dark forces, the equivalent of Darth Sidious. The only evil forces we experience are from the people around us, the ones residing in our homes, offices, churches, or circles of friends, holding invisible knives and daggers, stabbing us with unkind words, deeds and intentions, and leaving us broken, wounded and in pain. With that experience, we can proceed to the next level of understanding. Our struggles are with no one else but with ourselves and the people around us who are no aliens to us, the flesh and blood with whom we are in daily contact. The thoughts and deeds are not of GOD's. The unloving, ungiving and non-sacrificing nature that takes, steals, kills and destroys. It is our source of unhappiness, and because of it, we suffer. Even though this is an indisputable fact, according to Paul, the people are not the culprits. Just as Jesus rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Peter is not the culprit in obstructing Jesus from fulfilling his Father's will to bring salvation for all by dying on the cross. The culprit is the force behind Peter's thoughts. Peter was utterly unaware that, at that moment, he became Satan's tool to become Jesus's stumbling block. How could it be possible for Satan to use Peter as his mouthpiece? Peter spoke to Jesus as the Serpent spoke to Eve, being Satan's voice. What happened at that moment for Peter to utter words of concern and care that were, in fact, words against the will of GOD that Jesus had to rebuke him as Satan? For that, we have to look at Peter's heart. We must understand that Peter had every intention for Jesus to reign as the king of the Jews rather than to suffer and be killed at the hands of the elders, chief priests and scribes. When Jesus called Peter to be his disciple, He promised Peter that he would become a fisher of men instead of a fisherman. If Jesus were to die, the implication is Peter would have to return to being a fisherman and not become a fisher of men. That happened precisely after Jesus's death. His three-year effort of following Jesus around would have been a waste of time. In other words, Peter had self-interest or a personal agenda at heart when he said those words. Even if he did not want Jesus to die because of his love, that is considered a personal agenda. His self-centred agenda becomes an open door to evil influences and the devil's foothold. Is it biblical for Satan to have a foothold in us? Yes, it is biblical because of our fallen nature, and Satan has a legal right over us. Therefore, we are programmed to think evil and do evil. Hence, we do not need to be disciplined to do evil but to do good. According to biblical records, Satan did not come with a whip to get us to do evil. Instead, GOD has to whip us to do good. With that, we can see that we are born with Satan's DNA within us. To cut a long story short, to save us, GOD ended up whipping Himself for our sins. Therefore, in the New Testament, GOD no longer holds the whip but His love to lead us to repentance. To put it another way, GOD whips Himself for every sin we commit. Thus, those who believe in His love shall not perish but have eternal life. As long as we are self-centred and unrepentant, the nature of our flesh, Satan, has a foothold in us through our fallen nature. Satan can speak through us as if it is our intention. When Jesus rebuked Peter, He was rebuking Satan, the mastermind behind Peter. From this encounter, we can conclude that we are nothing more than vessels. We are what fills us. If we are not convinced, we can look at another incident that happened to Peter. When Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but by My Father in heaven. This time, Jesus did not rebuke Peter. Instead, He complimented him for saying the right thing. Jesus used the words flesh and blood as Paul did, indicating that the information is not of human origin. It is not a rumour that Peter heard but a spiritual revelation that Peter perceived from no one else but the Father in heaven. In other words, it is a spiritual enlightenment when a person is filled with the Spirit to understand spiritual matters. This encounter is not limited to Peter, but it happened to many people in the Bible, like Bazalel, Elizabeth, Stephen, Barnabas, David, Ezekiel, and the list goes on. From Peter's two spiritual encounters, one with Satan and the other with the Father, we can deduce that a man is only a vessel, and he is what he is filled with, either good or evil. What fills him will be the voice he hears, good or evil. And what fills him will depend on what is in his heart. When he lives for himself, he has eyes only for himself, and is self-centred, then he is filled with the fallen nature. If he lives for GOD and others, has eyes for people in need, and is GOD and people-oriented, then his heart is filled with the Spirit of GOD. Hence, whoever he listens to will be his master. Hence, whatever we think is not our own. It is from whom we allow to fill our hearts. Unless we can change a person's heart, we cannot change his mind. His mind is controlled by what fills his heart. Paul understood, beyond what meets the eye, the relationship between our hearts and the spirits that control our minds. Therefore, he said, 'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world's darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.' It is not without reason that GOD always talks about the heart more than the mind of a man. He referred to David as a man after His heart and not a man after His mind. Once our heart is right with GOD, then our mind will think within the framework of GOD. Another excellent example of understanding how the heart affects the outcome of the mind is in the story of Nebuchadnezzar. GOD made Nebuchadnezzar great for His purpose, and his greatness was like a tree large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth, whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested. One day, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and he exclaimed, "Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?" When his heart was filled with pride in himself and his greatness, GOD struck him down with madness. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. Only after seven years did GOD restore his sanity, and He praised and exalted and glorified GOD as the king of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. The moral of Nebuchadnezzar's story is that the heart determines our future more than our efforts. When Nebuchadnezzar's heart was filled with himself, God flipped his mind like a pancake. One moment, he was sane, and another moment, he became insane. Only when God felt that Nebuchadnezzar was humbled enough did God flip his mind back. In other words, our mind is nothing more than a marionette where the puppeteer controls every movement of the puppet with strings. The puppet is not free to do as it wishes, but according to the puppeteer that controls it. Likewise, our mind is not free to think as we want to but according to whom fills our hearts. In computer terminology, a man is only the hardware, and the software that helps him to think and operate comes from the spiritual realm. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon wrote, 'Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.' Why the heart and not our mind? Solomon understood that when he gave his heart to GOD, GOD gave him a perfect mind filled with wisdom and understanding. Once his heart turned away from GOD, his wisdom and understanding were lacking to preserve his kingdom. Only GOD holds the key to the springs of life, and the secret passage to them is the heart. The mind can think as many dreams as it wants, but it will only be wishful thinking. Therefore, if we want to have the blessings of heaven, we must have a heart for GOD. It is more than going through the ritual of going to church, giving tithes and offerings or doing charities. It is to put GOD as the centre of our life and let our world revolve around Him. Filling our hearts with the love for GOD and not with the desires of our fallen nature is the key to success in life. It is only through the guidance of GOD that we find life. If we follow the advice of our fallen nature, we will find death because life is only in the hands of GOD. Therefore, if we are not of GOD, whatever we do is a waste of time because there can only be one outcome - death. In other words, we will make lousy decisions despite our best efforts because we are ill-advised. Anything not under GOD's counsel is not under His will. Epistle 1 John writes, 'And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him.' To understand this statement from the opposite perspective, if we do not ask according to His will, He does not hear us. Therefore, those who go to church to pray for nothing else but themselves are praying in vain because they are not asking according to GOD's will. They are nothing more than mouthpieces of Satan, praying for the desires of their fallen nature, which are evil. GOD will not listen to them. GOD wants us to worship Him in Spirit and truth, meaning the Holy Spirit must anoint our thoughts, teaching us to pray. Our prayers will align with GOD's will, and He will be pleased to listen to us. Whatever we do, we will not contravene the first and second greatest commandments, which are to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and to love your neighbour as yourself. Only if we live a self-centred life will we contradict a god-centred life. When we live for GOD and others, we have to sacrifice our self-centred lives for them because we cannot put our interests and GOD first at the same time. There can be only one first. We must choose one over the other. Therefore, we must rightly select what should be within us: the Spirit of Life or the spirit of death. Prayer: Thank you for enlightening my mind with Your words. Continue to teach me Your truth so that I may walk in it and find life. Protect me from the deceits of my enemies, who come as wolves in sheep's clothing. Continue to renew my mind with the truth so that I can be transformed into your image. Amen.

The Temptation Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The purpose of the Bible: Not love To romanticists, the Bible is a love story between God and man because God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. This statement becomes the foundation of a Christian's faith, a faith founded on sacrificial love. However, this self-sacrificing statement has been perverted, with many cult teachings arising from it. The truth in everything is like a fine line, which nothing can be added or taken out of it. Anything out of the line is a perversion of the truth. It is like the Serpent expounding on the good of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, emphasising the gain and diluting the consequence. When the truth gets distorted, it is no longer the truth. The first lesson: The temptation As much as we wish it were love, the unfortunate truth is that the Bible's priority is not love but something else. We can see that the Bible did not state its beginning with the proclamation of love and that GOD is love and His love for the world. The central focus of the beginning was GOD's creations, and immediately after that, the scene jumps forward to the temptation. Through the temptation, GOD gave man his first performance report. Regardless of the reasons for failure, he is not good enough and cannot be trusted to uphold the standards of heaven. In other words, man was put on a scale and weighed and found to be wanting. If GOD had no intention of weighing the man's heart to know how the weightage was His Word in him, then He would not have let the Serpent in. No one allows a snake into the house unless one is rearing it. If GOD had no other purpose for the Serpent, then He did not need to fortify it with extra cunningness and the ability to speak human language. GOD does not create useless things, and the Serpent would never have been created in the first place for no reason. Nothing would happen if GOD did not want it to happen. GOD does not work on hindsight but foresight because He knows the end from the beginning. Therefore, it was not man's misfortunate to have met with the Serpent but GOD's divine plan. Temptation, the essence of the Bible Understanding the law of the first mention and the subsequent events reveals that temptation has greater relevance, priority, and significance in the Bible than in other mentions. Temptation is the determinant for all that follows in the Bible. That is to mean that without it, the Bible has no purpose, and GOD has no value. Though temptation might seem like the cause of man's downfall, the truth is that it is man's weakness. Without being tempted, man does not know his weakness and his need for a saviour. If a man has no part to play in the fall, then GOD would be seen as unreasonable to impose the death penalty on an innocent party. Therefore, we cannot look at things on the surface. As much as we must examine the cup on the outside, we must also examine the cup on the inside. On the outside, it is the Serpent's fault, but on the inside, it is man's weakness to resist temptation. Therefore, he is being punished for his weakness and non-compliance. Often, the issue is more than skin deep; we need to look deeper beyond the facade. If we cannot identify the problem, then we are not applying the right medicine to the situation. As it takes two hands to clap, so we cannot be partial. If not, we would be solving the symptoms rather than the root cause. Understanding issues well is essential because it affects our salvation or ending. Temptation, our best friend Without a doubt, love warms the heart and gives strength to the heavy-laden. However, love cannot help solve any problem. Therefore, we should not be too infatuated with love. All of us have temptations to fight, and fighting temptation must be our sole purpose in life. It is the crux of the Bible. After the creation, GOD could have started the Bible with a more positive outlook, with man growing in wisdom and stature as Jesus did, but He did not. Genesis, the first book of the Bible, starts with a double tragedy, where Adam and Eve are being cast out of Eden, and Cain kills his brother, Abel. All happened because they could not resist their temptations: one to disobey and the other to kill. It is interesting to note that the voice of the temptress disappeared after the fall of man. Before the fall, the voice of the temptress came from the Serpent, a being outside of man. After its first grand appearance in Genesis, it no longer reappeared. It does not mean that it no longer exists, but the voice of the Serpent has become the voice of sin existing beside man. It is as tangible as the Serpent talking to Eve in that small voice that is constantly talking to us like our best friend. To be precise, sin is residing at the doorstep, desiring to become the soulmate, trusted advisor and counsellor to those who would listen. GOD's strict instruction is: If we refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at our door; it desires us, but we must master it. Mastering sin, avoiding temptation Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then, you will prosper and succeed in all you do. Mastering sin was GOD's first instruction to the firstborn of the fallen man, Cain, and through him, it becomes the central message to us as the descendants of the fallen man, Adam. Therefore, it is the focus of the Bible. Hence, it is the erroneous thinking of many that they are made for a higher purpose or to do extraordinary things. The only thing GOD wants of us is not to conquer the world but to conquer our fallen selves, mastering sin and the desire to do evil. The Bible is fundamentally written as a manual for sin management, more than a love story. If we can manage sin well, we will be highly favoured by GOD. With GOD with us, nothing can stand against us. If we are willing to fight the battle within ourselves so that we will not sin against GOD, He will fight the external battles for us. By paraphrasing what Joshua said, if we do not sin against GOD, we will prosper and succeed in all we do. Therefore, we must start our first step right by mastering sin, and we will be a thousand steps in the right direction, walking in blessedness. If not, we will be walking on cursed ground, as Cain did, where the ground no longer yields its produce in whatever we do. Our worst enemy: Ourselves Ecclesiastes 9:12 For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them. If life does not do us well, we think the world and everyone are against us, like the current of the stream pushing us downstream or like the ground producing thorns and thistles instead of the fruit of our labour. It is far from the truth. The truth is we are our worst enemy. By falling into temptation, by listening to the wrong voice within and without, we plague ourselves with many sorrows. We will be like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare when we are entangled in temptation. Even David, who was strong enough to overcome Goliath, bigger and stronger than him, had no strength to resist his sinful desire for Bathsheba. Even Solomon, with his great wisdom, was no match for his foolish desire to please his foreign wives and concubines in idol worship. No one caused the downfall of David or Solomon but themselves. GOD was with them, and nothing was more powerful than them to topple them except themselves. There was no greater evil force against them except themselves. Therefore, when things do not work well with us, we do not need to look far from ourselves. If we are willing to change, all will be forgiven, and our predicament will change. Nothing can hold us back from the blessings of GOD except ourselves. GOD puts a hedge around those who love Him, and no evil can touch them. If we resist temptation and do not sin against GOD, we will never fall into any cruel net or trap in a snare. Guaranteed. The unfortunate truth Ideally, if we do not fall into temptation, we will not be ensnared in an evil time. However, this is easier said than done because the one thing we miscalculated is our uncontrollable and untameable flesh, or fallen nature, has little resistance to temptation. Therefore, David found comfort in what he should not be seeing, and Solomon in doing what he should not be doing. If they felt their actions were out of character, they would have turned away immediately, as Joseph did when Potiphar's wife seduced him. Instead, they let their choice lead them deeper into their indulgence. As stated in the epistle of James, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Therefore, no one led them to their bad endings except themselves. Remember, though the lips of the temptress drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword. The Bible does not try to discredit David and Solomon but states that even great and mighty men fall under temptation, so we must be very mindful. All are tempted, no exception. Temptation is not limited to man but to all, including the angels and Son of GOD, Jesus. We know that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and the Serpent tempted Adam and Eve. We have never heard of the temptation of Satan. It is not stated but deduced. If the angels were not tempted, then how would they fall? There must be a seducer before one can be seduced, and there must be a cheater before one can be cheated. From the effect, we know there must be a cause, as there is no smoke without fire. Satan, like David, looked too long at something that did not belong to him. Then, he said in his heart, "I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Highest." With that thought, Satan fell into temptation and fell out with GOD. He led one-third of the angels away as his fallen angels to form his so-called kingdom of darkness when GOD cast them out of heaven. GOD's love, no entry permit to heaven When Adam fell, he was cast out of Eden with Eve, and when Satan fell, he was cast out of heaven with his fallen angels. Only Jesus, the Son of GOD, made it through the temptations in complete obedience to GOD. For His steadfastness, He is rewarded in heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him. GOD the Father loves the Son, but His ascension to the throne was not pathed with love but tragic. To meet the demands of heaven, He was like a rose trampled under the feet of sin. Nothing came free or easy for Him. Therefore, GOD's love is not our entry permit to heaven. His love is our strength, support and comfort, like a pair of loving hands holding on to ours as we go through the painful progress of dying to our fallen nature by resisting temptation and sinning no more. However, this love will get us nowhere if we refuse to master sin. GOD's promise The message is clear: If we cannot stop sinning, we cannot master sin, and we cannot overcome temptation. At the end of the Bible, Revelation, GOD promises, 'To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.' What we should overcome is a question mark. By context, we must also overcome what Jesus has overcome. Jesus has overcome sin, temptation, and the world, so we must do the same. The message of temptation started in Genesis, GOD, ends in Revelation, promising those who overcome temptations to share with Him the throne of heaven. That is His demand: we must stop sinning and not be contented that our sins are forgiven. There is no compromise on that. Conclusion As in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us to plead with God to keep us from temptation and deliver us from evil. Indirectly, Jesus is telling us that GOD wants us tested through temptation that leads us to evil, as happened to the first man, Adam. If GOD has no such intention, then the statement in the prayer is redundant. Jesus understands the Father's heart, so He wants us to seek leniency. Therefore, as we walk through life's journey, let us be fully aware that we are set up to be tested. Let us hold firmly to GOD's Word and never turn to the right or left of it. Only then will we be like Jesus, avoiding the deadly traps of temptation. Prayer: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom comes, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give me this day my daily bread. And forgive me of my debts, as I also have forgiven my debtors. And lead me not into temptation but deliver me from the evil one. GOD, have mercy on me because I am weak in the face of temptation. Please give me an extra anointing of the Holy Spirit so I will be strengthened to stand against my temptress by mastering sin. I want the right to sit with Jesus on His throne as He sat down with the Father on His throne. Amen

The TMS Cowdrey Lecture - Part 1. We had the great honour of delivering the 2025 MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture @HomeOfCricket. But how relevant is the “Spirit” in the modern game? Plus how can we protect the Test game? 👉https://t.co/SJPg2lt2nO #bbccricket# https://t.co/iczdiWs3dA

We Pray to God looking at His Ability not at our requests - Pastor Temitayo James. Words of Wisdom and Spiritual Refreshments flowed from the mouth of Our Man of God last night and they are indeed Words from God. Thank You so much for joining service! Remain the Roshe! https://t.co/Csup8nYVnk

Compose a Yog Geet or Jingle in any Indian language for International Day of Yoga 2025 and let your creativity become part of the global celebration of Yoga!🧘‍♂️ Don’t miss this chance to represent New India’s spirit through music. 👉 https://t.co/gilmzxe52p #YogGeet# #IDY2025# #YogaIsLife# @moayush

The State Banquet hosted for President Droupadi Murmu at the historic Ajuda Palace in Lisbon Monday night became memorable as renowned Portuguese Fado musician Rão Kyao presented a melodious bamboo flute rendition of Gandhi ji's favorite bhajan 'Vaishnava Jana'. India's rich spiritual legacy found a new expression, enthralling the audience. The President thanked the musician for making possible a unique confluence of the two cultures.