What to do when tempted?
You are happily living your life in Christ
When suddenly out of nowhere
The old thoughts or an old habit beckons
And you find yourself being pulled, quickly slipping in
If this is you now or you struggle with this
Here is what has been of help to me
I share with you so you can succeed
To not give in to the deceptive nature of sin
Step A and the easiest one of all
Have a praise song ready to quickly recall
It can be a song you learnt as a child or one you recently heard
Sing it immediately, drown out that voice that’s calling you astray
When you start singing this song of praise
Your mind shifts it’s focus to the One who saves
Continue in this way, singing and giving praise
Thinking of your Redeemer, Christ your only Savior
This is what happens when you shouted out in a song of praise
That temptation will slink away hanging its head in shame
Your song of praise had stopped those thoughts cold
You will walk away unscathed
But what if you did not heed
You justify to yourself and say just this once there’s nothing wrong
You willfully shut out the warning bells going off
You step in and say welcome to sin
But as you are letting yourself go
You know that your heart doesn’t feel right
You continue to fight the thoughts
Telling you this will not end right, it’s not too late to halt and fight
If you find yourself at this point stepped already into an act to commit sin
Your mind in conflict, your heart in turmoil
Simply just go into prayer
Saying Lord help me please cause I’m losing all control
Speak to Him, tell Him that you are feeling weak
Ask the Lord to help you, that it’s really overwhelming and you are afraid
When you are in prayer a peace will descend
What was pulling you so hard before will lose its grip and holds no more sway
Continue to speak, continue to pray
Remember all His goodness to you
And begin to thank Him, that even now He is able to save
You will find yourself out of the wretchedness, that magnetic pull completely falls away
Your mind is happy and at peace again
A smile creeps in amidst tremendous relief
You shout for joy at His saving grace
The Lord rescued you when you sought Him and prayed
But what if against your best interests
And every warning goes unheeded
You put your blinkers on and continue in harms way
You indulge, just this once you say
When it’s all over, you look at yourself in great dismay
What have I done, your head and heart hangs in shame
You know exactly how Esau felt
His birthright sold easily for a bowl of lentils and bread
You beat yourself up feeling discouraged
That you lost yourself to sin
And how would you show your face to Christ
When you willfully turned away
But you know who wants you wallowing in this place of despair
Beating yourself up, feeling miserable and low
The deceiver the Devil, the stealer of your joy
Oh how he thinks he has won seeing you bought down by sin
Get down on your knees and pray for there’s no other way
Say God I’m sorry that I let you down this way
Seek His mercy, ask His forgiveness
Your creator knows your every weakness, you don’t have a façade to maintain
A heart of remorse and repentance that is what He seeks
If you truly want to be forgiven then cry out for His grace
He’ll wash away your tears and strengthen your weakened heart
Read Romans 8 to know your place with God
Get up, dust off, once you received His forgiveness
You have a race to run and the journey is long
A purpose that He has given for you to accomplish
Let the hopes that He has promised for you spur you forward with joy
So to summarize what to do when you are tempted
At the inception – to stop it stone cold have at your ready a song of praise
Midway into sin – Go into prayer, seek the Lord for strength to come out of it right away
At sin’s completion – Fall on your knees, lay your sins bare, entreat the Lord for His mercies and grace
This is one life that we get to live here on this earth
Don’t stay defeated, don’t stay discouraged
You have the Lord your God, the Creator, the merciful Redeemer on your side
I hope you’ve gone and read Romans 8 and know of the love He has for you
Temptations I believe will keep coming
But know that His blood shed at the cross is precious
Remember how gently He holds you in the palm of His hand
Seek the Lord in those moments of weakness, stay safe I pray always in Christ’s love my friend
– By SAP for almondtreerod.com