Do not underestimate the power you have to overcome temptation!

Surrender is key here. 

One of the biggest lies of the devil is that just because you are tempted you have to give in, and essentially surrender to the sin. But we have to realize that ….

it is ok to feel angry,

it is ok to feel lustful,

it is ok to feel jealous,

it is ok to feel impatient,

it is ok to feel these things.

It is only when we surrender to these that the feeling becomes a sin. And all too often the moment it begins we just give in.

What do we do? Because we will be tempted. Jesus starts his ministry being tempted in the desert by the devil (Luke 4.1-13). And he shows us the way through temptation.

You see… temptation made him stronger, and it can make us stronger too. Think of it as resistance!

Our children received a rock tumbler as a Christmas gift last year. What it does is polish rocks; what would take Mother Nature hundreds to thousands of years takes just several weeks in a rock tumbler. How it works though is the important part; it works by adding grit(course sand) which, when combined with water and the rocks and the continual turning/rolling action of the barrel, wears down the rough points and surfaces. Regular rocks are turned into gem stones by this continual rubbing and resistance.

You and I are called to greatness….

…and part of becoming great is being able to face temptation, to struggle through it. Like a rock in a rock tumbler temptation(grit) will smooth out your sharp edges and polish your rough parts.

As you surrender to God’s love(and not to temptation), and as you surrender to His word and his work and his life in you…

…you will, bit by bit and grit by grit, become who you are meant to be, who God is calling you to be!

Do not underestimate the power you have to become a saint!