Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:13.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says;
When I tell you it is important that you do something, you should take it seriously and do it. I tell you to watch carefully how you walk, Ephesians 5:15, and to pray that you may not enter into temptation. Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38; Luke 22:40. And I tell you why, your spirit is willing to run the way of My commands but your flesh is weak.
And in our Life Lessons on what to do when Satan attacks, I would advise you to avoid entering into Satan’s temptations, which are flesh traps, by staying in My protection through prayer. If David had guarded his eyes by praying not to come into temptation before he looked where he should not and kept looking until desire conceived in his flesh he never would have sinned, but that sin had very grave consequences that went down for generations. You do not want to set off sin in your life for it always has a very ugly result.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” James 1:13-16.
Temptation is not from Me but from the devil, thus you can avoid it by being hidden in Christ, which requires the renewing of your Mind to My Words above those of the world, the flesh, and the devil. “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” Colossians 3:1-5.
It is best to avoid sin altogether. And that is what My Son told the woman caught in adultery, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” John 8:11. And to the man He healed at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” John 5:14. And My apostle John, by My Spirit wrote, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2. When you sin you open your door to the devil and invite him in to cause havoc in your life.
Let Me help you with this. I am present as your helper. And I have given you Jesus as your great High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for you and as your great good Shepherd to guide you in paths of righteousness for My Name’s sake. Jesus told Peter that Satan would sift him like wheat but that Jesus had prayed for Peter that his faith would never fail. But the night before Jesus died, in the Garden of Gethsemane as His hour came in which He allowed Me to put every sin ever done by mankind upon Him for justice to be done so you might be justified before Me in Him, He warned Peter and told him how to avoid the sin which Satan had planned for him. He took him aside with James and John and told him the answer but Peter fell asleep and did not listen or take it seriously.
“And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:40-41.
“Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Ephesians 5:11-17.
You will note that in the Garden of Gethsemane the night He was betrayed, Jesus particularly addressed Peter though He had called apart James and John with Peter to stay with Him and keep watch with Him because His soul was deeply grieved, to the point of death. Matthew 26:36-38 (“My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”) Why did he particularly tell Peter to pray that he would not enter into temptation? He knew that Peter was the only one for whom Satan had slated a temptation that night and that Peter needed to resist it. Satan saw Peter was the leader and he goes for the leader first, then he can scatter the rest.
Jesus had told them at the Passover meal that night, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’” Matthew 26:31; Zechariah 13:7. Jesus was the Shepherd but he had given Peter charge to be the leader and to strengthen his brethren. When Jesus appeared to them by the Sea of Galilee after I had raised Him from the dead, He gave Peter the charge to feed His sheep.
Do you know why My Son was grieved in His soul to the point of death that night in the Garden of Gethsemane? My Son hated sin as I do and it grieved His pure soul to take in every horrid, filthy sin that mankind had done or would do and accept the punishment for them in your place. I made Him who knew no sin to be sin for you so that you could become the righteousness of God in Him. I do not think you can ever grasp the greatness of the sacrifice My Son made to free you from your sins when sin was so odious and repulsive to His nature. And the reason it grieved him to the point of death was because He had an indestructible mortal life that would have been immortal as Adam was originally formed, but when sin entered into Adam, death came and went down through him to all his descendants, because, even as I warned Adam, the wages of sin is death. Once Jesus took sin into Himself for you, He became subject to death immediately. He had to die at that point. There was no turning back when He took the sins of the world into Himself, into His flesh that is.
Be so careful and watchful over how you live. Peter, at the Passover supper, assured Jesus that he would never deny Him, even facing death rather than doing so. “But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” Matthew 26:33-35. And at that moment Peter sincerely meant what he said. His spirit was willing but his flesh was weak. Never trust your flesh, always keep a check on it by your spirit. And this requires that you pray that you not enter into the traps that devil has set for you, that you guard your heart, your eyes, and your ears, and that you abide in Me by abiding in My Word.
“You who dwell in the secret place of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.” Psalm 91:1-4.
When you make Me your refuge and your fortress, I keep the evil one out of your tent. I give you authority so that “you will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.” Psalm 91:9-13.
Notice also that Jesus did not tell Peter, James or John to watch and pray alone, He invited them to keep watch WITH HIM. As your great good Shepherd, He will watch with you and for you. In Him you are in the secret place. You are not alone. I fight for you but you must remain in Me and call Me in by prayer. Sound your silver trumpet, the voice of the redeemed.
“Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 127:7-8.
Pray that you do not enter into temptation. Jesus also included that in the pattern of prayer that He taught His disciples, “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Matthew 6:13. This is very important for your protection and direction, and ultimately, your perfection. “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24.
And who is the perfect man? “If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.” James 3:2. Where words are many sin is not wanting. “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” Proverbs 10:19.
In these last days of this age there will be an increase in lawlessness, false prophets, and doctrines of demons that have the appearance of true religion in the sayings, logos, and slogans they present. This is a time when you need spiritual discernment. Be careful what you hear and what you say and you will avoid many sins. Your tongue is like the steering wheel of your body and your life, so avoid godless idle chatter, immoral and obscene remarks, gossip, malicious tearing down of others, swearing, using My Name and that of Jesus in secular exclamations or condemnations, and rude answers. I tell you that cursing and swearing is like oil that goes in and rots your bones and that speaking depression dries up your bones.
“If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.” James 1:26.
You will avoid many temptations of the flesh, the snares of the devil, if you are “quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20.
The way to avoid sin and be strong in Me is the way of renewing your mind with My Word. Many people think they have a faith problem or a problem with an addiction or tormenting thoughts but what they actually have is an unrenewed mind. They have not taken their thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ but are letting them run to places they should not be permitting, places growing bitter roots and full of thorns. “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2. And how do you do that? “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” 1 Peter 2:1-2. And further, “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:21-25.
Wash yourself as Christ washes you as a member of His Body, the Church, in the water of the Word. Jesus told His disciples they were clean because of the Word He had spoken to them. I give you My Words and they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. And the more you read, hear, meditate upon, speak, listen to teachings on them, and do them the more like Me you will become and I am pure. There is no sin or darkness in Me. All is in the Light.
“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Ephesians 4:17-24.
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as I in Christ also have forgiven you. Ephesians 4:30-32.
And above all, insulate yourself from sin by worship and making melody to Me continually in your heart with psalms, hymns, and songs of the Spirit. This is the flow of Heaven on earth and here is no sin that can stay in the Light of My Kingdom, it all becomes Light. Bring yourself into the Light of My house by joyful praise and worship. It is the best antidote to sin, because in that place of grace the sin just cannot get in, there is no place for it.
And I would like to discuss one more aspect of this. I tempt no man but you will notice that after His baptism at the Jordan before Jesus began His public ministry, I tell you that “then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Matthew 4:1. The tempter was the devil, but I led Him into it. Why? Jesus is your teacher and your substitute. My Spirit taught Jesus in these temptations how to respond to temptation and to the devil’s fiery darts. And it was threefold: You must answer any thought or temptation the devil presents specifically with the Scripture that addresses that temptation. Next you must tell the devil or the unclean spirit to go, in other words, after answering the temptation or thought he presented you cast him out. And last, you must worship, and that continually as your hedge and shield. And Jesus was immediately successful on this first lesson. And His success is your success, for all He has He gave to you so that as He is so are you in this world. 1 John 4:17; 2 Corinthians 8:9. In Him you fought the devil and won. But also you learned in Him how to respond to temptations and the devil’s lies. You would be wise to do as He did. But you can now pray not to enter into temptation because Jesus already did that for you. It is yours to have success and perfect protection for He won it for you and has given it to you.
I love you! Watch WITH Me and pray that you not enter temptation. I am serious about this and you should be do. I know what sin can do in your life so avoid it at all costs. My Son went so far as to liken it to cutting off the hand or foot if it caused you to sin, in other words, cut the source of the sin out of your life.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:15-17.