Bread Bite: Satan’s Temptation

Southern Cancer Center’s “Bread Bite” series shares weekly words of encouragement and inspiration from area churches. This week’s message is from Pastor Daniel Blaylock of Forest Hill Church of God in Mobile, Alabama.

Pastor Daniel-

I trust you had a wonderful Memorial Day. It’s humbling to think our freedoms were secured and continue to be maintained at such a high price. Christians know that our freedom from the grip of sin did, too. The verse below teaches us how to maintain our spiritual freedom.

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV)

Years ago, author Oscar Wilde famously said, “I can resist anything except temptation.” But if we’re honest, it’s not that we can’t; it’s that we don’t.

Thankfully, God does not abandon us when we’re tempted. Dr. Warren Wiersbe once said that in every temptation, God puts a LIMIT, and He places an EXIT. When I know that on the front end, those promises are a great encouragement to me. Because of God’s help, I can hang in there and do the right thing.

Though Satan’s temptation is very real, so is the promise of God’s help. We can maintain our freedom over old habits (and fresh temptations) that pull on us. So if you’re in the pressure cooker if a difficult situation today, hang in there! Look for the creative EXIT, and if you don’t see one, rest in the promise that God has placed a time limit on the test — so just hang tight. You’ve got this!