I had a dream last night. Some may think this is crazy…but I believe this dream was given to me so I could pass this message along. I’m going to obey, because I feel it is the Holy Spirit leading…
In my dream, I was placed in a situation where I was tempted to outright disobey God, and to do something totally against His Word. In this particular situation, the pull of my sin nature inside was too incredibly strong for me; I almost caved. But I know God, and I know what He says about what it was that I was getting myself into. My inner natural man (my sin nature), was at war with my spiritual man. It was just like what Paul wrote about in Romans 8:22-23:
“I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.”
Somehow, I overcame that temptation.
When I awoke this morning, the dream I had kept playing over and over in my mind.
This is the meaning of the dream impressed on my mind: Up until I took God seriously, and made Him my Savior, I was out in the world living with the same temptations, and letting my sin nature control me. I was being used as a pawn of the enemy. I didn’t know any better. I thought I was doing ok.
Yes, we are all tempted in the same ways ~ “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new.” Ecclesiastes 1:9
Our crazy sin nature is always here trying to trip us up; we’re not strong enough to overcome it. Only God is strong enough! When we know and trust His Word ~ He will fight for us!
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so you can endure.” 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
God will come to our aid in resisting temptation, and always show us a way out.
The Holy Spirit helps us…
- To recognize people and situations that give us trouble
- Run from anything we know is wrong
- Choose to do the right thing
- Pray for God’s help
- Seek friends who love God and can offer help when we are tempted. Running from a tempting situation is our first step on the way to victory
(NLT Commentary)