Temptations #2

I was awake at 2am again this morning. Instead of getting frustrated that I was awoken (is that a word?).....I simply have learned to use that time to pray. The other day as I was awake at 3am.... I told God of my struggles and I know he knew them already......but to say them felt good. To tell Him what was on my heart at that moment and be able to tell Him things no one else knows was really nice. And so I did the same this morning.....very early. I also thought about my post yesterday about temptations. I have a few things to add.

When I read my Bible, there are plenty of examples of people who were tempted and failed. The first ones were Eve and Adam. Notice I placed Eve ahead of him in the list? Haha.....but In reality she was the one tempted by the snake to eat the fruit and Adam followed. Long story short from Genesis.....Eve was alone in the garden. This was Adam's first mistake because he was to be protecting her. He was no where around when the snake came and tempted her to eat the fruit. She knew she wasn't to eat it as God told her and her husband NOT to.....but the snake (satan) convinced her and she fell. When I say fell....I mean she fell into the temptation and ended up sinning. She could have asked her husband before she ate it.....(which would have been the smart thing to do) and she could have asked God (which would have been an even smarter thing to do) but she felt she knew best and ate anyway. When Adam came back on scene, he asked what she was doing and she got him to eat it too. I'm sorry, but he had a choice right then and there.....but instead of asking God, he disobeyed too. Each one of these two blamed others for their fall. They didn't take responsibility for their own actions. We still do this today. We pass the buck and blame everyone else for our mess. These two taught us well.
Now God wasn't happy with them, but guess what? He did punish them for their sin yet He still in all His grace and mercy loved and protected them. Yes they had to work now and the consequences of their sin affected all mankind, but God never left them. This is an amazing example for us. He still protects His children.....even when we mess up.

Skip ahead to Joseph and his brothers. Joseph was the son of Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons, but Joseph was the "favorite" son of Jacob. This is sometimes hard to grasp for me because being a parent, we aren't to have favorites when it comes to our kids, but maybe Jacob doesn't understand this? It's not important as God had a plan for it all.  So because of Joseph's status with his father, his brothers hated him. They wanted him dead so their dad would love them more.......so they plotted and planned. They  were tempted to kill him, but decided that placing him in a well and lying to their father was a much better idea. What they didn't realize when they left him in that well, is that what they wanted for evil.....God used for good. In the end.....Joseph was brought out of the well.....adopted by Egyptians......sent to prison without just cause......interpreted pharaoh's dreams..... And became a great leader in Egypt. Eventually he made amends with his brothers and was reunited with his father. He became very powerful and was able to help the family who ditched him for dead in their time of need during the famine. Only God can have this type of grace and mercy and pass it to His children.

Jesus was tempted 3 times by satan. Now I used to wonder how Jesus could be tempted, but the Bible tells us he was so I believe he really was. Jesus on earth was fully human and fully God. He experienced what we experience on this earth. What's so amazing is when we pray and go to him with our troubles and struggles, he can relate because he's been there.....he knows what it's like. Satan tried to tempt Jesus, but it didn't work. The Bible tells us that when we are tempted God will provide a way out for us to stand up under it. (1 Corinthians 10:13). We don't have to give in. We can follow his leading and take the way out like Jesus did. (You can read of Jesus temptations in Matther chapter 4). This is the example we need to follow. Jesus was perfect and never sinned. We can never say that. We will sin until the day we die and get to heaven. However.....we can pray and think before we act. We can go to our Father and ask for help.....unlike Adam and Eve. The reality is though....we will be tempted and we will fall. We need to repent and get back up. Satan wants nothing more than to keep us down and not have us serving and loving our God....but we need to choose to get up and keep going. Then we will be stronger and more like Jesus as we live for Him!