DevoToday.com

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
James 1:13-14

We like to blame other people or things when stuff happens. “It’s not my fault” or “the devil made me do it” or “why me, God?” We like to start with how great we were, and how something else got in the way.

The book of James reminds us that it IS our fault. Our own nature draws us into sin. God doesn’t make us do it. We fail to let God save us.

We must look in the mirror first when things go awry. For evil not to win, we must first change ourselves.

Be God’s — every day.

He was crossing the street at her corner and walked down the path to her house in the early evening, at the onset of night and darkness. All of a sudden a woman approaches him, dressed like a prostitute and with a cunning mind.
Proverbs 7:8-10

This is not your usual Proverb!

The rest of the story goes something like this: Dude is just walking down the street, minding his own business, when this lady gets all up on him, verbally and physically. The guy does what the stereotypical guy would do… He gives in.

While it doesn’t say so directly in the Proverb, I’d assume there was nothing particularly evil about the guy. The proverb said he was naive, not that he was looking for women. He wasn’t trouble waiting to happen… but trouble came to him.

Of course, the genders can be reversed in the story — that’s not the point. The point is that trouble often comes to us. We can all be like the naive young man, taking care of our own business and not looking to cause harm, when temptation comes our way.

This Proverb cautions us to be careful about the situations we put ourselves in, and warns us that temptation lurks. Guard against happening down a risky road, and be prepared at all times to fight against sin.

Guard yourself, and pray for God’s guiding hand to be deliver you from evil.

Be God’s — every day.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:13

Jesus recognized that we live in a broken world — perhaps even more so now than 2000 years ago. He knew we all would have temptation to stray from what God calls us to be. In fact, he knew that we would all have already been victim to the evil one and be caught in a sinful trap.

We have prayed for forgiveness, and can be assured we are forgiven. This phrase isn’t about being forgiven for that sin or temptation. Rather, it is about recognizing the lack of power we have over them, and asking for God’s help. We need him to move our lives away from temptation, and release us from what sin and evil are doing in our lives and around us.

We all need God’s power. Pray for his help.

Be God’s — every day.

The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip.
Psalm 37:30-31

There are times when I wonder if I’m able to live up to the standard I think a Christian should be. Temptation exists for us all, and we see ourselves and/or others fall into traps. How can we be so sure we won’t become another example of Christians who show the world what we don’t want to be?

This Psalm tells us to have faith that with God ruling in our hearts, we will not slip. Sure, we will still sin. But God will continue to reign and shine through it. We must keep God foremost in our hearts, recognizing his power over these sins.

Be God’s — every day.

P.S. The DevoToday.com website will be down this weekend as I move from one provider to another. After more than a year of daily blogging, it has become time for some new features. When the new site debuts next week, your daily emails may also look a little different…

Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
Proverbs 2:11

We have all had those moments when we have a sharp-tongued reply to this or that. Or perhaps we have a temptation to do something we know might be risky. In many cases, a little discretion might save us.

This is particularly true in an information age, when we can share those sharp-tongues comments to thousands of friends in an instant. Or we have the ability to share private information with those we haven’t met — just because it seems fun.

The news last week had a story of a 14-year-old girl who chose to meet up with an older teenager she met on MySpace. She ultimately was assaulted by this teen and his friends. This attack surely is not the girl’s fault, and she does not deserve what happened to her. May we all learn, though, how a little discretion might protect us.

Be God’s — every day.