1 Cor 10:13 (NIV) No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. 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 stand up under it. Here is God’s rule that governs the temptations that come the Christian’s way. This has been happening to you; but, you may not have realized that God was applying this rule to the temptations you have been experiencing. Let Jesus teach you how this rule works so you can take advantage of it.

No temptation has seized you: You don’t get a choice concerning whether or not you will be tempted. You are on this planet so as to learn how to use spiritual weapons and spiritual power. If you don’t have problems to deal with, you won’t have an opportunity to practice using the provisions of God. However, Satan isn’t allowed to tempt you so as to defeat you; Jesus has already defeated him. Heb 2:14-15 (NIV) Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil--and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Plus, God regulates and controls the temptations that Satan is allowed to send your way.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man: Satan isn’t allowed to tempt you with temptations that AREN’T the typical ones that are used on everyone. He isn’t allowed to come up with some new, unique temptation especially designed to trip you up. Jesus is training you for all of Satan’s tricks so you will be skilled against them all. 2 Cor 2:11b (NIV) For we are not unaware of his (Satan’s) schemes. Once Jesus has taught you how to deal with all of Satan’s tricks, you will be able to automatically know which Scriptures and Biblical procedures to use every time.

And God is faithful: You ARE being tempted by the devil and the devil isn’t fair. He is evil, sadistic, and corrupt; but, God is faithful. You aren’t in the hands of the devil; you are in the hands of God. You aren’t a victim of the devil; you are a child of God. The devil isn’t free to tempt you any time or any way he wants; God is controlling the timing, intensity, and the type of temptations that are coming your way. Satan’s character and attitudes aren’t important to you; God’s character and attitudes are what matters.

God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear: The timing, intensity, and type of satanic temptations are controlled, regulated, and filtered by God. It is important for you to not feel like you are being picked on, pursecuted, overwhelmed, or abused. God knows what you can handle; but, that diagnosis is based on you taking advantage of Jesus. What YOU can bear and what you can bear through Jesus is a totally different issue. If you use human effort or world training to fight Satan’s temptations, then you are being tempted beyond what YOU can bear. But, if BY the Spirit YOU put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Rom 8:13-14).

But WHEN you are tempted: Everyone gets tempted; sinners get tempted without God’s control, filtering, and regulations. But you get tempted just as much as you were when you were unsaved. However, you are being tempted for a whole different reason now. Heb 2:18 (NIV) Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. Jesus wants to join you in the temptations that come your way. He wants to train you on how to use weapons and techniques that turn you into a mature, skilled, trained, and experienced child of God. 2 Cor 10:4 (NIV) The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out: Some temptations have an exit before you are tempted. The Holy Spirit will warn you prior to the temptation telling you not to expose yourself to that person, situation, or “opportunity.” You will feel a CHECK in your heart; it will be a negative feeling that something isn’t right. Stop immediately and pray asking Jesus to empower you to take the exit. Other temptations come without the Holy Spirit’s prior warning. He will wait to warn you until you get into the temptation but BEFORE you yield to it. But, once you get the warning, IF you immediately start looking for the exit, it will be there. Just as soon as you see you are in the midst of a temptation--RUN! Pray in ADVANCE that Jesus will empower you to run just as soon as you see that something is wrong, bad, or evil.

If you get into a temptation and try to reason it through, you will fail. If you get into a temptation and try to handle it yourself, you will fail. If you get into a temptation and wait to see how bad it is or what kind it is, you will fail. If you get into a temptation and try to justify yielding to it, you will fail. If you get into a temptation and try to decide whether you can yield to it and not get caught, you will fail. Immediately pray for Jesus’ power to run and then get away from it. If you are stuck in a situation and can’t PHYSICALLY leave, enter into a time of prayer in your mind and heart. Stay focused on Jesus and His love, power, and Biblical training.

1 John 2:1 (NIV) My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have One Who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. The Romans chapter eight life is designed to empower and train you on how to not sin in the first place. Jesus will be training and empowering you to resist sin and the temptations to sin. However, there will be times when you yield to temptation. How you react to that event will make a huge difference in the degree you are affected by that sin. The length of time it takes for you to repent is a big issue. And, the length of time you continue to commit the sin is another big issue. There are some bad reactions below that you need to talk to Jesus about so you can decrees the length of time before you repent.

1 John 1:8-10 (NIV) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If you forgive yourself, you will fail to go to Jesus and get a forgiveness that sets you free from the consequences of your words and deeds. If you explain it away, justify yourself, or decide it wasn’t all that bad, that sin will grow and get worse in your heart and life. If you go to your friends and get them to tell you it wasn’t your fault, you will contaminate them and teach them to try to minimize their sins.

1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If you start thinking that Jesus won’t understand you and your situation, you won’t come to Him and confess your sin. If you think your sin was too big or too bad, you won’t come to Him and confess your sin. If you think you have done something that has cut you off from Him, you won’t come to Him and confess your sin. But, if you know He wants to help you not only get forgiveness for that sin but wants to purify you from all unrighteousness, you will get His help.

1 John 1:10 (NIV) If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives. If you try to make up your own rules about what is right and wrong, you won’t come to Jesus and confess your sin. If you look to the philosophies and morés of your society, you won’t come to Him and confess your sin. If you listen to your friends and allow them to tell you what is right and wrong, you won’t come to Him and confess your sin. Disagreeing with God and His definitions of sin is to call Him a liar. Only God is qualified to set the rules for what is right or wrong, good or bad, and righteous or evil.

The Bible not only has powerful truths that transform your life, it has wonderful examples that help you see and understand these truths. Jesus will be using people from centuries ago that faced challenging issues of life. He made sure that the Bible contained records of some very important people’s lives. Out of all the people who have lived on this planet, Jesus handpicked some that would help you get a pictorial view of how to resist temptation. You will be able to see Adam and Eve and how they handled Satan’s temptation against them. Their example will help you see where they went wrong so you can allow Jesus to keep you from making the same mistakes.