Devotional?Discussion Thought of the Day:

 ¹³  And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. Matthew 6:13 (NLT)

” 138    Infelix ego homo!, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius?—“Unhappy man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?” Thus cried Saint Paul. Courage! He too had to fight.

139    At the time of temptation think of the love that awaits you in Heaven: foster the virtue of hope—it’s not a lack of generosity.(1)

As a pastor, I have to deal with sin quite a bit.  First of all there is my own, then there is that of my people I pastor – whether members of the congregation I pastor, or those who I interact with regularly.  It is a bit ironic that those who aren’t “officially” mine – are more willing ot read this and deal with sin, but that’ s another story.

I love Paul’s self-disclosure in Romans 7, His dealing with his own battles with sin – and the despair that comes from unsuccessfully.  It gives me some assurance that we can, bluntly and faithfully, address the presence of sin in our lives.

We don’t need to hide from the grief sin causes, we don’t need to grieve without addresses it.

The answer of it is far simpler – far easier, and laid out in scripture.

Go to God when you are tempted, go to God with your sin.  Fight it – but not with weapons of our own making – fight sin and temptation by taking it to God.  Think about His love, recognize His presence – plead with Him to help you… and when you fail – turn to our Lord and know His answer to your plea for mercy is always “yes”.

Trust (that is have faith/believe) that God will see you through the temptation, through the failure, that His very love will bring you to hear that He has forgiven you.  That His love will always, always, overcome evil.

Rom, Sankt Paul vor den Mauern, San Paolo fuori le mura Italiano: Statua di San Paolo di fronte alla facciata della Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura a Roma. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And Rejoice – for the Lord is with You.

(1)Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 457-458). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.

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