Month: February 2026

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”   (1 Corinthians 10:12,13)

We are tempted every day.  Our whole marketing system is based on temptation.  Every sales pitch places a seed of dissatisfaction which then dangles a tempting solution in front of us.  Temptation is something that we must always be on the alert for or it will catch us with our guard down.  It is especially effective on those who think they are beyond temptation.  Those who think they are exempt are those who are most likely to take a fall.  The builders of the Titanic were not prepared for disaster, because they didn’t think disaster could befall them.  The tragedy was that they were not prepared for tragedy, and it resulted in an even greater tragedy.

The thought that we will be faced with temptation might be depressing, but today’s verse can prepare us and encourage us for what will be the inevitable.  Of course, being tempted is not the same as falling to temptation.  Jesus was tempted in the desert and in the garden and he remained strong. What he did with the temptation is what we are to do.  We are not to succumb to it, but defeat it.  It is a war within us, but it is a war that can be won.

I am reading a civil war series by the great historian Shelby Foote. He tells of a soldier who was wounded at the battle of Shiloh and was ordered to go to the rear. The fighting was fierce and within minutes he returned to his commanding officer. “Captain, give me a gun!” he shouted. “This fight ain’t got no rear!” The fight against temptation has no rear, no matter where we go it rages on and we must be aware and we must prepare.

First of all, Paul tells us in today’s verse that whatever we are tempted with, it is common to man. As much as we would like to say our situation is different, it is not.  We will not be the first to be tempted in that way and we will not be the last. Satan uses the feeling that our situation is different, to lure us in.  We arrive at the conclusion that our situation is unique, that no one else can possibly understand our plight. We believe that no one else has the excuses that we have to explain our behavior.  But excuses  are not reasons. If our spouse puts on a couple of pounds, it does not make it legitimate to look around at others a little more slowly.   There is a story about a man and wife who were walking through the mall and a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress strolled by.  The man’s eyes followed her.  Without looking up from the item she was examining, the wife asked, “Was the stare worth the trouble you’re in?”  Never is giving into temptation worth the trouble it will get us into.  If we realize we are not alone in temptation, we will be strengthened and will also feel more free to ask others for help in the dilemma.  Remember, we are not alone in our struggles.

Secondly, God is faithful. The Greek word, “pistos” which is translated as “faithful” in the verse above means “worthy to be believed, trustworthy.”  So God is trustworthy. We can believe that He will do what He says He will.  There may be many ways to fight the battle of temptation, but one of the best might be cowardice.  Not cowardice in the way we usually interpret it, but cowardice in that we flee from temptation just like Joseph did. When we flee from it, we should not leave a forwarding address. Instead, we need to enlist God in our battle of temptation. If we think we are strong enough to handle it on our own, we will fail. Only with God’s help can we win.  He sits immediately behind us waiting to be pulled to the front to take on the enemy with His power and strength. It is tag-team match and once we let Him in the ring, He will not tag out to us. He is there to stay.

The third thing we should notice from today’s verse is that we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear. God knows us better than we know us.  He knows how much testing we can take.  It is said that when we are in the oven, God watches us with one hand on the temperature gauge and one hand on the timer.  He knows how much we can take and how long we can take it.  He will never give us more than we can bear.  Sometimes we might break, but that is not because it it too much, but because we fought too little.  We are all temptable, but only when we allow ourselves to fall for the con, will we become contemptable.

Fourth, with every temptation, God will provide a way out. We have an escape route for every conceivable temptation we could ever possibly experience. Sometimes He has provided an escape that we don’t even know about.  He saves us in spite of ourselves. In other cases, he will have an exit door with a flashing sign above it making the escape very clear.  There is an old joke I have used several times in my long career.   If someone says he has broken his arm in two places.  I tell them not to go to those places.  One of the best things we can do to keep God from having to give us exits, is not to go certain places in the first place. Avoiding temptation is our way of making God’s job easier.  It is easier to suppress the first desire than to fulfill all those which follow it.

The most encouraging thing is that God is on our side. He wants us to walkin victory over sin and temptation, and he is there, ready and willing to assist us. We will be tempted, but we need not lose.  God will guide us, help us and protect us if we allow Him to. He has withstood temptations and He will stand with us against them, as well.

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:16-17)

There is a pretty widespread belief out there that Christians can’t and don’t have any fun. The typical picture of Christians is a group of people who live lives of do nots and go through each and every day like they are sucking on lemons.

But that perception is wrong and if there are Christians who live that way, they would be hard pressed to find Biblical evidence that justifies their lack of enjoyment. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests that God does not want us to enjoy our lives. If we read the Bible objectively, thoroughly, consistently, that is not the picture we will get. Jesus did not say “follow me and I will make you miserable, you will hate getting up in the morning, you will never laugh or have fun, and your entire existence will be being unhappy and I want you to make sure that those who know you are unhappy as well.”  I am pretty sure that is not what the Bible says and it is frustrating to see it interpreted that way. To put all the verses together in one verse, God actually tells that He will “give us life and give it to us more abundantly.”  That sounds like fun to me.

Look at our verse for today in James, it doesn’t say that God

is trying to keep us from good things. He is actually the source of all good things. According to the dictionary, fun is “a source of enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure.”  There is a misnomer out there about what fun is.

There is the idea that fun is a static thing that remains the same throughout our life.  But our view of what is enjoyable changes as we change regardless whether we are Christians or not. Take the partying college student who sees fun as getting blasted, throwing water balloons off the dorm roof, while mooning passers-by. He may not think that is as fun when he is thirty years old with his own business and is raising two children.  Does that mean he doesn’t have fun anymore?  It means that the definition of fun for him has changed.

People try to paint a singular picture of fun that often includes activities that they think Christians wouldn’t be involved in, so thus, Christians don’t have fun. The opposite is actually true.  God created friendship and smiling and laughter.  Why would he not want us to enjoy them? People like people who seem to enjoy themselves, so does God want us to be people that no one wants to be around? Holiday Inn, when looking for 500 people to fill positions for a new facility, interviewed 5,000 candidates. The interviewers automatically excluded all candidates who smiled fewer than four times during the interview. If Holiday Inn wants to see smiling people, why wouldn’t God want that!

When we become Christians we change and our viewpoint of enjoyment, amusement, and pleasure will change. We no longer have to accept the world’s definition of fun.  For the first time, we can have real enjoyment in our lives, the way it was created to be experienced. Recently a big time celebrity excused his very public affair by saying God wanted him to be happy. This man purports to be a Christian so has brought God in as a co-conspirator in the affair. Our fun does not need to be outside God’s perimeters.  There is plenty of fun to be had within God’s framework.  God never wants to steal our fun, He wants us to experience the real thing, not the vaporous fun the world often supplies.  When we become Christians, we won’t stay the same. Like the middle-aged man who is living his life to the fullest and looks back on his escapades of the past and just shakes his head, we will often do that when we start truly living the Christian life.

David tells us, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more.” (Psalm 16:11)  That sounds like fun to me.  Pleasures forever more doesn’t sound like a life full of lemon-sucking and blah, blah, blah every day.

I have never been accused by anyone of never having fun, but I have been accused of not having their kind of fun. That is a different thing. When we let others define what our happiness, enjoyment, and satisfaction should look like, we are letting them define us as people. Six weeks before he died, a reporter asked Elvis Presley, “Elvis, when you first started playing music, you said you wanted to be rich, famous and happy. Are you happy?”

He replied with a line from one of his songs, “I’m so lonely I could die.”   He had lived the good life, according to the world.  He should have been happy, yet he was not. People look for happiness, when they should be looking for contentment. They look for fun in sin rather than fun in holiness. I know a lot of Christians and a lot of them have a lot of fun. They do cool activities, they goof around, they tell great jokes, and they enjoy life. Are there activities that would be hard to justify as Christians? Are there endeavors that we probably can’t tweak to fit the Christian life?  Sure, but if our idea of fun is snorting cocaine or running around with the neighbors wife, our definition of fun needs to be reexamined.

Many do not know what constitutes happiness but are killing themselves to reach it.  If our goal is happiness, we will never reach it.  But if our goal is to “strive first for the kingdom of God, then all things (happiness and fun included) will be added… unto us.”  A minnow flopping on a flat rock cannot be happy because it is outside where it should be.  We cannot be happy flopping around on the flat rock of this world when we should be in the deep waters of God’s love.  Fun is being free to be who we can be, not in the eyes of the world, but in the eyes of God. Believe me, if we think our cup is full but it is of the world’s happiness, satan will surely jog our elbow.  If our cup is full of God’s contentment, He will steady us and we won’t spill a drop.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”  Romans 8:28

There are many questions that Christians face, but I suppose one of the hardest questions to answer is: “Why do we have to deal with so much adversity?” Ironically, the other morning when I was walking  Cody and listening to Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis he related a dog walking analogy that gave a pretty good answer. Lewis likened God’s use of adversity to walking a dog. If the dog gets its leash wrapped around a pole and tries to continue running forward, he will only tighten the leash more. Both the dog and the owner are after the same end: going forward. But the owner must resist the dog by pulling him opposite of the direction that he wants to go. The master, sharing the same intention, but understanding better than the dog where he really wants to go, takes an action precisely opposite to that of the dog’s will. It is in this way that God uses adversity!

We really don’t like being pulled and corrected by the Lord — but when we understand there’s a greater purpose involved, then we can pass through adversity with hope, expectation, and steadfastness, knowing these events are for a greater good! Unlike the dog, who often has no understanding of this pulling and tugging, we can learn from our trials and tribulations and not fight God so much as he tries to direct us for our own good. “Enduring trials faithfully will

produce perseverance, character, and hope. And hope will not disappoint us for the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”  Romans 5:4-5 We truly can trust in the God who loves us with an everlasting love because He knows the direction we need to go, AND He knows exactly how to get us there.

If we are struggling with our difficulties it is good for us to remember that these same difficulties can strengthen us . We are in a battle against the enemy and God prepares us for bigger and bigger battles through His protection and His training. The Lord’s weapons are spiritual; they include a knowledge of the scriptures, the power of the Holy Spirit which increases with a devoted prayer life, the courage which comes only with deep trust, and His wisdom which reveals His strategy for our present situation. We will never grow short of these weapons unless we fail to avail ourselves to them.

In the 1940’s, the world fought against the greatest evil it had ever seen, Adolf Hitler and his terrible regime. In the midst of this war, Winston Churchill said, “We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear — is fear itself!”

Even though those are well-known quotes, probably the most famous quote of the war was just one word, “Nuts.” Gen. Anthony Clement McAuliffe and the American troops had been holding the Belgian town of Bastogne “at all costs,” and on Dec. 22, Gen. McAuliffe received the encouraging news that the 4th Armored Division was beginning its drive north to relieve the 101st. They just needed to hang on a few more days. Later that morning, they saw four Germans coming up the road carrying a white flag. Everyone hoped they were offering surrender, but instead they presented two pages demanding the Americans’ surrender: “To the USA Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne…There is only one possibility…the honorable surrender of the encircled town.”

McAuliffe glanced at the message and said, “Aw, nuts!” When trying to decide how to respond, the consensus of the officers was to send back McAuliffe’s first response. Everyone laughed as a sergeant typed up the succinct response: “To the German Commander: ‘Nuts!’ The American Commander.”  Between this stoic reply, Patton’s troops from the south, and a change in the weather that allowed air reinforcements, the 101st was able to hold Bastogne for the needed time. These actions helped assure the final defeat of the Germans.

McAuliffe’s response became a lasting symbol of American courage and determination under fire. His response was basically a one word answer that meant “We will not surrender at any cost and you can go hang yourself.” We are constantly getting surrender demands from the enemy. Satan and the world try to goad us into giving up. They promise that survival will be the result and if we don’t surrender we face annihilation. But surrendering is not an option. We have reinforcements poised and in position. We have a commander who sees our situation. If we just remain strong, He will relieve us. When we feel wrapped around a pole or trapped within our soul, God has not abandoned us. We can stand firm and send the message back to the enemy, “Nuts.” Let’s recognize that in truth victory is already ours because ”Greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world!” We will be stronger than we were before because we will have tapped into the power of God and used it to defeat the enemy. Keep battling- We win- I have read the Book. 

I remember watching an interesting show a few years back and it stuck with me. Bear Grylls is a well-known outdoors adventurer and had his own show. Bear would take out a celebrity guest each week and they would spend two days in some remote area, facing the elements, experiencing some wild challenges, and living off the land.  They actually faced some pretty dangerous situations, as well.

I was amazed at the similarity between each of the guests from one week to the next.  All of them  had very good careers and the money and fame that so many seem to wish for.  But each one talked about how unfulfilling that life was by itself.  I don’t know what it is about the outdoors, especially when there are stressful situations involved, but people seem to open up a little more about their lives.  I remember especially the episode with Deion Sanders, the speedy, flashy, brash all-pro super-bowl winning football player of the Dallas Cowboys. He talked about sitting in the motel room after winning the Super Bowl and wondering why there was still an emptiness. He went on to say that he had to turn his life over to The Lord because there was nothing that the world could offer that would fill that void within him.

The apostle Paul told Timothy that life need cannot be met by anything the world has to offer. That has been proven out time and time again by thousands upon thousands of people who seemingly have it all, but still need something more. The verse below is a talking about money, but by extension, it could be talking about fame and power. They all come from the same shaker.

“But those who want to get rich (famous, powerful) fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money (fame, power) is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”  1 Timothy 6:9-10

All people search for fulfillment in their lives.  Unfortunately, even some who know Christ still look for the things of the world for that fulfillment. Christ can give our lives meaning like nothing else can.  That relationship is the only thing that can fill that void that we are born with. Jobs, relationships, hobbies, family are all important, but they are not shaped like the hole that lies within all of us and are never meant to fill it.

When we consider the incredible efforts we make to find fulfillment, there seems to be a common thread of error that frustrates the search.  Our desires hinge on self.  We want fulfillment in ourselves and for ourselves. But according to God’s Word true fulfillment can only take place if we desire to seek God’s will in our lives. Matthew tells us, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33) When we attempt to serve self rather than God an irreconcilable conflict sets in because God has a purpose for all of us and we will never find fulfillment when we choose desires that are outside of His purpose. No matter how much we have; no matter how much we do; no matter how much we know; if we live for self satisfaction, we will never be satisfied.  If we live for God then we are not battling against Him, but are empowered by Him.

Every few months I pull out a favorite poem of mine just as a reminder of God’s grace. It is by an unknown confederate soldier.  It epitomizes a life that has the fulfillment we all seek.  The life that is not all smooth, but has meaning.  The life we all want even though we may not know that is what we want.

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve. I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy. I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.  I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life.  I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for but got everything I had I hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all people, most richly blessed.

A life with Christ should not be sullied by trying to make it meaningful with meaningless endeavors.  Our lives can be meaningful beyond measure if we let God have His way in our lives. 

Then and only then, will we see why we are here, what we can do, and how wonderful life can be.  …and that’s the truth.