Today in church, before the pastor began his message, he said, "I have to tell you that I have nothing good to say this morning." I really don't know how to describe to you how that comment made me feel. I felt anger, disappointment, confusion...all at the same time. How could you possibly get up in front of God's people and preach the saving message of God's word, and not have anything good to say?! His comment made no sense.
The topic of his message was "Overcoming Temptation" (my paraphrase). I guess I can somewhat see why he though what he said was true, but his statement was still overwhelmingly false. I would rather hear a message on overcoming the evil one any day. I couldn't agree more with Adrian Rogers when he said, "God is love; Jesus is wonderful!" However, in my estimation, nothing shows the love of God more than this subject.
Years ago, the late Dottie Rambo wrote a song entitled "In the Valley." In that song, she wrote these words: "In the valley Jesus leads me/ In the valley He restoreth my soul." There is no greater love than a God who, instead of instantly taking us out, will take us by the hand and walk with us through the storm. First Corinthians 10:13 says, "But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." Now is that not a comforting thought? God will not allow you to be given more than you can handle. And He will cheer you on as you run for the door that He Himself is holding open for you.
Two thousand years ago Satan tried to defeat our Lord. He thought he killed Him. He thought that God's plan had been ruined. But three days later Jesus rose from the grave, defeating all the powers of Hell. Not only did God defeat our sin on the cross, He crushed it and tore it to pieces. "No power of Hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand!" I will always welcome a message on temptation because it shows my God in all His glory.
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