by Barbara Latta
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7 NKJV).
We are commanded to resist the devil. God gives us this instruction to protect us from our enemy. If he
gets a foothold in our mind, whatever we allow in is harder to uproot once we
have entertained the temptation.
Joseph is an example of fleeing from evil. When Pharoah’s
wife attempted to seduce him, Joseph ran. He didn’t stand around and debate his
thoughts. If he had, the temptation would have overcome him. He was a young, handsome
man and a beautiful woman desired him. He was alone and away from home. Who
would know?
God would.
Joseph did the right thing and he was honored by God later
on. He was elevated to the second in command of the nation of Egypt because he
obeyed God in that temptation and in other situations.
Temptation can attack in many forms, not just the usual
vices we think of as sin. Sin is anything that separates us from God. And the devil isn't prejudiced in who he attacks. He comes after us all.
Temptation begins in our minds. Thoughts can turn into actions and words when we are not diligent to recognize the battle.
When we rely on God's ammunition in His Word, we can resist temptation’s attacks through emotions and negative thoughts such as these:
