God has Come to Test You
Some people think all temptations and tests come from Satan, who is trying to get us to sin. If we read the Bible closely, we find that is not the case. God does test us. (Exodus 20:20) Also, God allows Satan to tempt us. That may seem strange, so let me explain.
God tests us or allows us to be tempted, so that we have to trust Him to pass the test or overcome the temptation. When we do trust Him, and we do not sin, our faith is made stronger. Therefore, trials are actually good for us. (James 1:2-5) When our faith becomes stronger, we develop perseverance, which enables us to continue being faithful for a long time.
Remember Job? God allowed Satan to tempt him in very dramatic ways. However, Job ended up stronger in faith after it was over. Also, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan after His baptism. (Matthew 4:1,2) That time of temptation strengthened the human faith of Jesus to follow His Father and complete His mission in God's way, not the way of this world.
I believe when the Lord's Prayer says, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," that it is actually talking about this situation. I think Jesus is teaching us to pray that we would trust God. Then, God would not need to lead us into temptation to strengthen our faith, but if He did need to do that, we should pray for Him to deliver us from evil, or doing evil. Then, by trusting God, we would overcome the temptation without doing evil.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 24-27.
God tests us or allows us to be tempted, so that we have to trust Him to pass the test or overcome the temptation. When we do trust Him, and we do not sin, our faith is made stronger. Therefore, trials are actually good for us. (James 1:2-5) When our faith becomes stronger, we develop perseverance, which enables us to continue being faithful for a long time.
Remember Job? God allowed Satan to tempt him in very dramatic ways. However, Job ended up stronger in faith after it was over. Also, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan after His baptism. (Matthew 4:1,2) That time of temptation strengthened the human faith of Jesus to follow His Father and complete His mission in God's way, not the way of this world.
I believe when the Lord's Prayer says, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," that it is actually talking about this situation. I think Jesus is teaching us to pray that we would trust God. Then, God would not need to lead us into temptation to strengthen our faith, but if He did need to do that, we should pray for Him to deliver us from evil, or doing evil. Then, by trusting God, we would overcome the temptation without doing evil.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 24-27.