“So then since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God; let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses for He faced all of the same testing we do yet He did not sin”.” – Hebrews 4:14-15. Woven into this passage that so often is “quoted” to encourage us that Jesus understands the temptations we face, is the key to overcoming those temptations. “Hold on to what you believe”!!!
Galatians 3:1-3 words it another way; “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you not trying to become perfect by your own human effort”?
The temptation is against what we believe more than the action which may be why so many continually struggle with the same temptation. If we make the “sin” “the thing” we may never confront what we believe. What do we believe about Yahweh, what do we believe about our weakness? Beliefs, whether truths or lies have the power over our actions. So, if we believe in error, our actions will indicate that leading us into sin against God. If we believe truth about Him, we act like we believe truth about Him which will not only reveal His love for us and for mankind, but it will reveal our love for Him and His creation…all His creation.
Our choice to walk in freedom is to remember that Jesus Christ finished the work on the cross with His blood. That finished work declares those who come through that blood as innocent before Yahweh. The revelation of that should cause our hearts to love Him and desire to know Him more and more, becoming like Him as we do. To “forget” that leads us into temptation and it is through the power of the Holy Spirit we continually remember. So today, what is the struggle, what do you believe? What changed? Who changed it? Sometimes it is simply years of serving that causes us to lose focus on the ONE we are actually serving blurring our vision and our beliefs. #MyGodisYahweh