WINNING THE BATTLE YOU THOUGHT YOU’D NEVER FIGHT
A Letter from a Pastor #5
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Sunday, July 28, 2024
(1 Corinthians 10:1–4, NLT) “I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.”
(Psalm 63:1, NLT) “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.”
(Deuteronomy 32:3-4, 15, 18, 30–31, NLT) “I will proclaim the name of the Lord; how glorious is our God! He is the Rock; … But Israel soon became fat and unruly; the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed! Then they abandoned the God who had made them; they made light of the Rock of their salvation. … How could one person chase a thousand of them, and two people put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up? But the rock of our enemies is not like our Rock, as even they recognize.”
Christ is my strength.
(Psalm 61:2, NIV) “I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
As a Christian you will be more aware and battle sin. vs. 6-10, 13
(1 Corinthians 10:6–10, NLT) “These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death.”
(1 Corinthians 10:13, NLT) “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
1. Temptation will always be a part of my life
2. It is not a sin to be tempted
3. Temptation is without and within for everyone
4. God always provides a way out
GROWTHWORK
1. When I am tempted by pleasure, run!
(1 Corinthians 10:14, NLT) “Dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.”
“The worst thing about idols as the … Scriptures so tirelessly point out, is that they are utterly useless when you need them.” – Christopher J. H. Wright
a. Celebrate the desire for good
b. Live a God first life
c. Purity refreshes
d. Trust God for my daily needs
e. Stay positive
(2 Timothy 2:22, NLT) “Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”
2. When you are tempted by materialism, give thanks and be generous.
(1 Timothy 6:9, CEV) “People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them.”
(1 Corinthians 10:24, NLT) “Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.”
(Psalm 86:12, Message) “From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord.”
3. When I am tempted by pride, I will serve others.
(Proverbs 18:12, LB) “Pride ends in destruction; humility ends in honor.”
(1 Peter 5:5, LB) “All of you serve each other with humble spirits, for God gives special blessings to those who are humble, but sets himself against those who are proud.”