Temptation is an attempted lure of the devil to get us off track…
Temptations come as opportunities, as suggestions, or as thoughts… a friend may say, “hey, do you wanna join me after work for some drinks, I have a business ‘proposal’ for you to consider”. When you hang up the phone, your mind gets bombarded with thoughts… “It will just be a couple of drinks – his proposal may be just what I have been looking for?”… then the Holy Spirit says, “nothing good is going to come from that meeting – you know that you are not going to stop at two drinks – besides, I told you to stay away from that guy!” The devil attempts to lure by temptation, then the Holy Spirit tries to warn us and lead us another way.
The devil’s temptations are not always straight up hard core sins… he comes as an angel of light and dresses up the temptations as opportunities, or just some innocent fun… he even tries to disguise himself as the Holy Spirit, leading you to do something.
The key to overcoming temptation is the Word…
In context, Hebrews 4:12-15 is talking about how to use the living Word of God as a sword against temptation… verse 15 says ‘we do not have a High Priest Who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.’ Again, 4:12-15 gives us the key to face temptation, to overcome it, and to remain ‘without sin’.
After describing the Word as powerful, as alive, as sharper than a sword, it says; ‘let us hold fast our confession’… Speaking the Word in faith sows it into our hearts and activates it in our lives. Since we have a High Priest Who can sympathize with our weaknesses, Who was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin… how did He overcome temptation?
When Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He overcame the temptations by speaking the Word, three times He said, “it is written” (Matthew 4:1-11)… The Word that Jesus had sowed as seed into the good soil of His heart by His confession grew into trees of faith in His innermost being – now, as Jesus faced temptation, those ‘Word seeds that had become trees’ bore fruit – as the temptation came, the fruit of the Word came out of Jesus’ mouth and overcame the temptations.
People who hold fast to their confession of the Word overcome temptation and stay on the right track in life – people who do not often get off track and get plundered – they are spiritually blind and can be tricked by the devil. When you get enough Word on the inside of you by holding fast to your confession, that Word on the inside of you discerns, it exposes, it defends and it overcomes. It brings life, it produces miracle provision and it leads us into all truth!
Do not just read the Word, CONFESS the Word! Hold fast to your confession, in other words, hold onto and do not neglect the confession of the Word. One of the biggest areas that the devil comes against is ‘believers confessing the Word’… the devil will let you read it, listen to it and even study it, but he HATES it when we confess it – declaring, professing, decreeing and confessing the Word under the anointing is very dangerous to the kingdom of darkness! Unfortunately the devil has succeeded in influencing most believers to abandon daily confession – this is one of the reasons that so much of the church is so weak and powerless. The power is in the confession! Continual, faith filled confession of the living Word!
Hold fast to your confession and overcome, in Jesus Name!
Blessings on you, be strong in the power of His might, Nick
