Be encouraged.

Whether we realize it or not, we are all dangling on the cliff of eternity, our soul in this human body, but this place is not our eternal home.

For those who trust Father God, Yahuah, He is our rock, and his son Jesus Christ, Yahusha Ha Messiach, is our lifeline.

Hold tight! He has got you in his grip!  Tune out the surroundings.  Fix your eyes on his eyes, and see and feel his out stretched arm as it embraces you, and tune your ears to the frequency of his voice.

Do not be afraid. Though this place is not our home, He is with you and He will hold you.  Like a child who trusts, trust him, he has a hold of you and will not let you fall.  He will support you through the adversity.  As you walk through life on this earth and the valley of the shadow of death he will hold you. He will deliver you out.  He will deliver you from evil.  Do not fear.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”  Mat 6:13

You will bring him glory because you trust him. Your testimony will shine as a beacon of light in a dark world and others will come to know him because of your faith in him to do the impossible, to do what no man or other god can do.  Only He can heal you, only He can save you.  When you trust Him to heal you and save you, you give him glory as the one true God.

I looked up the “verse of the day” this morning before writing you. I have spent all day asking Father God for the words to say in this moment, when you need to hear a word of encouragement from Him.

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” James 1:12

Then my conversation with him went something like this: Wow, Father, this is a great verse, thank you, and I can’t wait to receive the crown of life and I love you with all my heart.  BUT how is “he that endureth temptation” a word of encouragement for this dear sister who is hurting and asking for prayer?  How dare I tell another Christian to endure temptation and wait for their crown?  Then he told me to look closer at the verse.  I realized there must be a bigger meaning to the words written there because I could not understand how “enduring temptation” applied to folks going through illness or difficulties that were no fault of their own.

Stumped, I went to the dictionary to find the meanings.

Dictionary meaning of “temptation”:

1. temptation is the act of tempting; enticement or allurement.
2. tempation is something that tempts, entices, or allures.
3. temptation is the fact or state of being tempted, especially to evil.
4. temptation is like the temptation of Christ by Satan, (Matthew 4).

Ok, so this is what I understood temptation to mean.  It is what I was taught.  According the dictionary, it means being tempted to sin, the act of being enticed and allured to sin, and it even references when Jesus was tempted by Satan to bow down to him.  However, this still did not make sense how going through an illness and a failing body organ such as a kidney, or someone loosing their job, or losing their home or their child, could be related to temptation…

Still stumped, I went to find the biblical meaning of tempation.  So I went to the Greek translation and Strong’s concordance for a biblical understanding.  Again, I prayed for the Holy Spirit to give me understanding.

My eyes were opened to the meaning of the word temptation. It has more meanings than what we are taught and different meanings than what is provided to us in our dictionaries.  Yes, it can mean being tempted by sin, as mentioned in the dictionary, but this is only one of several meanings that the dictionary neglected to give.  No wonder we as Christian’s miss the message so often.  We do not understand what is being said.

Biblical meaning of “temptation”:

Temptation is to “try” or to “test”
1. Temptation is to try or test one’s faith,
2. Temptation is to try or test one’s virtue,
3. Temptation is to try or test one’s character,
4. Temptation is an experiment, attempt, trial, proving, trial of man’s fidelity, integrity, virtue, constancy, a putting to proof (by experiment (of good), experience (of evil), solicitation, discipline or provocation); by implication, adversity.

Now when we read this verses from James 1:12 it makes sense:

Going through a difficult experience, such as an illness, can be a temptation or test of one’s character and constancy of our trust in him during the adversity.  When we love God and stay constant with our love and trust in him (to save, heal, deliver, provide)  as we endure the difficulty we will receive the crown of life that he has promised.

I prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide my words.  I have faith that when I pray and ask, he gives the answer.  In the bible, Jesus said the Holy Spirit will give us the right words to speak at the time it is needed.

Temptation is a trying of one’s faith.

Temptation is a test of one’s character.

Temptation is an experiment of good and evil.

Temptation is adversity and difficulty in our daily walk and proving of our character.

This is exactly what Job went through.  The devil, the accuser, who goes around the earth like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and brings accusation against the followers of God.  He got permission from Father God to attack Job, to bring adversity, in many different ways all in an attempt to tempt, test, and “prove” Job’s trust in Father God as having all authority, and to prove Job’s character.

Who won? Who won the showdown between Father God and Satan?  Father God won.  Father God knew Job’s character.  He even told Satan, “there is none like Job.”  Job didn’t succumb to temptation during his illness and loss of family, wealth, employees, and friends.  He continued to say, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away as He sees fit.” He refused to play god in his own life, or to try to change the outcome or seek out someone else to try to change the outcome, and he refused to curse Father God for the bad things he was going through.

Satan lost the battle with Job.  He was only allowed to go so far to “try” to “prove” otherwise, but God knew that Job could handle this attack on his body, family, and wealth, and he knew when to end the trial and restore Job and everything Satan had tried to steal and ruin.  God received the glory, because of Job’s temptation and “trying of this faith” through this adversity.

Now we can have a better understanding in our life today. Temptation is the trying of our faith, it is the testing of who we place our trust in, and our love of Father God.  Temptation is our faith put on trial.  Temptation is the testing of our faith in who we patiently wait on to deliver us from evil in adversity and difficulty in our daily walk and temptation is the proving of our character.

Jesus told us to pray like this:

“After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”  Matthew 6 : 9-13

When we rely on Father God, he will provide a way through the temptation during adversity and protect us from evil.

May you be encouraged to put your complete trust in him today.

Be blessed!