Revolutionary Leaders

Don't Play In The Mud P2
Resist Temptation – separate yourself from sin

A. Watch Your Six
1 Peter 5:8-9a
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.

Just as real as the terrorists set out to destroy America, there is a real enemy set out to terrorize and destroy your life. You need to watch your back!

B. Plan Ahead
1 Corinthians 10:12-13
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Yeah, we need to watch our six but be encouraged by the fact that you don’t have to give in. God always provides an escape route.

Have you ever watched that show on CBS called The Unit? It's a show based on Eric Haney's book Inside Delta Force. The Unit is a covert Special Forces team that does not exist. Their cover is the 303rd logistical studies group. They are assigned covert military operations by the President and never get credit for their actions. No matter how difficult the mission, reguardless of how out gunned they are, they always succeed. WHY? Because they always have an escape route. They always plan ahead and they always get away.

We need to plan ahead and avoid situations and circumstances where the enemy can ambush us and catch us in a cross fire. If you're weak in a certain area of you life, plan ahead to avoid those battles. You know what your weakness are - and so does the enemy. Use your head.

C. Pray
When Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray, part of His sample prayer said, “and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one” (Matthew 6:13).

One of Jesus’ final challenges to his closest friends right before he was taken to be crucified was, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak" (Mark 14:38).

Jesus new first hand the power of prayer over temptation. Matthew chapter four shows us that after praying and fasting for 40 days in the desert, Jesus was tempted in three different ways. He was able to overcome those temptations because he was prayed up and he knew God's Word. We are able to overcome temptation as well! (cf Hebrews 2:18; James 1:12-14)

So in order to stay out of the mud we…
- watch our six
- plan ahead
- pray

Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.