Tag: temptation

Posted in Family, fear, friends, Grace, gratitude, life, prayer, priorities, Scripture, thankful, travel, Trials, USA

Head to the Exit and Live

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

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 Corinthians 10:13 

Most of us have memories of that bright but dark morning in September 2001—9/11. I know for me I can remember walking into the office and my secretary breaking the limited news to me.  A plane had crashed into one of the Twin Towers. “How big” I asked.  She didn’t know…there was so much we didn’t know but we all learned quickly as it played out on national television.

One of the stories I remember was written by someone who was going to fly commercially in the crazy days following 9/11.  Of course, for a period of time every aircraft was grounded but slowly things returned to a semblance of normal.  He was sitting on the plane and he realized something was different.  Before 9/11 everyone would chat and get settled in their seats while the flight attendants busily gave the safety briefing. Honestly, virtually no one ever listened to their briefing.  But that morning it was different.

As the flight attendants spoke, the entire plane seemed to hang onto every word. The role aircraft played in the attack changed everything.  People always needed to know but that morning they wanted to know.  After all, what if it happened…again? They finally realized that it was important to know where the closest exit was…and as the flight attendant always emphasized…even if it was behind them.

As I thought about that…I thought about this.  Isn’t that true when it comes to temptation and sin?  Shouldn’t we listen to what the Bible says about temptations and exits? Shouldn’t we train ourselves to know where the closest exit from temptation is?  The bottom line is we are going to be tempted…get used to it.  But we have this amazing promise from God.  Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, “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.” Wow…that is a promise.

If you pay attention to the safety briefing you can have confidence that you will know where the exit is when you need it. If you listen to God, you can also be confident an exit will be there when Satan messes with you and throws temptations your way.  When you combine this promise with the power of the Holy Spirit, well, all of a sudden that temptation that seemed so impossible to overcome is defeated.  How about that.

Never forget that God is so for you.  He not only wants you to win…He makes your winning a priority.  What we can’t do on our own…we can do with Him.  But remember this…a passenger on a crashed airliner has to make the decision to head for the closest exit.  If they don’t take action, they probably won’t survive.  Act and live…it is that simple.  So, listen to the safety briefing of life, God gives it every day, in fact it is what His Book is all about. Listen and read…and live.  He’s got this.  Bro. Dewayne

Posted in Family, food, gratitude, life, loving others, Scripture, Southern born, thankful

Call Me “Precious”

Posted on by Dewayne Taylor

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” Genesis 3:6

I remember it like it was yesterday…or a couple of weeks ago anyway.  I am the youngest of eight children.  Some call me the baby of the family…I call it the best. My brothers and sisters nicknamed me “precious”.  I used to think it was because they were jealous, but I later learned they were just right.  And, because I was so precious, well, I often was the target of pranks and other acts of terrorism.

The two sisters right above me and myself were called the three little ones.  That was because everybody else was several years older and therefore bigger.  My two youngest sisters were the main terrorists.  They loved to hold me down and tickle me mercilessly and then pull my ears till they were blood red. It’s because of them one of my ears sticks out further than the other. They were two tough cookies.

One time they pushed me out the door in my underwear and wouldn’t let me back in.  I banged and banged on the door ,all to no avail.  They, of course, will deny all of this but trust me, at the Judgement Seat all will be revealed and they will surely be grateful for grace.

I have always had an affection for sweet things and they even used that against me.  One day one of them came up and said, “Dewayne, do you want some candy?”  Well, my response was, “Well sure.”  It was a small box and in my excitement I didn’t take time to read the label.  Honestly, since I was only about eight, I probably wouldn’t have known the difference anyway.  So, I opened the box and found that it was filled with chocolates.  There were only three or four pieces in the box and before long…they were gone.

I did notice that they tasted a little different, but they were sweet, and they were brown so hey, that was close enough for me.  I should have been suspicious that the terrorists were being so nice but I always was a trusting soul.  Well, several hours passed and before long time wasn’t the only thing that passed.  You see, my loving sisters had fed me a whole box of Ex-Lax.  They would deny it, you probably can’t believe it, but trust me, I was there.  Oh, boy was I there.

Well, I learned a lot of lessons growing up and this is one of them.  You see, things are often not what they seem to be. I thought I was a getting a box of chocolates and instead I got a box of trouble.  It looked like chocolate, it even tasted like chocolate, but it wasn’t even close.  Did you know that the Bible warns us how the devil can disguise himself?  It says that he can disguise himself as an angel of light when in fact he is the angel of darkness.  Remember that…things are not always as they seem.

I also learned that not everyone who comes bearing gifts can be trusted.  I should have known better when they offered me that box, but my desire for chocolate overruled my common sense.  That is what how Adam and Eve got in trouble in the garden. The story is found in Genesis and it says, “The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” And just like that…I found myself eating Ex-Lax.

It’s a tricky world out there…terrorists are lurking everywhere and sometimes they might be related, so be careful.  Be sure and use your good common sense if someone offers you a little box filled with chocolates.  You might be getting more than you bargained for.  Like I said, I probably wouldn’t have understood the label even if I had read it. But do you know what?  My mama would have.  In fact, if I had gone to mama this story would have been totally different.  But, well, I didn’t. As we journey through this upside down world, don’t forget to go to your Dearest Daddy with your questions and mysteries.  He is always there, and He is always watching out for you.  You can trust Him. His box of chocolate is always the real deal.  So have a seat, open the box and enjoy.  You can rest in Him.  He’s got this.