You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. John 8:44 (NKJV)
Temptation is the appeal to engage in a form of unholy conduct. Dr. Henry Thiessen described the fundamental components of temptation in Systematic Theology:
“Satan’s temptation may be summed up as appealing to man in this way: it made man desire what God had forbidden, to know what God had not revealed, and to be what God had not intended for him to be.”
God establishes boundaries in your personal relationship with Him. He allows you tremendous degrees of personal freedom to think, act, and speak, but His Word clearly defines when your thoughts, deeds, and words transgress his boundaries.
Temptation always entices you to transcend God’s borders. It seduces you into thinking something or someone else other than God can meet your emotional, physical, or spiritual needs.
Temptation is a trap of excess and indulgence, tripped by self-gratification. It need not be sprung.
Devotional for the Day 