Three promises about Temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13):

  1. You are not the only one facing this temptation.... It's easy to feel like you are the only one going through whatever you are going through. Even Elijah felt this but God informed him there were many others who were with him.

  2. You will not be tempted beyond what you can bear…. Even with Job, God put limits on the temptations and suffering Satan could put him through

  3. You will always be provided a way out of your temptation.

Three strategies for overcoming temptation:

  1. Flee (1 Corinthians 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:22).... There are some places we don't need to go to. There are some websites that we don't need to visit. There are some people we don't need to associate with because they tempt us and especially with sins we are prone to committing. Set some boundaries in your life that keep temptations away. This isn't always possible, which leads to the second strategy.

  2. Fight (James 4:7).... We are told to submit to God and resist the Devil. Too often we get this backwards…. One thing this verse implies is that the Devil feeds on weak prey and doesn't like when we fight. And we have weapons and armor provided by God.
    Your weapons (Ephesians 6:11-18) :

    1. Salvation (1 John 4:4)... Claiming your salvation helps you remember who you are, a redeemed child of God. The Spirit is in you and He is greater than the Devil.

    2. The Bible (Matthew 4:1-11)... The Devil traffics in lies but cannot defeat the Truth. When Jesus was tempted, He quote scripture. Memorize scripture and say it when you are tempted. Don't fight with a butterknife when there is a sword available.

    3. Prayer (Matthew 6:13; 26:41)... Jesus tells us to pray for protection against temptation.

  3. Change (James 1:13-15; Galatians 5:19-25).... Some temptation you can flee from. Some you can fight. But the real root of our temptation problem lies within us. The only way to truly fix the problem is to change. To quote Pogo, "we have found the enemy, and it is      us." Some people say there is no way for a person to change, but we serve a God of miracles who has no limitations on what He can do. Our desires can change. We can crucify our old desires and pickup new ones.