Time & Trouble

Ex.20:¹³ “You must not murder. ¹⁴ “You must not commit adultery.”

God’s commands are also His promises. We touched on the beauty of this in yesterday’s devotional.

Today, I will explain the beauty of this truth further with an illustration. God’s commands are His promises. Adultery is really a tough thing for couples to go through. It is really tough for any couple to go through a season where one person has been unfaithful.The story is told of a man that had committed adultery. His actions had really hurt his family and it was a tough time for them. He repented and asked his wife for forgiveness. She forgave him but took three days away from him to clear her head. Hurting people hurt people and she did not want to hurt him so she packed her bags and left.

The man now all alone and not wanting to be alone at such a difficult time decided to go to church to pray and ask God for help. Was it possible to live above this sexual temptation that was constantly in his face? Was it possible not to fall back into adultery and hurt his family even more? He knew he needed God’s help to get it straight with his wife and heal their relationship. But as soon as he walked through the church doors the first thing he saw was, “Thou shall not commit adultery.” “Lord! I really do not need this right now!” He exclaimed. But he did not walk away; he sat down in the pews.

And the more he stared at the commandment, he began to sense God’s Presence and experience forgiveness. It must have been the Holy Spirit that began to say to him, “I will empower you not to commit adultery!” The more he looked into the Word of God, the commandment that at first sight was judgment to him, became a promise said in unconditional love. It was God saying, “By My power you will not commit adultery!” God came through for them, they experienced healing and they lived happily ever after.

To overcome the power of temptation, you need to do two things from the Word of God. These two things are by God’s grace what I do. The first is, cultivate your love for Christ and the second is act in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer [song]: Come, Holy Spirit, I need you. Come, sweet Spirit, I pray. Come in your strength and your power. Come in your own gentle way. Amen!