The Open Door

Tonight, I am trying to catch up on my bible study homework.   I am on Day 3, when I should be finished with Day 5.  Oops!  Now, since I have been inspired to blog...I will be up even later trying to finish my homework before class tomorrow, but I must share what I just read.

This is a piece from Beth Moore's Session 6 Week 7, Day 3 of A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place:

"A difficult sequence begins to unfold the moment we do not resist the first temptation.  Let's put ourselves in an example of an extramarital affair to determine the point at which we can fail to appropriate God's provision for our escape.  

Satan started weaving the web the first moment you realized that you and this man enjoyed each other's company. You experienced a spark that made it appealing; yet you had the distinct feeling that you had better run.

The alarms was loud.  An open door stood before you.  But you hestitated.  Then you refused it, offering your thoughts permission to proceed.  Little by little the relationship progressed.  Harmless, you reasoned.  (It must not be a big deal.  I no longer have the feeling that I need to run away.)  The alarm grew increasingly faint.  Satan had done everything he could to weave a web you could not escape;  but no matter how he tried, he could not slam that door.  It remained open.  Each time you refused to go through it, however, your strength to resist drained.  

This cycle of temptation, hesitation, and participation is as old as the garden of Eden, and it is not limited to sexual temptation.  Two things about a believer's temptation never vary: (1) We always have an open door, a way out.  (2) Every door we refuse to walk through makes the next one even harder to enter.  

If a person is inhabited by the Holy Spirit, an alarm sounds.  How can I say those words so dogmatically?  Because the Holy Spirit's job is to convict us of sin, and He is never late for work.  Remember, being tempted is not sin; refusing to take the way out is sin.  Either way, it is a matter of resistance.  We resist either the sin or the Holy Spirit.  

The obvious key to victory is walking through the first door of escape.  Every time we refuse another door, we lose more sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.  He never goes away, but the less sensitivity we have to Him, the less power we have until, finally, we find ourselves fighting the battle on our own, absolutely powerless against temptation.  In the flesh we always do what comes naturally, and what comes most naturally to every one of us is sin.  

Can you cite a time when you narrowly escaped a sin that could have ruined your life?  The important part is to acknowledge the One who opened before you a way of escape."

I for one, do not intend to take this passage I read lightly.  The Holy Spirit is always providing an open door for us to escape sin.  I am trying to devote some time every day with the Holy Spirit, so that I can be made more aware of any temptations that arise in my life.

Father, Thank You for giving us Your Son.  Because Christ has faced our every temptation without sin, we never face a temptation that has no door of escape.  "I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut" (Rev. 3:8)  Neither Satan nor anyone else can make us fall to temptation.  The door always remains open for our escape.  Thank You Jesus!  AMEN!!