We Learn to Resist Temptation

Wrestling with God, Jacob received a new name. . . ISRAEL.

Israel means wrestled with God. Have you wrestled with Him? I have and he won. God never loses a fight! Smile here!

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and He will flee from you.” James 4:7

“Satan still comes with his temptations to the children of men. He employs every means at his command to conceal himself from view, and this is why so many are ignorant of his devices. A few days since, the question was asked me, “Do you believe in a personal devil?” “I do,” was the answer.. “Well,” rejoined the questioner, “I do not believe that there is any such being; our evil thoughts and impulses are all the devil we know anything about!” “But,” I asked, “who suggests those thoughts? Whence do they origniate, if not from Satan?” . . .

“Just as surely as we have a personal Saviour, we have also a personal adversary, cruel and cunning, who ever watches our steps, and plots to lead us astray. He can work most effectually in disguise. Whever the opnion is entertained that he does not exist, there he is most busy. When we least suspect his presence, he is gaining advantage over us. I feel alarmed as I see so many of the youth yielding to his power while they know it not. Did they but see their danger, they would flee to Christ, the sinner’s refuge.

“Aim to be faithful students in the school of Christ, learning daily to conform your life to the divine Pattern. Set your faces heavenward, and press toward the mark for the prize of your high calling in Christ Jesus. Run the Christian race with patience, and rise superior to every temptation, however grievous it may be, that shall come to you. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God; and if you are desirous of taking the first upward step, you will find His hand streched out to help you. It remains with you, individually, as to whether you walk in the light of the Sun of Righteousness, or in the darkkness of error. The truth of God can be a blessing to you only as you permit its influence to purify and refine your soul.”

Sons and Daughters of God, by Ellen White p. 79, for March 13, 2023.