Receive A Crown Of Life!

Saturday's Devotion (1-22-05)

"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." James 1:12 (KJV)

There are two types of people: Those who endure temptation and those who get tempted and then give into their temptation. Some people will tell you, "Satan, is hassling you? You must not be saved!". It's actually the opposite, Satan, is going to attack you every chance he gets if you're saved. Have you ever been bullied at school? I have been and let's say that the bully is Satan and I am the saved child and school is where I need to be. Satan (being my enemy and bully) isn't going to want me to achieve my goals or to be where I need to be. He doesn't want what's good for me, because he hates me. It's pretty simple actually, but many people do not understand this. Satan, tempts me a lot and puts me through a lot at times. If he didn't bother me then I'd be worried about that because it'd be like I was one of his friends or something. So as saved children of God, we must endure hard times. I heard the lie so many times that has caused so many people to fall away from God. The lie is, "If you're saved then everything is going to be just great for you in this life and in the next!". That couldn't be more wrong, this life is the torture and torment for Christians and the next one is the one that's all great and wonderful. Please read Luke chapter 16:19-31 (KJV). Don't have a Bible? That's fine read it from: www.blueletterbible.org. That will back up my point here.

To receive the crown of life we must endure temptation, we must not give into it. Just because we are tempted doesn't mean we will receive the crown of life, but we must be tempted and endure. The keyword here is, "endure". Everyone is tempted, but only the children of God, endure and don't give in. Some kids go to school every day and see the kids that gave into temptation of doing drugs and etc and did not endure. If you love the Lord, then you will endure temptation and you shall receive your reward... However, if you give into wicked temptations then you will also receive a different kind of reward, one that you do not want (Eternal torture).

Before I end this, I want to end it on a good note. Have you given into temptations? If so then right now you might feel pretty condemned, but you don't have to feel that way. As long as you have breath then there is hope for you. Just repent and ask God, for forgiveness and rededicate your life to the Lord or dedicate it for the first time. See our, "God's Free Gift" page for more information.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins and we forgive all those who've wronged us. We may have given into temptations in the past, but today is a new day that we will start new... with a clean slate and we thank you for that opportunity through Christ Jesus. Help us to endure temptation and to receive the crown of life. In Jesus, name. A-men!

God bless!

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