Joseph: One Man Makes A Difference
Part 2: Defeating Temptation
Genesis 39:1-20, James 1:14-21
If there’s one thing that will keep us from achieving the dream God has for our lives, it’s scandal. We love to read about scandal, but rest assured they are a nightmare for the participants. What can we do to be better prepared when temptations arise? Today we read the story of Joseph’s temptation by Potiphar’s wife.
Common Excuses For Surrendering To Temptations
"My desires are too strong"
"I had no other options"
"I’m still young/immature, everyone else....."
Three tips from God about these excuses:
*Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.... For sin shall not have dominion over you
--Romans 6:12-14
*No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. --1 Corinthians 10:13
*Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
--1 Timothy 4:12
(Let us drop excuses, and begin our battle with a strategy in mind. To plan our strategy, check out what the devil’s strategy is:
The Strategy Of Temptation --James 1:14-15
1)drawn out by desires
2)giving in starts a chain reaction
3)which leads to sin
4)which results in death
What dies?
blessings
influence
relationships
dreams
Let’s lay our strategy out now.
The Steps Against Temptation
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. --James 1:21
a. Meekness thinks before it acts, v. 19
b. Meekness is one who seeks God’s will before his own, v.20
c. Meekness is allowing the Word to have control over you, v. 21
The Rewards Of Obedience
...are not always immediate
...do not always feel rewarding
...but do result in greater blessing
Look at those 3 rewards in light of Joseph’s experience. Immediately, he’s in jail. Thirteen years of it. He was blessed enough to get to be "warden’s pet" (wonder how the other prisoners taunted him for that, but he had a knack for being "the favorite"). Yet that circumstance led to being placed near the throne of the capitol of the known world. Obedience leads to blessing.
