“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1Corinthians 10:13 KJV). God’s promises reveal God to us, sanctify us, and make us more like Christ. For God’s enemies, God’s promises mystify them, threaten them, and harden them against Christ, unless the Spirit can reach them. A “temptation [Greek, peirasmos, putting to proof]” (10:13) is God allowing you to be put to proof, in order that you might have the intimate experience of obeying God. Obviously, God already knows how we will respond, but He knows our correct response will draw us closer to Himself and make us more like Him. Even Jesus, when He was tempted, became more like the Father. “Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Temptations may be directed against us from our adversary the devil to destroy us, but “God is faithful” (1Corinthians 10:13) in using that to build us. “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20). God knows our breaking point — how much we can take before we sin — and will not “suffer [Greek, eaō, permit]” (1Corinthians 10:13) us to be tempted above or beyond what “ye are able” (10:13). That is the faithfulness of God. “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it” (1Thessalonians 5:24). Our confidence is God will always give us “a way to escape [Greek, ekbasis, exit, way out], that ye may be able to bear it” (1Corinthians 10:13) to keep us from sinning; after all, He is a Holy God. “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36). Satan tempts to our destruction, but God tests for our sanctification. Finally, we need to be careful not to despise God for testing us (Exodus 20:20), allowing us to be tempted (James 1:13), reproving us (Hebrews 12:5), or chastening us (Proverbs 3:11), since He means it for our good. Do we trust Him for that? Most certainly, we will have our opportunity to prove the faithfulness of God! Father, You are the Faithful God, who will exercise us for Your glory; and, we know You will draw us to Yourself by demonstrating how we will obey You, for when You are happy, we are happy. Lord Jesus, return quickly. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
God Tests
Jesus Wants You Well
C.S. Lovett, a retired USAF chaplain, wrote, “I do not mean to imply that God doesn’t use sickness… But the point is — He [God] doesn’t SEND sickness,” in his classic book, Jesus Wants You Well (1973). Growing up in the early 1970’s in evangelical, fundamental, Bible preaching churches, I remember being introduced to the writings of Dr. Lovett’s Personal Christianity by a blessed, fervent church friend. Lovett got it right, and he disagreed with conventional wisdom on 2Corinthians 12:7-10 about Paul’s thorn in the flesh. The devil wants us sick, since the “thorn in the flesh” (2Corinthians 12:7 KJV) was a “messenger [Greek, aggelos, angel] of Satan [Greek, satan, adversary]” (12:7) sent by God to “buffet” (12:7) Paul — and us. An evil angel of Satan was allowed to torment Paul, like Jesus was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” (Matthew 4:1). The Father no more wanted Jesus to be tempted to make Jesus sin, any more than He wanted Paul to be buffeted to make him perpetually ill. Sure, we are to “glory in [our] infirmities” (12:9) for “when I am weak, then am I strong” (12:10) in the mean time; but, it is the devil buffeting with the sickness. Jesus came to heal and deliver us from the sickness, unless we have hidden issues allowing the adversary to successfully accuse us to prevent our healing. “When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias [Isaiah] the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matthew 8:16-17; compare Isaiah 53:4-5). Our response to being buffeted is to glory in our infirmities, thus strengthening us spiritually, but not simply to give in to sickness. Brothers and sisters, Jesus wants us well. Let the Holy Spirit persuade you what you should believe.
We Need A Miracle 