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It is written that He was "tempted in all things as we are" Hebrews 4:15. All things means all things. He was tempted to murder. He had perverse impulses come to him. How long does it take to be tempted in everything? I am guessing about 33 years, because that is how old Jesus was. But, this is only the first part of the secret.

Temptation does not equal desire.

Now I can get pretty much any theologian to this point in agreement, but then I could ask them if they have ever been tempted in homosexuality, and they would be offended. Why? Because they still think that temptation equals desire deep down. This is a hard error to break and it is in fact a tremendous challenge.

If we truly begin to see that temptation does not equal desire, then we will want to act ONLY on our true desire rather then any temptation/impulse/ or urge. We will have to take every thought captive, and discern the source of that thought; does it abide with our true wants or is it crafted for our destruction?

We have lots of enemies: our dull mind, our crazy emotions, our unstable will, the fallen world, our deceptive flesh, the devil, unrighteous spirits, reminders of iniquitous past, etc. The list is pretty long, and if we dwelled on it ... we would find that I have only listed a fraction of what we are up against on a daily basis. Any of these sources can provide a thought or impulse. We need to judge our thoughts as they come to us, and weed out most of them as just crazy notions.

A friend of mine was about to get his hair cut, and laughed as he asked his hairdresser, "When you cut hair, do you ever feel like taking your scissors and slicing someone's head off?" She spun him around in the chair and put her hands on his shoulders and said, "How did you know?"

What do you think he advised her as he sat at her station? Should she just give into those thoughts and quit resisting them? Maybe she should just accept that she is a murderer by nature and act on that. After all, she has those impulses, so that must be what she really wants, right?

Wrong.

If she gave into those impulses, then they would not make her happy. There would be fear, distress, anger, depression overwhelm her as she stood in the middle of a crime scene. Those thoughts are not to bring a spring in her step and a lift in her countenance, and really they are NOT what she wants. Her true desires are to cut hair with scissors not kill people with them.

Lets encourage one another to not get involved in things that go against our heart that is washed and renewed by the Spirit. Lets encourage one another to not be led astray by our shifting emotions and insane minds, or by the enemies in our life. Lets not be ashamed that we are weak and that we can't resist the enemies in our own strength. Lets pray for deliverance from evil. Lets stand firm if that deliverance is not immediate ... so that we can reap the harvest that comes from moment by moment dependence on our Savior.