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Thomas A’Kempis on Temptation w/ the Sixth Day Exercise

July 2, 2016

1 Corinthians 10:13

No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

Quote of the Week

Temptation affords an opportunity for you to embrace total dependence on God. You will always be tempted in this world. According to Job, “Do not human beings have a hard service on earth . . .?” (7:1) Guard yourself, therefore, against temptation. Watch in prayer so that you will not be deceived…. No one is secure from temptation in this life.

Only patience and humility, however, can conquer the power of temptation and evil in your life. You can avoid temptation and flee from it, but unless you deal effectively with the roots of temptation, your own efforts will profit very little. The temptations will simply return and make you feel worse than before. But if you wait patiently and rely on God’s help, you will be able to overcome them more easily. Do not beat yourself up at each failure or try to pull yourself up on the basis of your own strength when you fall. Put your confidence in God.

(Excerpt from The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas a’Kempis, as rendered by Paul Wesley Chilcote in The Imitation of Christ: Selections Annotated & Explained. p.17)

Note to Readers. For the next season ahead I will be sharing excerpts from this book, one of the most significant writings in Christian history, and likely the second best selling book of all time next to the Bible itself.

DO THE 7.2.16 SIXTH DAY EXERCISE HERE.

In case you are just joining us, each week we share in an exercise called “The Sixth Day Exercise.” As Genesis 1 has it, God created human beings in his own image on the sixth day. Genesis 3 shows us the desecration of the image of God in our race which has only compounded itself across the centuries. It’s why the Image Bearer himself, Jesus Christ, came. His life, death, resurrection and ascension reversed the curse of sin and death and created a pathway whereby our broken race could be made gloriously whole again; restored to the Creator’s intent. Paul put it this way:

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22. 

Given we were made on the Sixth Day, it makes sense that we might stop and assess how it’s going on the long journey of being “remade” on each successive sixth day.
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J.D. Walt serves as Seedbed’s Sower in Chief.  jd.walt@seedbed.com.

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WHAT IS THIS? Wake-Up Call is a daily encouragement to shake off the slumber of our busy lives and turn our eyes toward Jesus. Each morning our community gathers around a Scripture, a reflection, a prayer, and a few short questions, inviting us to reorient our lives around the love of Jesus that transforms our hearts, homes, churches, and cities.

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