Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt
When I became a Christian and started attending a Bible-teaching church, and started learning the Bible, it was the greatest experience of my life. It was almost incomprehensible that Jesus could love me enough to forgive all my sins. I had more than my share. It was maybe the most difficult thing I had ever tried to believe! How could He? Though I wrestled with that thought a thousand times, I knew the answer had to start with what God’s word declared and let that be my truth over any feelings about it. That’s what the Bible verse, “We live by faith and not by sight,” means! It means God’s truth prevails over our feelings!” So, God’s word declares this, and this is our truth and reality!
1 John 4:9-10 (NLT) “God showed how much he loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
And as I helped you see in Part One of this two-part post, the Holy Spirit lives within you! Satan lives within this world, trying to bring it down. We have power over Satan and, therefore, have the power to put Him in his place when temptation comes! Why? Because the greater one (the Holy Spirit) lives within us and will bring us to victory over temptation and sin. 1 John 4:4 (NLT) says, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory…because the Spirit (Holy Spirit) who lives in you is greater than the spirit (satan) who lives in the world.”
In Part One: We read that the beginning of discovering this new strength from God happens when we renew our mind to God’s word and let that become our truth and our power! In those moments of temptation, you have to have a talk with the Holy Spirit. For me, it might sound like this: “Lord, I know that this temptation is not pleasing to You. Holy Spirit, I thank you that you are greater than any temptation. I thank you that you help me moment by moment. I thank you for reminding me of Jesus’ love and all He did for me at the cross. Satan is just trying to bring me down, but you are trying to lift me up. I yield to you again and again! I thank you that your word says, “So give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 (TLB). And so, “Satan, I resist you and rebuke you in Jesus’ name. Flee far from me. You will spend your eternity in Hell, but I will spend my eternity with Jesus in Heaven! Glory to God! Flee far from me now, in Jesus’ name.
Every time you resist Satan and obey God, you become stronger in the Lord and in His strength working in you! And that is how you begin to renew your mind to God’s word and let the Holy Spirit help you resist temptation and sin! 
God’s grace, which is His supernatural mercy and help in your life, is available in those moments. And there will be occasions where you will see God literally help you and give you ways of escape from those temptations. Pay attention and notice how God makes a way out for you by His grace, in addition to you resisting the devil, as I showed you above. And then, memorize this verse and let it be a godly stronghold that anchors you in times of temptation! 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT) “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
In closing, remember that the power of demonic influence controlling you was broken the moment you sincerely made Jesus your Lord and Savior. You are led by the Spirit of God, and your life becomes a life of love and power to make the right choices and grow in serving God and others with His love. This is where the power of God is strongest, and temptation is reduced to its weakest state. Making my choices born out of my love for God and for others, strengthens me and my willpower to succeed. It breaks the power of temptation. This is the joy Jesus faced and lived for in His temptations.
Hebrews 12:2 says, “We cast off the temptation of sin by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the JOY He knew would be His afterward. Now He is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven.”
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In His love,
Pastor Tim Burt
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