Deuteronomy 7:9 Day 3

Let’s talk about temptations. We all have them. Are you struggling with any at the moment? Perhaps your current temptations are so overwhelming that they seem to control your life. I want you to know that there is solid, powerful hope for you, and that hope is seen in our current memory verse.

Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

“Hang on a minute,” you say. “This verse doesn’t talk about my temptations.” And of course you are right. It doesn’t talk about them, but it does talk to them. In order to see it and the hope that is here, we need to do some thinking.

We have seen that God’s faithfulness is His commitment to always fulfil His covenant promises (By now, you should almost know that sentence by heart). As Christians, we are recipients of the new covenant, by which God makes the following promises to us:

Hebrews 8:10-12 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. "

Think for a moment about these amazing promises in relation to your struggle with temptation.

God has promised to make Himself your God. This means He has promised to make you loyally devoted to Him. To be your God means to have your allegiance. But, underlying all temptation is the abandonment of allegiance to God for some alternative master (Matthew 6:24). This means that since God has promised to make Himself your God, His faithfulness commits Him to helping you overcome your temptations so that you remain loyal to Him.

Consider also His promise to write His laws on your heart. All temptation is toward the abandonment of obedience, but He has promised to make you lovingly obedient to Him. This means that since God has promised to make you obedient from the heart, His faithfulness commits Him to helping you overcome your temptation.

With these thoughts in mind, look at 1 Corinthians 10:13 and see the connection between God’s faithfulness and His guarantee of help in your temptation.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

You might like to finish by praying the following prayer:

“Dear Heavenly Father. You are my God and I praise you for your faithfulness. I thank you that you have made a covenant with me and have made wonderful promises to me. And now I ask that according to your faithfulness, you will give me the ability to endure my current temptation to ___________. I thank you that you promise forgiveness, and so I ask that you will forgive me for ____________. May your faithfulness be glorified in my life as you help me. In Jesus name, amen.”

Can you complete the verse from memory?

Deuteronomy 7:9 ____ therefore that the ____ ____ ___ is ___, the ________ God ___ _____ ________ and _________ ____ with _____ who ____ ___ and ____ his ____________, to a ________ generations,