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Learning to say, No! (Part 3)

I continue to look at the subject of ‘Learning to say No’. This is the third and final part.

I want us to look at two areas: Our personal lives and Jesus.

One of the most difficult areas for saying ‘no’ is in the personal areas of our life. Here is the question. How do we say ‘no’ when we are convinced that there is something we should say no to, but we go ahead and do it anyway. Many of us repeat this hundreds of times in our lives.

You know you should not eat the ice cream or dessert or that snack but you do it anyway. This problem could be in other areas of your life.

I think that every person has a special area of weakness or several areas of weakness. We are not all struggling with the same things but all have some area of testing in our lives.

What is yours?

For some it is food. For others it is their temper. For others it may be pride or ego or selfishness, etc.

We can use many different kinds of actions or teachings to try to overcome our problem. However, I think that the best answer is to have God give us a new heart, to become a new creation with new desires and interests.

Jesus makes us a new person. We can ask Him to take away the old desires and give us new desires. The power of the Holy Spirit will give you the strength to say ‘no’ to those things and to say ‘yes’ to the right attitude, actions and thoughts.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.’
2 Corinthians 5:17

Jesus faced temptation and said no to all evil.

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’
Hebrews 4:15-16

Consider this:

“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’
But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.
“Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”
Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.
“For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over You, to keep You,’
“and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ “
And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.’
Luke 4:1-13

Jesus was saying ‘no’ to all the different temptations of the Devil.

Jesus did not let others lead Him into evil. Even when the people wanted to make Him King by force, He left them and went away.

Let us learn from Jesus, let us find strength in Jesus, let us find a new heart and new desires in Jesus.

May we know when to say ‘no’ and when to say ‘yes’! Jesus can lead you.
Invite Jesus to change you now!

God bless you,
Pilgrim followers of Jesus,

Arthur and Denise Blessitt
Luke 18:1