day 4 of lent

"Jesus said to him, "away from me, Satan! for it is written: worship the Lord your God, and serve God only".

all of us go through many struggles in our journey to remain a person of integrity for the Lord. let us remember to honour God in all that we do. one way is through spending daily time with the Lord. this will help provide safeguards for us in our constant battle with diverse temptations.

many times, we are faced with temptations, especially now during this 40 days of lent. eg: food, sex, lust, alcohol, or any form of activity that you enjoy doing. but for this 40 days, we make a vow, or we abstain from smth you cant live without, and focus on Him.and we pray bout it. we pray that He will give us the will, the strength the courage to go through this period. all this by avoiding temptations, and praying only to Him. it is when u fall into it, is when u have failed to resist the temptation. i decided to abstain from lunch during this 40 days. going out with friends, meeting up, all during lunch time. yes i still go out, but i dun eat, i am on a liquid diet, and i know myself, i dun do fruit juices or yogurts, or just drink. but i will and have been, staying away from delicious food. and yes, the food smells really good, and a voice inside me says, "just eat la, u can ganti later. ur hungry la. just eat, seldom get to come here to eat". and at times i must admit, i almost fall into it, but again is about resisting and avoiding temptations. these few days, when i hear that voice, i quickly say a prayer, and ask God to help me fight the temptation and be strong. and immediately the hungry thought leaves, and i am ok with just ordering honey lemon tea or orange juice. and i am ok with seeing my friends or colleagues eat. its bout prayer and surrender everything to Him.

"dear lord, i pray that when tempting thoughts fly by, You will help me, not let them roost my mind..not act upon them."

learn to identify where the temptations are in the home, in the workplace, in the community, in society, in the world. flee as early and as far away as possible from them.