In 1957, Bible expositor Donald Grey Barnhouse (1895-1960) preached a sermon entitled Temptation And How To Meet It where he gives three ways to defeat temptation. He ended his sermon with this summary statement:

When you are tempted with the lust of the flesh, remember the word flight. God does not tell us to fight this kind of temptation. Instead, He tells us to flee (see 1 Corinthian 6:18, 10:14; 1 Timothy 6:9-11; 2 Timothy 2:22).

Have you read the story of David and Bathesheba lately? David wouldn't have ever given in to the temptation of his flesh if he'd had done as Joseph did when Potiphar's wife approached him. Compare those two stories (2 Samuel 11 and Genesis 39).

What did Joseph do? He ran for his life! What did David do? He lingered and watched Bathsheba. Then, he entertained his lustful thoughts that led him to commit two heinous sins in the flesh - adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah.

What is the application for you and me? If there is a magazine, a movie, a television program, or even a person that arouses thoughts in you that you know are wrong, then, we are to flee. Just get away. When I was in college I had a motto on my desk: "He who would not fall down ought not to walk in slippery places."

Proverbs 6:27 says, Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?" You and I are to flee.

How do you and I overcome the world? The key word is faith. First John 5:4 says, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." We are not told to fight the world, we are told to have faith in God instead. What does faith do? Faith makes God real to you. Let's return to First John: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15). When we say that someone is "wordly," we are saying that this person loves the world and the things in this world more than God. The love of the Father is not in them.

Suppose you're driving and you notice the oil light blinks red on your dashboard. What do you do? Take a hammer and break the light? No! The light is a warning that your engine is out of oil. To solve the problem, you pour oil into the crank case. Right? Of course.
Now, if you are worldly, warning signs will illuminate that you have fallen in love with the world (which means you have fallen out of love with the Lord Jesus Christ). Don't fight the warning light.

The key word in overcoming the devil is fight. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." First, we submit to God, then we resist the devil - not in our own strength, but in His strength.

Instead, most of us say to the devil, "If you'll leave me alone, I'll leave you alone." But he's not going to leave us alone until we resist him in the Lord Jesus Christ (see Revelation 12:11).

The devil cares nothing for your resolutions or good intentions. But he fears the blood of Jesus Christ. When the devil comes after you, show him Jesus!

Get on the offensive. Tell Satan, "I bring His Word against you. I bring His blood against you. You are trespassing on my Father's property and in the name of Jesus be gone!"

Don't tell me it won't work until you've tried it. Flee the flesh. Have faith against the world. Fight the devil. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might" (Ephesians 6:10).

I meet very few husbands today who feel like they do not have enough to do. It is quite the opposite! Between work, home, wives, children and church, we husbands sometimes feel overwhelmed by the tasks and obligations that we are responsible for. There is a subtle danger here: In the midst of the busyness of life it is easy to lose sight of the priorities that should guide us in our responsibilities to our wives, children and the Lord.

So here is a quick checkup on the first two priorities of a godly husband.

First Priority: Love God (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Once a week I lead a group of nine seminary students who come together to talk and pray about being godly husbands. At our first meeting we established that being a godly husband is not first and foremost about technique and it is not first and foremost about learning the latest relational skills. No, being a godly husband begins with being a godly man, and being a godly man begins with loving God above all else.

Our Lord Jesus himself said that the greatest commandment was to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:30; see Deuteronomy 6:5). This is the greatest commandment because God has created us first and foremost to be in relationship with himself. This is the foundation of life and foundation for our marriage. If God is not our greatest priority, we have no foundation upon which to build our lives or our marriages.

1. So what does this look like for husbands? First, it means obedience. Loving God above all else is not first and foremost a feeling, it is first and foremost obedience to his Word. Notice how Jesus defines what it means to love him: "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me" (John 14:21a). Loving God above all else will mean repenting of any known sin in our lives and surrendering the control of our lives to God.

2. Loving God above all else will also mean that we seek to cultivate our relationship with him. This is done primarily through reading his Word, prayer, and fellowshipping with other believers through church and through spending time together. It is important for us to be committed to these things but also to be realistic about what stage of life we are in – be flexible according to your time constraints and set your expectations accordingly.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her …" (Ephesians 5:25). This is a sobering command! Consider the implications carefully: The way that you love your wife should be a reflection of how Jesus loves the church. To put it a bit more practically still: Your wife should know what Jesus’ love is like simply by the way that you love her.

So what was Jesus’ love for the church like? Above all else it was self-sacrificing. "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her …" (Ephesians 5:25). Husbands will love their wives the way that Jesus loved the church when they live self-sacrificing lives in marriage and put their wives’ good ahead of their own.

1. Perhaps one of the most practical steps we could take is simply to ask our wives: "Honey, are there any areas in our marriage where you do not feel like I am loving you? Are there any areas where you feel like I am putting myself ahead of you and your good?" These are bold questions to ask! Moreover, we should not ask them if we are not willing to hear the suggestions that might come! But if we are serious about loving our wives as Christ loved the church, we will probably need our wife’s help in order to understand how better to love her.

2. Consider seeking out a brother whose marriage you respect and meet together on a regular basis to pray about being a godly husband. God consistently tells us in his Word that relationships and accountability are powerful tools for growth (see Ecclesiastes 4:9-12; Hebrews 10:24-25). How can you make use of these tools to love your wife better?

Good gifts

Little Tony was so happy to see his grandmother that he ran up and gave her a big hug.

"I'm so happy to see you, grandma. Now daddy will have to do that trick he's been promising to do!"

His grandmother was curious. "What trick is that, sweetie?"

The little guy smiled at her, "I heard daddy tell mommy that he would climb the walls if you came to visit us again!"

Returning from a trip to visit my grandmother in Canada, I was stopped by a state trooper in New York for exceeding the speed limit.

Grateful to have received a warning instead of a ticket, I gave him a small bag of my grandmother's delicious chocolate-chip cookies and proceeded on my way.

A short time later, I was stopped by another trooper.

"What have I done?" I asked.

"Nothing," the trooper said, smiling.

"I heard you were passing out great chocolate-chip cookies."

(Thanks to Kathy Edwards for today's YMML item.)

Pastor Tim, This really happen to me when I was in the police academy....

One day the instructor asked us a very simple question What would you do if you saw your mother run a red light?

A. pull her over and give her a ticket...

B. pull her over and give her a warning....or

C. just let her go, after all she is your mother?

When it came my turn to answer everybody looked my way because I was always cutting up in class...but being very serious I said..."The first thing I would do would be call for back-up."

Another woman in the class said ,"it was very apparent that I knew nothing about the law."

To which I answered that it was apparent that she knew NOTHING ABOUT MY MOTHER!!!....

P.S....On the state exam I was the only one who answered the question correctly.

One night at an economy motel, I ordered a 6:00 a.m. wake-up call.

The next morning, I awoke before 6:00, but the phone did not ring until 6:30.

"Good morning," a young man said sheepishly. "This is your wake-up call."

Annoyed, I let the hotel worker have it.

"You were supposed to call me at 6:00 AM!" I complained. "What if I had a million-dollar deal to close this morning, and your oversight made me

miss out on it?"

"Well, sir," the desk clerk quickly replied, "if you had a million-dollar deal to close, you probably wouldn't be staying in this motel!"

Dave went on a business trip for a few days.

When he returned, his wife reported that the dog really missed him.

"She spent every night at the front door, awaiting your return," she said.

"What an example of true love," Dave replied. "I wonder if you'd be that concerned about me?"

"Honey," she answered, "if you were gone overnight, and I didn't know where you were, you can be sure I'd be waiting for you at the front door."

Aboard a flight from L.A. to New York, Grandma Esther was taking hervery first flight.

They had only been aloft a few minutes when the elderly lady complained to the stewardess that her ears were popping.

The girl smiled and gave the older woman some chewing gum, assuring her that many people experienced the same discomfort.

When they landed in New York, Grandma thanked the stewardess.

"The chewing gum worked fine," she said, "but tell me, how do I get itout of my ears?"

: > When I was a young turkey, new to the coop,

: > My big brother Mike took me out on the stoop,

: > Then he sat me down, and he spoke real slow,

: > And he told me there was something that I had to know;

: > His look and his tone I will always remember,

: > When he told me of the horrors of..... Black November;

: > "Come about August, now listen to me,

: > Each day you'll get six meals instead of just three.

: > "And soon you'll be thick, where once you were thin,

: > and you'll grow a big rubbery thing under your chin;

: > "And then one morning, when you're warm in your bed,

: > In'll burst the farmer's wife, and hack off your head;

: > "Then she'll pluck out all your feathers so you're bald 'n pink,

: > And scoop out all your insides and leave ya lyin' in the sink;

: > "And then comes the worst part" he said not bluffing,

: > "She'll spread your cheeks and pack your rear with stuffing."

: > Well, the rest of his words were too grim to repeat,

: > I sat on the stoop like a winged piece of meat,

: > And decided on the spot that to avoid being cooked,

: > I'd have to lay low and remain overlooked;

: > I began a new diet of nuts and granola,

: > High-roughage salads, juice and diet cola;

: > And as they ate pastries, chocolates and crepes,

: > I stayed in my room doing Jane Fonda tapes;

: > I maintained my weight of two pounds and a half,

: > And tried not to notice when the bigger birds laughed;

: > But 'twas I who was laughing, under my breath,

: > As they chomped and they chewed, ever closer to death;

: > And sure enough when Black November rolled around,

: > I was the last turkey left in the entire compound;

: > So now I'm a pet in the farmer's wife's lap;

: > I haven't a worry, so I eat and I nap;

: > She held me today, while sewing and humming,

: > And smiled at me and said "Christmas is coming..."