Avoiding Daily Occasions of Temptations

We have to try through the grace of God and the power of prayer to avoid daily occasions of temptations. We have to remember that we are weak but Jesus is strong.We have to depend on God for everything because the devil can easily outsmart us through our desires.

If we truly want to avoid the occasions of temptations in our daily lives we have to be careful what we look at. According to Proverbs (New American bible) 27:20, “The nether world and the abyss are never satisfied, so too the eyes of men.” This means that our eyes are not naturally satisfied with looking at things that we consider the objects of our desire.

This similar to the saying, “the eyes are never satisfied with looking”. This means that if we do not find the energy to look away from tempting objects, through the grace of God, we shall like David find ourselves committing sins beyond our imagination. We have to learn to look away from evil and those activities that do not glorify God. I am not saying it is easy but I know that God can help us do all things, provided we persistently ask Him.

The process of avoiding occasions of sin or of temptation requires time and practice. If we regularly say no to small and simple sins then we shall be able to say know to more complex sins. According to Isaiah ( New American Bible ) 1: 16,17, “Cease doing evil and to do good.”

We need to avoid occasions of temptation and look for occasions of grace.We can find occasions of grace through reading the bible, reading spiritual books, praying and listening to tapes and messages from Fr. Mbaka.We can also do this by following Fr. Mbaka’s principles of spiritual life.

Count your blessings everyday

Count your blessings everyday. Doing this will help you stay in the moment.This will help you form the habit of thanking God for his mercies on a more regular basis.

This should not really be difficult to do since we can all count on many daily blessings, from God. These include having good friends,earning a living, staying healthy,friends,family,school and the ability to smile and laugh.

The simplest way to do this regularly is to pray before every task of the day. Pray before you go to work, pray before you get into your car,and pray as you carry out your daily tasks and projects. If you sometimes do not know exactly what to say. Do not worry, just talk to God like your best friend.

This can be done by reading the bible regularly, praying the “thank you , Jesus ” rosary daily, and regularly saying thanks to God at every opportunity you get in the day. Reading the bible, going to mass or adoration regularly will help you to become more immersed in your daily life. Counting your blessings everyday, will help you to lift your spirits and help you to focus on what members happy, instead of focusing on what makes you sad.

Remember to count your blessings everyday. It will help you become more appreciative of the fact that even though you do not own your plane or house yet, you have your own car or can pay for your transportation, or at the least have a roof under your head.May God continue to bless us as we continue on our spiritual journey for our happiness and the greater glory of God.

Hold unto God daily

If we really want God to help us, we have to learn to help ourselves by continually asking God to bless us in our daily activities.No activity is too big or too small for God, Just hold unto God daily.

One of the best ways to hold unto God is to pray. Prayer changes everything. Unless we pray regularly before every activity in our lives we might find ourselves in trouble. This is because, the devil never rests. This is why you have to pray before you cross the street, drive your car ,go to school or go to work. This way we can constantly continue to ask for divine intervention, divine protection and divine blessings.

We have to try to do everything for the glory of God. If we do not act for the glory of God, we have to ask ourselves why we are acting.Is it to please ourselves, to please others, or to continue in sin? The truth is that unless we immerse ourselves in God through consistent daily prayers, our thoughts and desires may lead us away from God. Holding unto God daily will give us the moral compass to navigate through the treacherous seas of daily living.

We can do this because our sufficiency is from God. Colossians ,3:23,25 (New American Bible) says ,” whatever you do, do from your heart,as for the Lord and not for others. For the wrongdoer will receive recompense for the wrong he committed.”

May God forgive us our sins and help us to persevere in trial. James 1:2( New American Bible) says ,”Consider it joy when you encounter trials ..for the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” Sometimes our thoughts and desires test us , at other times we are tested by our friends and circumstances.Either way the first step towards passing these steps would be to ask for God’s help through prayers.The second step would be to avoid putting ourselves in occasions of sin.

To do this day in , day out, we have to hold unto God daily.We can do this by having conversations with Him through reading the bible. We can all learn from listening to Fr. Mbaka’s “talks” and music videos, going to mass frequently , going for adoration and trying to be merciful to others and to ourselves. May God continue to bless and protect us.Amen.

Use Your Faith For Victory

Did you know that there are many ways you can use your faith for victory? This can be done by praying, reading the word of God or by glorifying God in our daily activities. Use your faith for victory.

You also have to remember that while you are working to use your faith for victory, the evil one is still busy prowling around the world looking for whom to deceive and devour. This is one of the reasons why we have to pray and fast regularly.

By praying we talk to God and ask for divine help, especially during temptation. A spiritual writer once said that, praying regularly is like talking to friend. The more you talk or keep in touch , the closer the relationship becomes. The closer the relationship the more likely , it will be that in times of need your friend will be there for you.

If your friend who is a man or woman can do this for you, what do you think God for you? we already know that with God all things are possible. This is why it is possible for us to become victorious through our faith. The problems that stop us from doing this in every situation, includes our desires and our failures to pray without ceasing.

If you really want to be victorious in your faith then you have to avoid putting yourself in negative situations. Negative situations include occasions of sin, positions or circumstances which make it difficult for you to the right thing.

Do not let your circumstances determine your result.Instead trust in God and rely on the power of positive intervention through the help of the Holy spirit. Pray and pray, God out of His Love for us, has already promised us that if , “we ask, we shall receive”. Amen!!!!

Do not give up before your miracle happens

Do not give up before your miracle happens.Rely more on God than your self. If you find yourself struggling to achieve your goals or struggling to live the way you want to, do not give up.Your miracle is on its way. Do you remember how many years, St.Monica prayed for her son,Augustine,before his miracle happened? What if she had given up by the first year of praying?

We need to continue to remind God that we still need His help, instead of allowing our circumstances to determine our behavior.We have continue to say, “Thank you,Jesus.” We first thank God for what He has done for us and then we ” Thank Him “,for what He will do for us. Mean while we continue to pray and ask for help.

We give up too easily when we encounter obstacles towards achieving our goals. When we give up on ourselves, we end up not trying hard enough to succeed and then find reasons to stop praying.

In order to get our miracles we have to continue praying. When we pray to overcome a bad habit like drinking too much alcohol and we do not, we give up.Instead of continuing to ask God to help us become the success,God wants us to be; we give up based on our own limitations and fears.

We begin to listen to those that tell us that ” we are not good enough”. It may be from friends or relatives.Sometimes, it is even from our own self talk.Whatever the source of these negative thoughts, we have to disregard them. Unfortunately, most of us begin to act on these negative thoughts and give up before our miracle occurs.

How do we prevent this from happening? We have to pray more consistently. We have to continually tell God about what we want whether we feel like or not. We have to be precise and persistent. Why? The devil never rests.

We have to remember that the devil is always trying to deny us our miracle. This means we have to be vigilant.We have guard our thoughts, watch what we say and what we do. We have to be able to pray and tell God about our fears, obstacles and problems. Tell Him that you want to succeed inspite of your obstacles. Say it loud,”Lord, I want to succeed, inspite of my failures”. Everyday, tell God, “Lord, give me my miracle, today!!”.

How can we be faithful to God everyday ?

How can we be faithful to God everyday?According to the catechism of the Catholic church,God created us to love Him with all our heart and all our mind and to be faithful to Him all the time.The bible assures us that when we do this we shall be joyful and happy here on earth and in heaven.How can we start?

We have to start by being honest with ourselves.This means we have to tell God the truth about ourselves.We have to tell Him,our sins,our weaknesses,our problems and our desires and aspirations.

We have to remember that God is our Father.Any good dad would be willing to help his son or daughter provided they told him the truth.This is why we have to tell God all about ourselves.Let me ask you a question.

If you have 100 dollars and you need 1000 dollars,will your father be able to completely help you if you tell hm you have 900 dollars and need only 100 dollars?The answer is no because even if he gives you the 100 dollars you requested for, you end up with only 200 dollars.

Here is the problem you will have: 200 dollars will not help you solve your 1000 dollars need.Unfortunately, this is what most of us do.We do not tell god the whole truth about our situation and needs.We try to to pretend before of an all knowing God,that we do not have so many weaknesses and problems.

We forget that God knows everything about us.However,if we fail to ask Him for all the help we need in our daily lives, He will not give us all the help we need.This will only amplify our weaknesses and the devil,who likes to prowl around looking for whom to devour,will take advantage of our desires and weaknesses through daily temptations.

The only way we can overcome daily temptations and remain faithful to God everyday is to pray every hour of the day and ask for His complete help all the time.How can God help us if we lie to Him even about the things we need?