Author: Dwight Clough

… but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. — James 1:14Where do evil desires come from? Here’s my take: God is a creator; the devil and his allies are corruptors. God creates good desires, and the devil twists them as soon as he can.Some time ago we did some prayer ministry with someone who was trying to get at the root of why she overate. As we sought the Lord on this, we found a little baby that only got attention when she was being fed. Otherwise, parents ignored her. …

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time. — Luke 4:13Exactly what is an "opportune time"?Well, first of all, forget about the devil fighting fair. It isn’t going to happen. He doesn’t shake hands like a gentleman and wait until you’re ready. He looks for the weakest moment, the time when you’re defenses are down.My strongest temptations come in the middle of the night when I’m trying to get back to sleep. I’m tired, and the last thing I feel like doing is fight a spiritual battle. But that’s when the battle comes…

Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered … — Hebrews 5:8What was it like for Jesus to obey? It was pure joy. His heart and the Father’s heart were one. God’s desires were His desires. For Jesus to obey was like asking a child, "What would you like to do more than anything else in the whole world?" and then letting the child do it. What, then, did Jesus learn? He learned that sometimes it hurts to obey. We spend a lot of time as Christians talking about the benefits of obedience, and, yes, there…

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?" — Genesis 3:1At the root of every temptation is a lie. This was the opening punch. It wasn’t designed to knock Eve out, just to throw her off balance. Here’s the message behind it: What kind of God do you serve? Why does He deprive you of what is good?You’ll find a lie something like this at the core of every temptation you face. …

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. — Hebrews 4:15All of us know what it’s like to be tempted. But how well do we understand how temptation operates?Are we tempted because we have a sinful nature? If that is so, then how could Jesus be tempted? He did not have a sinful nature. And why is alcohol, for example, a major temptation for one person, and no temptation at all for the next…

Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. — 2 Kings 2:7In the previous chapter, Elijah called down fire from heaven on two groups of fifty soldiers sent by an evil king with the intention of bullying the prophet into blessing the king. Now good men — another group of fifty — stood at a distance. They knew that this prophet and his God were not to be trifled with. I suspect they were afraid.There is a fear of God that is…

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Mark 1:41 NIVWhat we touch can make us unclean. Pornography is a perfect example. Touch it and be stained. This is one reason why holiness seems so painful to so many of us. We imagine we will achieve it by not touching. I won’t touch lust, greed, envy, bitterness, pride, gluttony, hatred, perversion, gossip, and the list goes on. Keeping clean in this way can be very tiresome. Especially if something inside me wants to lust after that woman walking down…

"Have you noticed … ?" — 1 Kings 21:29I originally wrote this on 9/12/2003, but I think it might be a good thought to come back to.God is talking here to the prophet Elijah. "Have you noticed … ?" He asks.I just finished taking an hour walk in the rain. I was walking through a nature preserve and, predictably, it was deserted. Who would be crazy enough to be out in a rainstorm? But there I was, walking along, getting soaked, not much minding because my heart was full of wonder, noticing things.I was watching the life-giving rain fall on…

"I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they." — Numbers 14:12What is going on?It appears that the Lord is threatening to do something that He has no intention of doing, just to get a response from Moses. God wasn’t going to cancel His promises to the twelve tribes of Israel, just because the nation was out of bounds in fear and disbelief. But He does express His anger in a way that made everybody sit up and take notice.Moses’ response was incredible. A few…

Little by little I will drive them out before you … — Exodus 23:30I’ve run this testimony before, but I hope you’ll be okay with me running it again.Thank God for small miracles.As many of you know, most of my life I’ve been terrified of dogs. Exactly why, I don’t know. My mind can tell me that most dogs are friendly; that you can survive a dog bite; that very few dogs are really dangerous; that if you aren’t afraid of them, they will most likely leave you alone; and so on. But all of those pep talks disappeared whenever…