Day 26 of the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

1. Every temptation is an opportunity to do good.

2. Temptation simply provides the choice.

3. While temptation is Satan's primary weapon to destoy you, God wants to use it to develop you.

4. Every time you choose to do good instead of sin, you are growing in the character of Christ.

5. When the Holy spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, job, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

6. To have the fruit of the Spirit is to be like Christ.

7. the 9 fruit always mature and ripen slowly.

8. God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you're tempted to express the exact opposite quality.

9. Character development always involves a choice, and temptation provides that opportunity.

10. Joy is based on your relationship to God.

11. God develops real peace within us, not by making things go the way we planned, but by allowing times of chaos and confusion.

12. Patience is developed in circumstances in which we're forced to wait and are tempted to be angry or ave a short fuse.

13. God uses the opposite situation of each fruit to allow us a choice.

14. Every time you defeat a temptation, you become more like Jesus.

15. Temptation always starts in your mind, not in circumstances.

16. Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God.

17. Anything he tells you will be untrue or just half-true. Satan offers his lie to replace what God has already said in his Word.

18. We are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

19. Do not be deceived, my dear friend.

20. Refuse to be intimidated.

21. You will never be able to avoid it completely,

22. Temptation only becomes a sin when you give in to it.

23. Matin luther said, "You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest on your hair.

24. You can't keep the Devil from suggesting thoughts, but you can choose not to dwell or act on them.

25. The closer you grow to God, the more Satan will try to tempt you.

26. Sometimes while you are praying, Satan will suggest a bizarre or evil thought just to distract you and shame you.

27. Treat it as a distraction from Satan and immediately refocus on God.

28. Recognize your pattern of temptation and be prepared for it.

29. Ask yourself, "when am I most tempted? What day of the week? What time of day? Ask, "Where am I most tempted? At work? At home? At a neighbour's house? At a sports bar? In an airport or motel out of town?"

30. You should identify your typical pattern of temptation and then prepare to avoid those situations as much as possible.

31. Request God's help.

32. God wants you to ask him for assistance in overcoming temtation.

33. I call this a "microwave" prayer because it is quick and to the point.

34. The Bible guarantees that our cry for help will be heard because Jesus is sympathetic to our struggle.

35. God never gets irritated, bored, or impatient when we keep coming back to him.

36. When people are tempted and still continue strong, they should be happy. After they have proved their faith, God will reward them with life forever.