H.A.L.T. Temptation...

HALT TEMPTATION!!!

Psalm 38:3
There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.

Sin is so painful to the one whose aim is to please God. We get so frustrated and disappointed in ourselves that it can feel almost unbearable. Many times our sin can hinder us from reading our Bibles or praying because we feel ashamed to meet with God. This of course, is NOT what we need to do. In times when we have sinned are the times when we need to CLOSEST to God through His Word and prayer.

But what about trying to cut sin off before it happens? Part of avoiding sin is identifying when we are most likely to be TEMPTED. There are situations and times in our life when we are more susceptible to sin than others. Here is an acronym that I recently learned to help identify those times and situations:

H.A.L.T. it stands for HUNGRY, ANGRY, LONELY, and TIRED

Think about the times when you struggle most with sin, isn’t it when you are hungry, angry, lonely, tired or a combination of some or all four? Unfortunately, we live in a high speed, fast food, independent, right now, deadline driven, one million and ninety one things to do in a day culture that does not help, right! So we have to make adjustments. Make God our priority, remember, only HE TRULY satisfies.

If we can identify those times and situations we can do our best to avoid them, and then be better prepared to deal with them when they present themselves.

So let’s do our best to H.A.L.T. TEMPTATION…and when we do fall into sin, don’t let it separate you from the Word of God and prayer, do as the psalmist did in Psalm 38, bring it to God and be real about it. He loves, forgives, corrects, enables, and encourages.