“Every adversity carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit.”
NAPOLEAN HILL

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 NASB

What a promise. The Scripture quote from the apostle Paul gives us a way of escape for any temptation that has overtaken us. The Ryrie Study Bible says, “Not necessarily relief but the power to be able to bear the testing.” In other words, you might not be able to get away from the temptation, but you will be able to stand and not give into whatever it is. Jesus gave us the same promise that once we receive the Holy Spirit, we will have power. You can find this promise in Acts 1:8. I know from personal experience that God will not only give power to endure temptations, but many times there is an avenue of escape, there is an alternate route. Sometimes the signs that point to the alternate escape route are hidden and not easily seen, we must know this Scripture in our heart and be trained to look for these escape routes. I find that God will always use people, and many times our escape route may be the companionship and encourage of a fellow believer. Solomon said, “Two is better than one, for they have a good reward for their labor.” And so it is with temptation, if at all possible if you know that you might be headed toward some temptation in your life, take someone with you. Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, we should learn from this. In AA when we make calls on alcoholics, that are in the grips of a continuing and progressive addiction, we recommend that we never go alone. Why? Because our only way of escape might just be the God given support we get from our fellow worker. I find the whole program of Alcoholics Anonymous to fulfill the Scripture by the apostle Paul. For me and in my life, the avenue of escape provided for by God, has been centered in fellowship. Fellowship that provides encouragement from those who have walked this way before, and have learned to overcome. I am also very grateful for the Holy Spirit that gives me power to stand alone with the Armor of God. When I have to, I will and do stand upon the promises, and just knowing this Scripture gives me strength. The truth is that I am never alone spiritually, and when I find myself alone physically I know that I know that God will do for me what I could not do for myself. Thanks for letting me share………………….JRE

“God is always ready to pour His blessings into our hearts in generous measure. But like the seed sowing, the ground must be prepared before the seed is dropped in. It is our task to prepare the soil. It is God’s to drop the seed. This preparation of the soil means many days of right living, choosing the right and avoiding the wrong. As you go along, each day you are better prepared for God’s planting, until you reach the time of harvest. Then you share the harvest with God, the harvest of a useful and more abundant life.”
HAZELDEN…………Twenty-Four Hours A Day

There is a solution. Almost none of us liked the self-searching, the leveling of our pride, the confession of shortcomings which the process requires for its successful consummation. But we saw that it really worked in others, and we had come to believe in the hopelessness and futility of life as we had been living it. When therefore, we were approached by those in whom the problem had been solved, there was nothing left for us but to pick up the simple kit spiritual tools laid at our feet. We have found much of heaven and we have been rocketed into a fourth dimension of existence of which we had not even dreamed.”
Alcoholics Anonymous page 25