There are many people that we can compare and contrast throughout the scriptures and two of the easier ones to do is Joseph, the son of Jacob and Samson from Judges. From Joseph, we see a man of integrity, a man that was more concerned about not displeasing God than pleasing his flesh. It is written in *Genesis 39:7 Then after a time his master’s wife looked at Joseph with desire, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife…9How then could I do this great evil and sin against God [and your husband]?* Samson, on the other hand, was all about the flesh and what it would take to please it. It is written in *Judges 16:4 After this he (Samson) fell in love with a [Philistine] woman [living] in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.* And because of Samson’s desire of sin he suffered the consequences. It is written in *Judges 16:21 Then the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza and bound him with [two] bronze chains; and he was forced to be a grinder [of grain into flour at the mill] in the prison.* For Samson, his desires to please the flesh caused him to be binded, blinded, and grinded. Sin is easy, easy to find and easy to do. Sexual temptation can be caused by loneliness, being abandoned by a spouse, or simply a lack of self-control, and yet all can lead a person in one of two directions, closer to heaven if you resist or closer to hell if you don’t. My mother gave me great words of wisdom at a point in my life where the wrong decision could have had very bad consequences for me, “Don’t walk, run”. Her thought was about how to handle the situation and leave. My thought was, Don’t walk to God, run to His loving arms. Final thought, it is written in *Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize and understand our weaknesses and temptations, but One who has been tempted [knowing exactly how it feels to be human] in every respect as we are, yet without [committing any] sin.* May the Lord Jesus strengthen all of His children to resist temptation, fall in love with Him in a way so we glorify Him in all that we do and in so receive His grace, mercy, and peace. In Christ Love, douglas

To any who are interested, please feel free to reach out to me with prayer requests, questions, encouragement, or for information on how to come alongside me in financial support of the ministry activities that God has entrusted to me at pastord.blog@gmail.com