Purify Your Soul By Resisting

Beads of Joy 05-07-10

Purify Your Soul By Resisting
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Recognize Temptation 5/5
Hello Everyone,

We must put our feet to the fire, and seriously stay in check and resist. It is through our temptations that we are tested. Just as Jesus was tempted but not tricked into following though to sin. We are tempted everyday and we must do all we can to resist the hunger we have for the things put before us that will hurt us spiritually. It is through our temptation that we see our weaknesses, but it is by God's grace our eyes are opened to the things our flesh fall weak to. And through that knowledge we can be better equipped to fight off the deception temptation always places before us. The deception is that the final product of temptation which is inevitably sin, is something we desire; when indeed it's not. I think of the scripture, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26 Let us try not to surrender our soul to satan in our sins, we will sin no doubt. But let us all try not to willingly surrender.

What is the lesson we can learn from temptation? I think its the fact it shows our human weaknesses. We are fragile to some degree, but if timed right, even if we are good holy people; we to can be led down a sinful path quenching the thirst of our hunger. We must resist in order to purify ourselves before God. It is through how we handle our temptation that shows God whether we are indeed loyal to Him alone. We must be able to hold our feet to the fire in all things. This suggestion maybe helpful, this is what I do: I journal, so I just tend to write a lot, so this idea revolves around that. On the front of the page I write out all my weaknesses, obviously my sinful ones that offend God. Be one hundred percent honest with yourself, this is your private notebook. Then pour out your heart and see what's at the root of these sins and temptations that you feel powerless to. This is also a great way to prepare for a good healthy confession. I still do this when I prepare for my confessions. Once it's written before you, you can see what the causes are, and now you know what to avoid.

Through the years I have modified and refined that technique, I am very familiar with my weaknesses and absolutely know what I need to avoid; so I don't fall subject to falling into sin. The very first step as you sense and know that a fork in the road has been placed, is to pray. We can not allow satan to sneak up on us and catch us off guard. I think that's why I have saturated my life pretty much completely with my faith, my rosary, and my spiritual writing. Jesus is inevitably all I think of, I don't have much extra time in my life to think about anything else, unless it is God related. Some have said, "That's crazy, you're a Jesus freak." and I say jokingly, "Yes I am a Jesus Freak, what kind of a freak are you?" Besides people who know me, know I don't really care what people think about me, or my faith.

I will be the first to confess the weaknesses in my life; not that I want to print them in big letters across the sky, but I am human, and I admit it. I'd have to say I'll share a little, just to make it easy for some to relate. But know that in some way all of us have similar or the same weaknesses towards certain temptations. My greatest sin I will openly admit is Gluttony. Yes I have many weakness to other temptations that lead me to sin, but gluttony is my worst. I can literally eat anyone under the table, I can consume very large quantities of food. I absolutely love food, and eating is such an awesome pleasure, no I am not salivating as I type. LOL. I try my best to control it, but I fall victim to the fact that I know how to cook. So if I am hungry and it needs to be cooked, I cook. I get tempted by smells, the thought of foods, pictures of meals I enjoy. How about driving past a bakery. I am so bad. I am addicted to food, and I can't just stop eating, so that's even more of a challenge. Just the other night while writing, I made 2 pounds of pasta and ate it, yes you read correctly 2 pounds. I love pasta. This is sad I guess to some degree. My health is good, I feel good, but the temptation that keeps leading into this sin is so hard to resist. I pray about this all the time, even though I am eating as I write this blog. I hope this has been a good week for you with all this sharing.


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO