Don’t compromise if you really want a turn around into triumph. What do you think it means to compromise? Compromise is trying to find a middle ground. It is settling for less than God’s best for your life.
Do you know what the thief wants to do? Jesus said he comes to steal, kill and destroy, (John 10:10). If you compromise, you are not going to enjoy the full blessing of God’s favor that is planned for your life. If you don’t compromise, you must develop a resilience and resistance to temptations and enticements of the enemy. This is a spiritual, physical and personal challenge. God has given us spiritual equipment so that we don’t compromise but press on into triumphant victory through Christ. Your loving heavenly Father has set you up as an example to the world and has equipped you to stand in the victory that Christ has attained.
Matthew 5:14–16 NKJV “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Since you are the light of the world, let your light shine.
Many of us have considered the promise that God made to His people through Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV84 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
After God said that, He gave additional promises. He said, “You will call upon Me and I will listen to you.” “You will seek Me and find Me.” God promised to turn around their captivity and bring them out. Since God has that kind of plan, don’t compromise.
Joseph’s life demonstrated an uncompromising faith and trust in God’s plans for his life.
In Genesis 39, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt and was made servant to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard. While he was a slave, God was with Joseph and blessed everything that he did. When his master saw that the Lord was with him, Joseph found favor in his eyes. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and everything that he owned.
Shortly after this, Potiphar’s wife took notice of Joseph and attempted to seduce him every day to come to bed with her.
You need to know that even when God is blessing you, the enemy wants to bring you down.
In Genesis 39:9 NIV Joseph replied: “No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”
Everyone who has been chosen by God has been challenged to compromise.
If you want God’s best, you must be uncompromising with sin. Satan will see to it that you are tempted, tested, and tried. He is the great thief who wants to steal, kill, and destroy everything God has given you. God has given you a huge turn around, so you cannot afford to compromise.
If Joseph had compromised his faith, he would have lost God’s plan and favor for his life.
I am sure that each of you have faced things that would have destroyed God’s plan for your life. It is important for to understand that Joseph was under divine appointment. His life was being directed by the sovereign God. God had His hand and His eye on Joseph.
Do you know that God has a divine appointment for your life and that His hand and eye is on you?
Joseph’s experience was much like what you are facing today. The Egyptian culture was a mixture of pantheism and animal worship that tolerated all gods. The Egyptians made deities out of all animals and people. Their culture had very little moral restriction. They embraced all kinds of deviant sexual perversion as a form of worship to the gods.
Joseph was thrown into that atmosphere in his youth.
He was exposed to sexual immorality and impure activities. Every day he faced situations that could have tempted him to compromise his faith and trust in God. Potiphar’s wife became a source for these temptations and she was determined to pull Joseph into her perversions. Joseph was walking by faith in God’s promise. He believed that God had something great planned if he did not compromise.
When God turns your life around and starts leading you into His triumph and promise, don’t compromise!
Joseph’s experience offers four great truths that help keep us from compromising.
First, realize that it is not a sin to be tempted.
Everyone will be tempted. Jesus Christ was tempted like we are, but without committing sin. Satan offered Him riches and position in an attempt to get Jesus to forsake His mission in life.
Potiphar’s wife was an instrument of temptation.
She was filled with a vile attraction for Joseph. She had no constraint to keep her from immorality.
Satan is the enemy of your soul and he will attempt to undermine and destroy your faith and integrity.
Joseph was not willing to compromise with the heavenly vision.
Early in life, God gave him a dream and plan for his life. It is important for each of us to know that God has a plan for our life and that Satan wants to destroy that plan. When you know God’s plan, don’t compromise.
WhenAdam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, Satan appealed to them on the basis of legitimate personal desires.
He told them that they wanted to be more like God. He told them they would gain new wisdom. He told them that the tree was lovely to look on. Satan knows how to give a spin on the truth but everything he says is full of lies. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
Joseph was not spiritually or morally weak because he was tempted and tested and neither are you.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
God is able to turn around every attack of Satan for a blessing if you don’t compromise.
Second, Satan’s goals are not God’s plan.
Satan wants to destroy your influence and God’s plan for your life.
God had a specific purpose for Joseph’s life. That plan and purpose was included in the covenant God had made with Abraham. God told Abraham He would give him and his descendants a hope and promise. If Abraham remained true to the faith and did not compromise, God would bless him and his family, and make him great.
God’s plan and purpose for Joseph was much greater than his being blessed by God’s favor.
God turned his life around so that Joseph would be in a place to sustain life and accomplish God’s promise to Abraham. If Joseph compromised, his influence for God would be destroyed and the course of history would have been changed.
Sometimes it is difficult to understand the impact of our choices.
Joseph was an integral part in God’s purpose and plan to bless Abraham’s descendants. You may not even realize everything what God has planned for your life.
Jesus said, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” He wants to ruin your life and testimony. He wants to bring you into shame and humiliate you and your God. He wants to destroy your future.
1 Peter 5:8 AMP “Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.”
This is exactly what is happening.
Satan wants to unbalance your life and destroy God’s plan, favor and blessing. When you realize that you are God’s chosen and that He has turned your life around for a purpose, don’t compromise.
Third, what is the power behind temptation?
In James 1:12-18, we are told that God never tempts us to do evil. God always delivers the godly out of temptation and will never tempt you to sin.
Satan is behind every temptation to do evil.
He is a master of deception and always attempts to draw you away by appealing to your desires. The thief wants to hide the consequences of compromise. He wants to make evil look good and good look evil. Don’t be deceived when you are enticed to compromise.
Fourth, you can live in triumph if you don’t compromise.
You do not have to fall prey to Satan’s misleading devices and enticements. The enemy wants you to think that you have no other option. All of the enemy’s schemes can be defeated.
1 John 4:4 NKJV You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
You can resist the devil and he must flee from you. Keep reminding yourself, “Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world.” God is on your side and He will lead you into victory and triumph.
You can live in the triumph and victory that God has planned for you if you don’t compromise your faith and trust in God.
How do you conquer temptations?
1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
God has promised to make a way for you to escape.
2 Peter 2:9 says, “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation.”
God knows how to turn everything around for your good.
He will give you the victory through Jesus Christ.
Satan did what he could to defeat Christ. If he could defeat Him, there would be no salvation or hope for you and me. In the wilderness, in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the cross and in the tomb, Satan tried to hold Jesus captive to his devices. The Bible says: “Death could not hold Him.”
If the enemy could defeat Jesus Christ, there would be no hope.
Jesus turned all of Satan’s plans around for victory for you. Through Jesus Christ every believer has been given victory, hope and a future. We have been made more than conquerers through the blood of Christ.
Second, you must refuse to compromise.
You have to do something to live in the victory that overcomes the world.
Sometimes you just have to say: NO ! One of the strongest things you can learn to say to the devil, compromise and sin is NO ! You must refuse to compromise. You must refuse to compromise.
One of the ways you can do that is by avoiding areas of temptation.
Proverbs 4:14 NKJV Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil.
Don’t compromise and give yourself over to do evil. God has turned your life around and has great plans for your future. You are a child of God and destiny.
When God turns your life around, He has plans to prosper you and not harm you, He has plans to give you hope and a future.
Get the Word down in your heart and remember that God is faithful to everything He has promised. He will always provide a way for you to escape.
God has a word of encouragement for each of you that the enemy is attacking, tempting and testing.
God has equipped and covered you. If you persevere and don’t compromise when you are tested, you will be blessed. Regardless of the things you are going through right now, God has a plan for your life.
Isaiah 43:1-3 NKJV Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God,
God will turn it around and bring you into victory, joy, rejoicing, and glory if you don’t compromise.
