[0:00]our great God and all will see our great God Now today, the first session is all about how to overcome temptations in our life. As we are young, we all have this struggle, this difficulty of being tempted or getting tempted. So the first step that we should know to overcome temptation, the first thing is that, that we have to resist the evil one. We need to be prepared being being tempted itself is not a sin. But what we need to do is to being we have to resist the evil one. We read this in Matthew chapter 4, verse 1. That means when Jesus was being tempted, he he himself was tempted. So the first principle being tempted itself is not a sin. See if a if a bird is flying over your head, is not it's not a problem, but if you permit this bird to sit on your head, then it becomes a problem. A thought, a sinful thought, a sinful picture, it itself is not a sin, but when it is sinking inside you, it becomes a sin. That means the first step is to resist the evil one. Then we read, let's read this word of God together. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Sisters and brothers, if Jesus himself was tempted, he was tempted. It is a normal thing, it happens because we live in this world, we will be tempted by our friends, our relatives, even the movies, even the pictures, even our society, even this world, even the culture, temptation is always all around us. But what we need to do, we need to resist it, the first thing to resist it. We read in James chapter 4, 7 and 8, we read in the word of God, the Lord is teaching us that we need to resist the evil one. Together let us read James chapter 4, 7 and 8. James chapter 4, verses 7 and 8, we read. that we need to resist the evil one and we need to keep away from the evil one. Let's repeat this word of God together. Therefore, submit to God, but resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners and purify your hearts, double-minded people. The Lord is telling us, we need to in order to resist the evil one, the first thing we need to submit to God. This is what now you are doing by attending this retreat, listening to the word of God, singing with us, worshipping the Lord, and resist the evil one. When you are joining the worship, you are listening to the word of God, you are tuning yourself to the Godly music, or to the worship or going to the church, you are resisting the evil one. Then what will happen? He will flee from you. Once you resist the evil one, he will flee from you, and when you draw near to the Lord, when you purposely coming close to the Lord, he will also come close to you. Again this is two Chronicles chapter 15 verse 2. This is two Chronicles chapter 15 verse 2. He's telling us, He went out to meet Asa and said to him, Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you, while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will abandon you. The Lord is teaching us today that in order to resist, to overcome temptation, the first thing is that we should not be afraid of temptation but we need to resist the temptation. We need to come close to the Lord because the Lord is with us always. So it's our struggle, it's our effort to draw close to the Lord, that we have to come close to the Lord. The Lord is always there. Remember the the the father who was always there waiting for his son. So it is the son's initiative, it is his his decision to return to the Lord, while you are with him, if you seek him, you will be found by you. Sisters and brothers, because he is always Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. It's easy to find him. Again, we read in Psalm chapter 73 verse 28. Psalm 73 28. Let's read together this word of God. But for me it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge, to tell of all your works. But for me it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord God my refuge. The Lord is asking you today, you're always telling you are tempted. You are living in a world where there is a lot of confusion and impurity and immorality. And the Lord is asking you today, have you made God your refuge? Do you, are you close to the Lord? The Lord is close to you. The Lord is coming close to you, but are you close to the Lord? Are you near to God? Are you near to the church? Are you are you part of a prayer group or a youth movement where they worship the true God where they come close to the Lord? It's our duty and obligation to keep ourselves close to the Lord. That's the first step is to resist the evil one, in order to overcome temptation in our life. And imagine when Jesus himself, he was been tempted. This is Matthew chapter 44 chapter 4 verse 2. When Jesus was tempted, how did he resist the evil one? He passed he fasted 40 days and 40 nights, and afterwards he was famished. Then we read verse 3. He was famished. That is the time that he is going through he is been tempted. He's tempted. The tempter came and said to him, If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.
[10:04]Sisters and brothers, that he is Jesus is resisting the evil one when he is getting tempted through fasting, through prayer, that he was drawing himself close to the father. That he has been filled with, He went to the desert to be tempted, being completely filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And the second aspect in order to overcome temptation is prepare for the temptation beforehand. You have to prepare for the temptation beforehand. What does it mean? You cannot resist the evil after you are being tempted. You have to prepare in advance the temptation to face the temptation. See how did Jesus prepare, how did he resist the evil one beforehand with the 40 days of fasting and rigorous prayer, Jesus is been filled with Holy Spirit, that is the way he could face the temptation and he overcame it. It's not after we have fallen beforehand we are fallen. We have to prepare beforehand, and God gives us warnings and signs. Let's read this word of God. Now this is from Sirach chapter 18 from 19 onwards, 19 to 27. It's an important passage. Let's read this word of God together. Before you speak, learn, and before you fall ill, take care of your health. Put these word of God, you are intelligent youth. You know the things, you are highly reasonable, you think too much, you have answers for all questions and the Lord is asking you, from 19. Put this word of God into your heart. He is telling you, before you speak, learn. The Lord is telling you, it's not after you have spoken, before you speak, learn, and before you fall ill, take care of your health. See God is giving us, examine yourself, and at the time of scrutiny you will find forgiveness. Before judgment comes, you have to examine yourself. You have to examine before the judgment. And at the time of scrutiny you will find forgiveness. That means before you judge anyone, your teachers, your friends, your relatives, the situations around, you have to examine yourself, not after you have judged somebody. Before you judge someone, then we continue verse 21. And the Lord is teaching us verse 21. Before falling ill, humble yourself, and when you have sinned, repent. God is telling us, before falling ill, humble yourself. Not after we have fallen ill, so he is giving us the instruction through the word of God. And when you have sinned, repent. We continue verse 22. Let nothing hinder you from paying a vow promptly, and do not wait until death to be released from it. As long as you're alive, as immediately as possible, we need to fulfill the vows, the promises that we have made. We should not give empty promises to the Lord. Even to our friends, that means before we take any vow, we should think, will it be possible for me to fulfill it? Will it be possible for me to overcome this temptation? Will it be, I will I be capable of overcoming this peer pressure, this particular group which is maybe misguiding me? We continue verse 23. Verse 23, before making a vow, prepare yourself, do not be like one who puts the Lord to the test. We continue verse 24 until 27 we read. Think of his wrath on the day of death, and of the moment of vengeance when he turns away his face. Verse 25, in the time of plenty think of the time of hunger, in days of wealth think of poverty and need. One who is wise is cautious in everything when sin is all around, one guards against wrongdoing. The word of God is teaching us when sin is all around, one guards against wrongdoing. You know as you listen to me where you are, even our team, the youth here, they always tell, Father, we are so safe inside this divine retreat center. But when we go out, we have lot of temptations. It's very hard to survive the temptations all around. And the Lord is telling us, be cautious in everything. Sisters and brothers, then we need to prepare beforehand for to face temptation. Through Jesus prepared it beforehand, through fasting, through prayer, and the Lord wants us also to prepare in the same way. Don't wait the temptation to wait for the temptation to strengthen your spiritual discipline. You should not wait for the temptation before the temptation comes and hold on to you, you need to resist it. You need to prepare how to overcome it because God has given us freedom. This is Sirach chapter 15 verse 15. The Lord is telling, if you choose the commandments, it is your choice to choose the commandments. To act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. To act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. God has given you the freedom. Using this freedom, you need to get out of this. Let's read this word of God. If you choose, you can keep the commandments to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. It's your choice to overcome it. To do the the to take proper measures to prepare before This is Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse 15. The Lord is giving the instruction to his chosen people at that the Lord is giving them complete freedom. And the Lord is telling, see, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. You can choose whatever you want. Are you choosing life or death? Are you choosing prosperity or adversity? It's your choice. God is giving us this instruction, this information. These youth who are inside this divine, they have the freedom to go out of this place. We cannot force them. We cannot tell them you should be here. No they are free. They are grown up. They know how to think and they know it's good for them to be close to the Lord, to serve the Lord, to worship the Lord. That's the way they are protected. That means it is a preparation before they get a temptation. And the third aspect how to overcome temptation, it is you need to anticipate the way Satan tempts you. You need to anticipate the way Satan tempts you. You know Satan deceiver, the devil is highly intelligent than us. But us, we should know that how to overcome him, we should know his strategies. We we read this is Matthew chapter 4 verse 3. When Jesus, how Satan is tempting Jesus, not with big things. When he was hungry, the tempter came and said to him, see when Jesus became hungry because he has fasting for four days, if you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. Because he knows now what Jesus need is bread. So the Satan is coming with the temptation of giving him this temptation. See, Satan knows your weakness. If your weakness is a friends, the friends will tempt you. If your weakness is the sin of the flesh, impure curiosity. If your weakness is impure curiosity, he will bring all the pornographic materials in front of you. If you are weakness is watching movies, he will bring all these movies in front of you. If you are weakness is games, he will bring all these dirty games in front of you. You should know, if you are, how do you know you are weak? You are falling into it repeatedly. You cannot say no. Maybe you are into social media, into Facebook, you you desire, you have a liking to get so many likes for your video. You always watch how many people have observed it, how many liked it, how many are following you, sisters and brothers. It is an obsession and it will lead you to more further sins. That's why the Lord wants you to know that you should know your weaknesses. Now, as you listen to me, if you have any pornographic pictures in your in your computer, in your cell phone, anywhere. Are you ready to destroy it? If you have any magazines, any pictures or anything that that is leading you to sin. If there is a particular friend who is making you to fall into a particular sin, can you say no to that? That's the way you can prepare it, means you can, you know your weakness and you have to overcome these temptations. Because the scripture is teaching us, this is two Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14. Two Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14. That the friend whom you cannot afford, who is dominating you, who is controlling your life, you should say no to them. Two Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14. He's teaching us that we should not be mismatched with the people who are not with you. Do not be mismach, let's read this word of God. Do not be mismach with unbelievers, for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is between light and darkness? You may have a friend, maybe a boyfriend or a girlfriend, and you come to know this, this particular friend is not matching you. They are not helping you. They are not giving you any kind of support. They are making you to fall. Can you just say no to them? I know there are so many who are broken because of a relationship which is mismatched. It's it's like a peer pressure. Can you just get out of it? Do you, you know that this person is going to give you more oppression? This person cannot lead you to God. And you should know that the strategy of the devil. He knows your weakness. Your weakness is friendship. Your weakness is alcohol. Your weakness is drugs. Your weakness is impure curiosity. Your weakness is games and movies and music. If your weakness is music, if your weakness is dress, if your weakness is beauty, if your weakness is following or imitating certain certain type of celebrities, then you will be attracted to those people. Devil knows, and he will bring all these things in front of you. Put it into mind today. Lord, how you are being misguided. Then the fourth aspect that you should always consider the cost of yielding to the temptation. The cost of temptation. The cost that you have to pay when you fall into the particular temptation. How much you have to pay, that means you need to think the consequences. We read in Matthew chapter 4 verse 5. Jesus, how did he face and he is overcoming it. He is the son of God and he overcame it. Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple. Sisters and brothers, what will be the consequence? Now Jesus as a son of God, he can fall down from this, this the top of the temple, and we know angels will guide him. But there are so many we know in this society, there there is this type of TikTok videos. There are so many who lost their lives by taking such a high risk to get so many likes. They are jumping onto the running trains, taking photographs. They are getting into a cliff, they are taking photographs. They are falling down. Who is watching their photos? They lost their lives. So many temptations, we live in a society in a world where it is filled with temptation. That's why James chapter 1 from 12, we read. The Lord is but appreciating those who overcome temptation. They have been highly appreciated by God. Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Sisters and brothers, you should know the consequences of temptation. I do remember in in one of our retreats in Nairobi in Vincentian prayer house in Kenya. As the retreat was going on a particular young girl started to manifest. She's becoming violent. She's taking the chair and making it round that nobody can sit beside her. As if she's possessed, she's telling something and somebody is moving inside her. She's possessed by demons. She's heavily attacked by demonic attacks. Now they brought us so that we pray over her. When we started to pray for her, we came to know that there is something that is wrong. And we just asked her that whether she has any any friendship. Then we came to know she has a boyfriend. She had a boyfriend, now she does not have a boyfriend. She lived with this boyfriend for more than six months and out of this boyfriend, she got a baby. Now in six months, some years back, she never had this problem of this manifestation until she came for a retreat. And then whenever we start praying and praising the name of the Lord, she feels this manifestation. In Sirach chapter 12 verse 14, we read, Sirach 12:14, do not be associated with sinner. And when you get associated with a sinner, you will not be held blameless. Let's read this word of God together. So no one pities a person who associates with a sinner and becomes involved in the other's sins. Sisters and brothers, when this particular girl, she was in this friendship, she did not know about this boy, his background. They were good friends, but in six months they broke up, because this boy tried to choke her neck, tried to kill her, tried to oppress her. So she ran away after living with this boyfriend for six months, is after the separation, and she came to know she got pregnant. Now she got a baby without a father. Then when she got this baby, now when she came for the prayer service, she feels something is moving in her body. We asked her to pray Psalm 31:4. Psalm 31:4 says, Lord, take me out of the net that is laid for me, for I take refuge in you. We asked her to put your trust in God and ask the Lord to deliver you from the snare of the devil. The devil is a deceiver. Psalm 31:4. Devil is a deceiver and he is there to kill us, to kill our bodily identity. Because John chapter 10 verse 10, we read the Satan, the devil, the thief comes to steal, destroy and kill. Exactly what happened in her life is her peace is been stolen. She is as if she is dead. She's been destroyed with this sin that she had with this boyfriend. When when we asked her to pray repeatedly this word of God, this is Psalm 31:4, after two weeks she came back with a shocking news saying her so-called boyfriend was a devil worshipper. Sisters and brothers, let no one mislead you. This is a real incident happened and I am a witness. She even, she did not know how it happened. Because we read in Revelation chapter 18 verse 4. Revelation chapter 18 verse 4. The Lord is teaching us, then I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues. I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, that means come out of fornication, come out of adultery, come out of wrong relationships, come out of pornography, come out of immorality, my children, so that you do not take part in her sins, in her sins. See when she had a physical relationship with this boyfriend, she was been infected with demons. Because this man was a devil worshipper, so what does he can give you and so that you do not share in her plagues. Whatever if you have a physical relationship with somebody with HIV positive, whether you accept it or not, you will also be infected with this sickness. This plague will come to you. We know with this COVID-19, how does it transmit to the other? If you have a physical touch even with these type of things, then it can be transmitted. It can humanly transmitted. How much more sin? That's why the scripture says this is one Corinthians chapter 6 from 15. St. Paul is teaching us every other sin is outside the body. Don't you know that those who commit a sin with a prostitute, they become one with them. Therefore, those who the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute. Should I therefore take the members of Christ? We continue to read verse 16. The word of God is teaching us, verse 16. The Lord is teaching us, do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, The two shall be one flesh. They are no longer two, they are one. This boyfriend and girlfriend when they have a relationship, they become one, my dear sisters and brothers. We cannot just say, I just had this pleasure, I just had this relationship, you are taking part in their sin, in their immorality, in their physical sinfulness, and you cannot escape. We prayed over her for deliverance. We asked her to forgive this boyfriend and release him, and repent of this sin and make a good confession. And she was been released. Sisters and brothers, in order to overcome temptation, I just want to propose to you those five aspects which Mother Mary has taught the children in Medjugorje. These things are just five aspects where Mother Mary was teaching them. The first step is to make good confession. And the second step is to attend regularly holy mass. Then the third step is to take fasting. And the fourth thing is holy word of God, reading the word of God. And the fifth aspect is to make a confession. Means monthly, at least confession. As regular as you may confession. Your prosperity is going to be established. You will be able to overcome. It will not automatically happen. Sisters and brothers, we need to fight against ourselves, against the peer pressure, against our friends, against evil things, and he's going to set us free.
