There’s No Shame In Temptation
James 1:13-18 (New International Version)
“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”
A few months back I had the privilege of listening to a sermon on temptation by Pastor John Burke, author of “No Perfect People Allowed.” While it is not as pleasant a topic as love or grace, it is important to understand and to prepare against. Some of the principles below I gleaned from that sermon.
Everyone gets tempted. Even Christ our Lord was tempted. There was the one really intense session he had with Satan in the desert (Matthew 4), but there were many others throughout his life – especially throughout his passion. Read the gospel of Matthew chapters 26 and 27.
In a world full of instant gratification, where we can indulge just about any whim, staying pure can be really difficult. often says “The first thought is free.” God does not hold us responsible for being tempted. He holds us accountable for what we do once tempted. When you are tempted, understand that God is not the source or the cause. But the following three things are:
There are real, unseen evil forces at work in the world.
Ephesians 6:10-12 reminds us that Satan, while powerful, is not God’s counterpart. He does, however, have a host of fallen angels at his disposal. The apostle Paul referred to them as Rulers, Authorities, Powers in high places. The enemy’s army is clever, and at times very subtle. So while the phrase “The Devil made me do it,” doesn’t wash when it comes to accepting responsibility for your actions, “The Devil tempted me,” does. If you think of the enemy in terms of the popular caricature, running around in red draws, welding a pitchfork – you’d be really wrong and truly set up to be clowned. He is much more sophisticated and smooth than that.
And for those of you who scoff at the notion of an evil, destructive, supernatural personality at work in the world, know that your attitude is what allows the enemy to flourish. There’s no point in fighting against an enemy you don’t believe exists. Your unbelief actually advances his cause.
The World System is established against Kingdom Principles.
It seems everywhere you look not only in present times, but throughout history, you can easily find examples of rampant greed, unbridled lust, the quest for absolute power, and the oppression of the powerless. All of which serve to destroy humanity. The world system is predicated upon satisfaction of physical desires by any available manner, acquisition of what you see by any means necessary, and securing the approval of others to feel good about ourselves. These are usually referred to as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. The first biblical example of all three can be found in Genesis 3.
If left unchecked, our own desires turn on us.
Let me begin by saying that no God-given desire is bad. The problem is how and when we choose to fulfill those desires. The desire for companionship, friendship, and acceptance is part of the human condition. God created us for relationship with himself and with others. But when a teenager (or an adult for that matter) willingly engages in binge drinking, sex, drug use, or any other destructive behavior because their peers will reject them otherwise, then that God given desire has now taken God’s place in that person’s mind and heart. Similarly the desire to be able to provide for your family is a good thing, I’d even say it is holy. But if you choose to sell drugs, rob banks, or cheat investors out of their hard-earned income, then you’ve crossed the line past temptation into sin. You will reap the results in one way or another.
There Is Hope.
Don’t forget that whatever sin you struggle with, Jesus Christ was tempted with it, too and he overcame! Yes, of course, he was God. But remember he was fully human, too. He knows your pain. He knows your shame and embarrassment. He does not condemn you.
In fact, he stands ready to forgive you and personally escort you through the dark places. In case you haven’t heard, God wants you to win so much that he sent Jesus to die in your place, so that you could live out this life in victory. That’s how much he is on your side. Maybe you don’t have the socially unacceptable problems of alcoholism, sexual addictions, or drug addiction. Perhaps yours is something less noticeable, like your temper, your snobbery, your tendency to lie, your desire to cheat on your spouse, your uncontrolled spending, your determination to “one-up” another person, your habit of gossiping or masturbating, or your tendency to envy anyone more successful, better looking, or more prosperous than you. I don’t know what your “thing” is, but you do. And so does God. And you know what? That’s good enough.
Will you trust him today with what tempts you? I hope and pray that you will.
Be blessed Family!
Follow Sheeri on Twitter! Visit her page on Black Planet.
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Lastly, I think I can prove and beyond shadow of doubt, that Christ was not the Son of God, nor God incorporated into human form.
Again, it’s sufficient to only go as far as the killing of the innocents. Examining this issue, makes it clear God had nothing to do with any of this.
If God had sent himself or a savior, Herod would have no more been able to formulate such a plan in his mind, before being struck dead or vanished into thin air, or some such.
Thus, provided evidence he was bringing salvation and his protection.
God is the giver of life and the affirmation of life. Not the merchant of chaos and destruction. Those are the verifiable forces of evil and any such acts should account to them, and no other.
Now, some are going to say “Well, God did send a messiah but left it up to us to decide what actions to take.” “He gave us free will.”.
Well, obviously that doesn’t hold water because if he allows us to make such stupendously stupid decisions such as those, why would he not also allow us to “decide” for ourselves how to usurp an oppressor?
Thus, any promise or appearance of any messiah, as sent by God, is concocted from anything ranging from non-sense to conjecture.
However, such as sent by man, is a different story. Those things can be substantiated, evaluated and judged, as far as what the intentions were, are and will be for those involved in such plans and schemes.
And on that note, I doubt anyone would conclude any intention beyond the confiscation of power for the purposes of eternal enlsavement……
LOL
Now, having said all of that, what does it mean for Christianity, if I’m correct?
Well, I’m certainly not the first to see the forces of evil at work in the christian church, first of all. However, my view is that seeing Christ’s predicament in human terms, makes it all the more compelling and in fact a more viable recruiting tool than portraying him as the Son of God.
With his deification, you simply have a tool of coercion. A seemingly effective one, however one as easily disproved or at least called into question. Particularly if you’re prone to using force.
I think the simple fact is that revealing the Kingdom of Christ and how he and humankind were robbed of it, does more to compel man than his deification ever will.
There’s another illustration of how this works and you’ll find it in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”. No, it’s not about the rise of communism. It’s about the struggle of the christian faith.
Snowball, is Christ. Napoleon, is the one who was acting behind the scenes and manipulating situations, not snowball from the afterlife. In fact, Napoleon was probably behind the cowshed rebellion and snowball’s death. He used snowball at first as a hero, then the entity behind all the problems. When in fact, it was Napoleon.
You see, “The Animals” had become aware there was a better life for them with freedom. Snowball, was the bravest of them all, which cost him his life. He was then remembered as a hero and people bowed to his remains, etc..
But, the principles were changed slightly, over time and as circustances required. Eventually, the “animals” became as evil as the “humans”.
Well, read it in that context and I’m sure you’ll see. But, it’s the story of humanity actually. However, I think Orwell’s actual target was both the vatican and anglican churches. He simply allowed people to think it was communism, as further testimony and evidence to the entire premise of the story.
Which was basically that ignorance and stupidity leaves you open to manipulation of all sorts and you need to simply be literate enough to read and intelligent enough to understand what you read, or you’ll become victim to those who interpret it for you….
LOL
Well, looks like I’m going to be ignored, as usual. LOL. But you see, I’ve learned the lesson that Christ brought to us and to serve us for all of eternity. God’s ETERNAL wisdom. A term to be taken seriously, and literally, as I’ll demonstrate.
You see, although it would appear that Christ failed in his mission to defeat the forces of evil and was literally consumed by them, God views this as merely the circ**stances of an individual. His potential was limited only by his ability to defeat opposition. And all that takes when you’re dealing with evil, is knowledge and wisdom.
Christ had a great deal of knowledge about a variety of evil practices in his time and rose to the top of society by simply rejecting them and deploying the forces of good.
He had no idea, obviously, of the ultimate tool of enslavement, the murder of children. A tool which serves the forces of evil quite well. The trick is to simply cause enough confusion as to whom the culprit is.
But, God would see this, again, as merely the circ**stances of an individual. It does nothing TO, the eternal potential. One that will always exist.
It will always be that God’s kingdom has the potential for establishment on Earth and become ruled under it’s principles, and not the principles of enslavement and corruption.
Christ failed, because people failed to warn him. Give him one precious bit of information which could have prepared him to deal with those circ**stances.
But the humanitous viperious, strikes without warning and with great precision, and is always fatal.
Christ was simply un-prepared for such an attack. And that’s all there is to it.
But, as long as our society and this website sings the praises of those who murder and enslave children, God’s kingdom on Earth will never be. But diminish not one iota, it’s potentail. Thus, you cannot defeat God. Potential is eternal and has nothing to do with the temporal. The temporal, is by defnition, temporary. Change can come, at any moment.
But, like I say. Every word of praise for a sickening vampire such as Kennedy, I just have none which seem adequate or appropriate.
If he didn’t murder Mary Jo Kopekne, he it was a photo finish call, which could only be judged with a nanometric scale.
And to the forces of evil, here was a man who could not face reality or responsibility and cared only about his own success and future.
A man who would see nothing wrong with helping women kill their unborn children.
Some things will never change. These people in scientific terms and methods, can and will convince those in authority that the answer to their problems lies squarely on the heads of innocent babies and the only solution, is death.
Sing them praises if you will.
For if God is truly merciful and would show them any, then he would surely show me the same, though I would show them none………
LOL
Again, I have an example of how any variety of christian, has no understanding of their professed religion. Heck, the Pope has no understanding of the fundamental basis for this religion. I of course, have positive proof.
Now, the Pope has stated Christ was not executed at the behest of jews. Well, who does he think the rioters were, demanding his execution?
Furthermore, why were they demanding his execution?
That too is a simple and obvious answer.
As you recall, Herod ordered the executions of first borns at the time of Christ’s birth. Now, the forces of evil, which Sherri discusses, kept quiet about the fact the deaths of those children were upon the orders of Herod. Thus, were quite a mystery to the jews. And just like in Egypt at the birth of Moses, only jews were affected.
Now, fast forward to the jews about to name Christ their king. Which meant they would give their money to him, in exchange for his protection.
Well, now the forces of evil could reveal the nature of the deaths of their first borns. They revealed to the jews that Herod ordered them, in order to prevent this prophetic king from taking up rule.
This infuriated the jews into riots because how could he ever hope to rule when his very birth brought about such tragedy.
Christ of course had nothing to do with it and the forces of evil were behind every incident and the only thing Christ did, was to discover who was behind the screen pulling the levers and blowing the smoke.
You see, that’s the true life of Christ. He knew where the forces of evil lay, and simply caused them to reform, or leave. And the communities he visited, would prosper. Which of course is the reason they wanted to name him king. He led them to peace and prosperity, just as the prophecy foretold.
The people simply could not divorce themselves from the idea that the price was their firstborn child. A price only a despicably evil force would demand.
And knew would never be paid………
They knew they would never be able to forgive Christ for something he had no part of. And that’s how they set things up. To enslave mankind for eternity and up the ante at every opportunity.
In fact, in today the price is, your sanity.
If you so much as begin to think like I do, they’ll call you insane and subject you to ridicule.
LOL