We Are Our Own Worst Enemy, #2

James 1:14-15

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.(KJV)

Last week I talked about our being enticed by our own desires and lusts. This week I am going to talk about when lust has conceived.

As you know, when you get to wanting something, whether it be something you want to do, want to have, want to say, etc, you need to stop right there and ask yourself-is this what God wants or just what I want? I know I am guilty of not asking that question nearly enough. I don’t even tend to think right then and there whether I should be wanting whatever. Are you like that too? For people who are distractable like me, it really becomes a problem at times. I just realized that disctractable people are also impulsive. Shows you I really need to work on my discerning of God’s will in all situations, at least far more than I do.

One of my desires was to stay home from a women’s church function this week, but something inside me said I needed to go. I know it was the Holy Spirit. But I was being enticed with the idea of just staying home that evening and doing something else I wanted to do. That desire to do that something else I wanted to do was my clue that it was not what God wanted me doing. Not that what I was wishing to do was any sin, but it would have been sin at that time because it would have been putting my interests ahead of God’s in this case. Often Satan tries to stop us from doing something God wants by making us feel like not doing it. You see how we must be careful not to let our feelings rule us? There have been plenty of times when I have not stopped and asked myself, is this to please me or is this what God wants? Why?-cause I have already decided I wanted to do it, so did not want to consult God. It makes me think of the comparison of King David to King Saul. Saul really did not care about what God’s instructions were, and seldom consulted God on matters of state. King David, on the other hand, would not move into action without checking with God, at least most of the time. I don’t want to be like Saul. I am sure you don’t want to be like him either.

James says-when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. You see, when the desire has become a set determination with you-in this case James is referring to the wrong desire-then it brings forth sin. You actually go ahead and do (or think) what is in your heart to do. It becomes action. Then James says, when sin has become full grown, it brings forth death. When you have done it enough times, you are deadened to God’s will. It kills you spiritually. That is also why when you have bad habits, you often find yourself defeated by those habits. And to break those habits, you have to start new ones to replace the old bad ones. That takes time and effort. And if you have become lazy about doing those things you need to do, you are even more defeated, because you have developed a characteristic in yourself that brings death and defeat not only to your hopes and plans, but also eventual death and defeat in the rest of the areas of your life. You end up not being the Christian who endures to the end.

Jesus described sin as yeast. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Anyone who has made bread has seen how just a tiny bit of yeast can blow up a whole lot of wet flour. Yeast or leaven serves as a breaking down agent in the flour, and hence bread is born-a product full of air holes. Have you ever heard of an airhead? Or have you ever heard of someone referred to as a hot balloon? Do you see the picture?

There was an explanation of decision making that I found on a Sunday School classroom wall one time and I made a copy of that. I consider it invaluable. It is called an Anatomy of a Decision. In it one can see how the thinking process of a person works-either for good or for evil. The person thinks the thought, envisions doing it, does it, and wallah! Or the person thinks the thought, asks whether it is what God wants for them to do, thinks of a verse for strength and direction, and if it is a wrong thought-throws it out of their minds. Again my point, "The battle is in the mind." It is in your mind you make the decisions, and if your heart is wrong, it is going to prompt the mind to make the wrong decsions.

I Jn 4:1

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.(NAS)

Even though this verse refers to testing and trying the teachers that come into your midst, it can also be applied literally to spirits (which will impress on you their thoughts) and can also be applied to your own thinking, your own thoughts. Rememeber what Paul said to the Ephesians, "we battle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities......."etc. These principalities are the demonic spiritual beings that would love to have us in their grasp. Christians can battle these successfully if they desire to. Or Christians can fall prey to them if they really aren’t looking for victory.

Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins-our sins killed Him. Our sins were put on Him and He died not only because He was carrying our sins, but because He was chosen to do so. He was chosen to experience death for us. Real death. And since He paid for them for us by His death and He had not been guilty of one single sin in His life, He rose again out of that grave, alive and well, with the scars on His body that were visible to see, and even could be felt in the touch. He had a body that was a resurrected eternal body-it still is that way-and He could eat, walk around, even cook a meal. He wasn’t mere spirit-He had the perfected spiritual body that could also have a physical side to it. He literally ascended to heaven 40 days after His resurrection and will literally come back again-and when He does it will be as the judge and executioner of evil. He will also celebrate with His believers the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. And I believe that is going to entail real actual food and eating. And since we will have perfect bodies just like His, not one bit of food consumed will be wasted by the body-everything eaten will be assimilated. No waste products. That is a nice prospect.

But back to the subject at hand. How many of you followed my advice regarding asking yourself if what you were thinking of doing or saying, etc. would glorify God? That was a challenge to me too. James tells us of the consequences of not following God, but of following self. Let’s all be careful. James is not giving these instructions for the fun of it, nor is he giving these instructions and explanations just to write them down. No, James was expecting people to follow his advice and directions. God had him write that so we would know how to deal with daily living in a way that pleased Him. Consider advice in scripture not advice, but commands. Since God is boss, we need to take what He says as commands, laws to be obeyed even. God doesn’t expect you to be perfect, He expects you to be obedient by means of His strength operating in you and complete because He makes you complete. It is in your thought life that you will have victory or defeat in your life-your life will be worked out as a result of what your thought life has in it and the decisions you make with the spirit of your mind.

For another discussion on these verses, go

http://bibleverseart.com/weekly-devotional/Temptation_08-18-00.htm

God bless and have a great weekend. The Good News Lady