Truth or…?
A thought on James 1:12-15 (ESV)
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
We often give the devil (or if you are trying to soften it “the enemy”) too much credit. If you stumble into sin, don’t blame him (or them). You have only yourself to blame. According to this passage, sin happens when you give in to your own desire (evil desire, lust, passions (thank you amplified bible)), that is how desire conceives sin. Satan does not cause us sin, he lies to us.
As humans, we act on our desires, that is how we operate. The question then, is what do we desire? If our desires are based on lies (that the devil is constantly telling us), and we act on them, we are going to sin, and die. The death that this verse speaks of isn’t just the eternal kind that we are saved from if we have accepted Christ as our savior, it is also a death to the kind of life we can live when our desires are based on truth.
If our desires are based on truth (God’s word, revealed through scripture, prayer, council (which, incidentally, should all line up…)), that is how we attain the “crown of life” that is spoken of earlier in this passage; which I also happen to think is what Christ is talking about when he tells us that he came to help us to “live abundantly” (John 10:10).
So, what are your desires based on? Who are you believing, yourself or God?
So often I buy into a lie… or maybe more correctly just forget the truth. I struggle often with feeling like God isn’t very close, that he just isn’t around. I begin wonder what I’ve done to offend him. When if I just look at what he’s said to us, I am reminded that he is ALWAYS with us.
No wonder I flip out so much when I have a few days out without reading the bible and/or praying and/or (though THIS rarely happens) being around his people. It is so much easier to believe a lie when you forget what the truth it…
Why is it that we have to keep reminding ourselves of the truth?
hi.just checking in. roger that. skog out.
Council = a group of people, ex: The council held a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Heerema.
Counsel = v. advice, n. to give advice, ex: Paul sought the counsel of approximately 472 pastors before asking Christie to marry him.
Good thoughts, I often struggle with the same things.
yah, yah, yah, so I typed this up late last night and didn’t catch the counsel thing…
You spoke recently about God giving you one of the desires of your heart (Metallica tickets, yea!). It’s my experience that when I’m obedient and thankful, the desires of my heart COME from God. Whether He changes my heart to line up with His, or just plants His desires there, who can say? The end result is that I’m blessed more than I could ever hope or imagine. And, just like your Metallica tickets, the blessing can come in totally cool and unexpected ways!
Oh, and Pat, I’ve decided, to protect myself from ridicule, that I should not blog after 10 p.m. because most of you Rock people are just getting started and I’m becoming a giant, orange, fleshy vegetable orb.