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From Ben Fronczek... James (Part 4) TEMPTATIONS


James (Part 4)  TEMPTATIONS

Imagine living with someone who was never even tempted to sin.

In a previous lesson, I mentioned the fact that Jesus had never committed a sin. He was totally sinless; and so I asked you to imagine what it must have been like to grow up with someone like that.  James, and Jude and the rest of Jesus’ brothers and sister must have wondered how Jesus could even do it.

Just like everyone else, I believe that Jesus was tempted by sin, but He personally was not tempted to sin. In other words, its one thing to be exposed to a potential temptation, but it’s quite another thing to be tempted in your heart TO sin, where you actually want to commit the deed. From my understand and based on what I read in James 1, I don’t think Jesus ever had a thought or desire to commit any kind to sin or wanted to yield to any potential temptations that came His way.

Understanding this helped me to understand what James wrote in  
James 1:9 where he wrote, 

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;”

God the Father, God the Spirit, nor God the Son have never had a desire to yield to a temptation to do kind of evil. There has never, ever been one inkling, desire, or twinge to do anything evil on His part. And because of that, it is absolutely impossible for Him to tempt anyone of us to do evil. Sin and evil temptations are just not part of His nature.

Why is God like that? Because through and through, God is absolutely pure, 100 percent void of any kind of evil, hence we use the term HOLY. And that’s why we cannot enter His presence dirty and stained by the sins we have committed without first being cleansed by Jesus. (When & where does this happen? When we accept Jesus Lord and allow Him to remove our sin in Baptism See Colossians 2:9-13)

And that’s the kind of brother James grew up with. Not once did Jesus ever seem tempted to sin, nothing evil ever seem like a temptation for Him. His eyes never stared longer than they should have with desire in them for something impure or with lust. It just wasn’t there in Him. Nor did He try to tempt others to do anything wrong. He never tried to get someone else to lie for Him or make up stories that weren’t true. He did not try to get his siblings to take anything or do anything that was inappropriate. Never once did He try to convince someone else to hurt, abuse, or cheat another. It just wasn’t in His nature.

So when James writes, 

13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;” 

he wrote from experience; he never saw his brother do anything like that.

Unfortunately James like each and every one of us was not like Jesus. All of us are tempted to do something inappropriate. Temptation in itself is not bad. But unlike Jesus, we are weak, we look longer than we should, we crave and want when we should walk away, and then we sin.

And even though some of us have been saved from our sinful condition and cleansed by the blood of Jesus, we still have a problem don’t we? We are still weak and feel tempted to sin, and we keep on sinning!   So what can we do?

#1- When tempted – James tells us that we…Should not blame God

Verse 13 says 

“When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”
We humans are pretty good when it comes to the “blame game.” We don’t like to take responsibility for our own failures or sins. We prefer to blame it on someone else. “Well, I would never have smoked had it not been for my dad who smoked.” Or “I remember when my friend took me to a bar and bought me my first beer and that started my drinking problem.”

It’s always easier to blame someone else for our failures than it is to own up to them or admit some kind of error on our part. (Guess it started with Adam 

“The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Genesis 3:12)

A manager of a minor league baseball team was so disgusted with his center fielder’s performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself. The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun–until it bounced off his forehead. The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately, it flew between is hands and smacked him in the eye.

Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grabbed the center fielder by the uniform, and shouted. “You idiot! You’ve got center field so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!”

People also tend to blame God for bad things that happens to them or family members “Well God just created me this way”; but this is incorrect thinking.

God cannot be tempted to sin. Temptation holds no power over Him. And God does not tempt anyone.

OK, if this is true then why are we tempted to sin? It should be obvious to us. It’s because  we live in a messed up, broken, sinful world; but God didn’t mess it up or break it, man did. Mankind chose to give in to our lusts and we sinned. Consequently, there will always be the temptation in this world to sin. BUT IT’S NOT GOD’S FAULT, WHAT HE CREATED HE CREATED GOOD.

To be totally sinless is almost beyond our comprehension. We have sinned so much and so often that we just can’t imagine anyone being without sin. The only ones we can see in this sinless state is a newborn baby.

 C.S. Lewis wrote: “How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets real thing, it is irresistible.”
Have you noticed how irresistible a baby is? I mean, when you see a newborn baby don’t you just want to look at it and/or hold it and cuddle it? Little babies are innocent and pure. That’s probably why Jesus said that we need to become like them.

#2 WHEN TEMPTED TO SIN DON’T BLAME GOD, BLAME YOURSELF
Verse 1:14 & 15 say, 

but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

Each one is tempted by his own evil desires. Enter the wrong place at the wrong time, and get exposed to the wrong thing and we would all fall into sin because we are weak!

Thomas Boston (a Scottish church leader of the 1600s) wrote: “Temptation is the fire that brings up the scum of the heart.”

 A Reader’s Digest reader wrote: While my wife and I were shopping at a mall, a shapely young woman in a short, form-fitting dress strolled by. My eyes followed her. Without looking up from the item she was examining, my wife asked, “Was it worth the trouble you’re in?”

Each one is tempted by his own evil desires. Your temptation may not be for sexual lust. It may be something else. For example, some people shouldn’t go shopping. Why? Because they are aroused by what they see and when they see that certain something they can’t help but buy it. Some people can’t resist eating certain foods. Some cannot resist certain drinks  The problem of:  “I want” can quickly turn into idol worship. That is, we want that something more than we want to know God and please Him by resisting that something.

I John 2:15-17 

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever..”

Do you hear what John the Apostle is saying here? If you love those evil things then you really don’t love Father God all that much. Sometimes I feel so guilty for I what think and do.
Like Paul said in Romans 7:21-25, 

I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Most of the temptations that we face in life are summed up there in 1 John… 1- lust for sensual pleasure 2- lust for things pleasing to the eyes (materialistic desires) 3- Pride of being appreciated, praised, or glorified.
But in reality, if there is anything about our lives, our talents, our gifts, our material goods, etc. that appears good or great, it’s because they are a gift from God and He alone deserves the glory!

That’s what James says in verses 16 & 17. He wrote, 

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”


#3. SO WHEN TEMPTED – TURN TO GOD – LOOK UP
Someone said: “To realize God’s presence is the one sovereign remedy against temptation.”

Practicing the presence of God… realizing that He is with us, by us, even in us can help curb our desire and appetite for that something we should not get involved in or with. We need to recognize that God and His strength and His presence offers us a way to resist or out of temptation to sin!

I Corinthians 10:13 

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.

(Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun.., in other words God has see it all before. Paul goes on to say…) And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
God will always provide a way out; we just have to chose to go His way rather than the way of temptation. Sometimes this is hard!

A boy by the name of Alexander was trying to save all the pennies he could in order to buy a baseball bat. But he had a hard struggle. One night when he was saying his prayers, his mother heard him say fervently: “O Lord, please help me save my money for a baseball bat. And, God, don’t let the ice cream man come down this street!”

We all need to look up and pray a similar prayer: “Lord, keep so and so away from me. And please keep me away from those things that tempt me. Please help me Lord!”

And I believe that God can help us remove those desires, those temptations from our life. He can even renew us if we let Him, and if we follow His lead and will.

Some time after the conversion of Augustine, he came face to face with the woman who had cause him to sin for many months.  She dragged him deeper and deeper into a sinful relationship until he was finally freed from those bonds by the regenerating power of the cross. Later when he passed her by he could only offered her a formal nod of his head. Once she stopped him and said, “Augustine, don’t know me anymore? See, it is I.”  Looking at her a moment, and knowing that she no longer held him in her evil spell, Augustine replied, “But it is not I.”  God can regenerate us and make us new again.

With God’s help these things won’t haunt you anymore. The Question I have for you today is; ‘Will you let Him help you?’   I hope so. Jesus said, ‘I have come to set 
you free that you may be free indeed.’  John 8.

A few quotes are from a sermon by Steve Shepherd
For more lessons click on the following link: 
http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=56

From Jim McGuiggan... Depression Revisited

Depression Revisited

The author of Lady Chatterly’s Lover (a book that rocked the British literary world many years ago), D.H Lawrence, spoke of one of his characters, Richard Lovatt, saying that he spent his life wrestling with himself and calling it Australia. What do you think he meant by that? He meant that Lovatt lived a restless life without peace and blamed it on where he lived—Australia. But the author knew better. Lovatt’s problem lay within himself and not his surroundings.

Sometimes it’s the case that the environment crushes a spirit and makes life a misery. John Bunyan tells us that even Giant Despair got depressed now and then—on sunny days. Everyone will experience emotional dips and drops but as sure as there are things that can drive us down there are many other things that can raise us up and when those things come we grab them with gratitude and smile again. If a person can’t see the thousand things in his or her life that lift the heart he/she probably won’t see number one-thousand-and-one should it arrive. If the abundance of blessings in our lives isn’t enough to brighten our eyes I’m not sure that our eyes can be lightened by another series of blessings. (I’m not addressing Sudan, Zimbabwe, run-down ghettos or any of those hell-holes where people truly suffer. I’m not even addressing people that endure chronic pain or ceaseless economic pressure, bone-deep betrayal and the like. These too are great sufferers.)

I truly believe that for some of us depression will be our companion all our lives. Chemical or hormonal imbalances, an environment that crushes the spirit, loved ones that keep us down with ceaseless criticism or endless demands, trauma in childhood, and on and on and on. There are such sad souls and they have good reason to be down but there are those of us whose unhappiness comes from our greed and a hypersensitivity that can be corrected with some help and self-discipline. Some lingering unhappiness is associated with our sinfulness. We’re envious of those who got promoted while we didn’t and lose sight of the fact that we are in a job we really enjoyed until X got an upgrade. We’re dissatisfied with our moderate facial appearance or form when we see someone beautiful. We can’t enjoy our degree of intellectual giftedness because some kid we know is a whiz. Ahab owns half of Palestine and feels fine until he sees Naboth’s lovely little plot of land. Off he goes to bed sulking, we’re told, because the man smiled and turned down Ahab’s offer to buy. Those of us who are like that give a bad name to those who have some real grounds for feeling depressed.

Let’s grow up, get over it (whatever "it" is) and be happy!
Spending Time with Jim McGuiggan

From Mark Copeland... The Christian's Diet (1 Timothy 4:3-5)



                     "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY"

                      The Christian's Diet (4:3-5)

INTRODUCTION

1. A feature common to many religions are their dietary restrictions...
   a. Some are known for their vegetarianism (e.g., Hinduism)
   b. Others for their restrictions against certain meats, such as pork
      (e.g., Islam, Judaism)

2. In warning against apostasy, the apostle Paul...
   a. Foretold the rise of doctrines restricting certain foods - 1Ti 4:
      1-3
   b. Described the general principles related to the Christian's diet
      - 1Ti 4:3-5

3. The general principles of "The Christian's Diet" can be stated in
   this way...
   a. All creatures are good (for food) if received with thanksgiving
   b. All foods are "sanctified" by the Word of God and prayer

[The word "sanctified" means to be "set apart, holy".  In what way has
God sanctified all foods, and are there any exceptions to the rule?
First we note that all foods have been...]

I. SANCTIFIED BY THE WORD OF GOD

   A. FOODS DECLARED CLEAN...
      1. By God
         a. At the Creation, God gave His approval to seed-bearing herbs
            and trees - Gen 1:29
         b. After the flood, moving things were approved as food, with
            one restriction - Gen 9:3-4
         c. During the Mosaic period, dietary restrictions were placed
            on Israel - cf. Deut 14:4-21
      2. By Jesus
         a. Jesus kept the Law of Moses while it was still in effect
            - cf. Mt 5:17-19
         b. But His teachings often looked forward to when the Law would
            cease - Mk 7:18-19
      3. By Paul
         a. Paul's views came from the Lord Jesus Himself - Ro 14:14
         b. Thus Christians were free to eat whatever was sold in the
            meat market - 1Co 10:25
      -- The Word of God has thus declared all foods clean; this is the
         general rule

   B. EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE...
      1. Meat sacrificed to idols
         a. Christians were forbidden to eat meat when it was part of
            idol worship, for that would entail fellowship with demons
            - Re 2:14,20; cf. 1Co 10:18-22
         b. But not if sold in the market place and connection to the
            idol lost - cf. 1Co 10:25-28
      2. Blood and things strangled
         a. Gentile Christians were not to eat blood and things
            strangled - Ac 15:20,29; 21:25
         b. The context suggests this may have been out of consideration
            for the sensitivities of the Jewish Christians - Ac 15:21;
            yet cf. Gen 9:4
      3. When eaten with offense (e.g., doubt)
         a. To those who consider something unclean, it is unclean - Ro 14:14
         b. It would be evil to eat that which one thinks is unclean
            - Ro 14:20
         c. Unless one can eat without doubt, it is sinful - Ro 14:23
      4. When eaten to cause offense (i.e., stumbling)
         a. If our brother is grieved or destroyed by our food, it is
            wrong - Ro 14:15-16
         b. It is good to abstain rather than cause a weak brother to
            stumble - Ro 14:20-21; 1Co 8:12-13
         c. Our goal is to glorify God, and cause no offense to man
            - 1Co 10:31-32
      -- All things are lawful, but not all things edify and are
         helpful; we must remember this in regards to our diet - cf.
         1Co 10:23-24

[Thus every creature (i.e., all foods) has been sanctified by the Word
of God; i.e., declared clean.  But we should also stress that which is
emphasized by Paul in our text, that the food we eat is also...]

II. SANCTIFIED BY PRAYER

   A. RECEIVED WITH THANKSGIVING...
      1. Stressed twice in our text
         a. Foods were created by God to be received with thanksgiving
            - 1Ti 4:3
         b. Nothing is to be refused if received with thanksgiving
            - 1Ti 4:4
      2. We should be thankful for everything
         a. We should possess an attitude of gratitude - Ep 5:20; Co
            3:17; 1Th 5:18
         b. Certainly for our daily bread, for which we are to pray!
            - cf. Mt 6:11
      -- When received with thanksgiving offered in prayer, food is
         sanctified

   B. EXAMPLES OF THE RULE...
      1. Jesus offering thanks
         a. When feeding the 4000 - Mt 15:36-38
         b. When observing the Last Passover - Lk 22:15-20
      2. Paul offering thanks
         a. On the ship to Rome - Ac 27:35
         b. A practice alluded to in his writings - Ro 14:6; 1Co 10:30
      -- Paul sought to imitate the Lord, certainly we should imitate
         them both! - 1Co 11:1

CONCLUSION

1. When it comes to "The Christian's Diet", all foods are sanctified
   by...
   a. The word of God
   b. The prayer of the Christian

2. The exception to the rule is when...
   a. Fellowship with idols and demons is indicated
   b. Fellowship with brethren is threatened

Have you given thought to how the food you eat affects your fellowship
with God and others...?

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011

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From Gary... With new ideas come different challenges


New take on an old idea.  Like it or no, we have become a electronic society.  With new technologies come new ways of doing things- that includes evil.   I remember when I was growing up and the phone rang for us (we were on a party line, so we listened for the correct number of rings).  It was a big deal, but after a few years, when you finally received our own "private" number, suddenly, talking on the phone became commonplace.  Just a few decades later and cell phones and computers changed everything. Today, we live differently, as this blog shows.  So, when I saw this picture this morning, I thought of what I do and why I do it.  But, what is the result?  Good, I hope!!!  But, what happens when someone writes something that is evil????

Luke 16
  1 He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions.   2  He called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 

  3  “The manager said within himself, ‘What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don’t have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg.   4  I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.’   5 Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?’  6  He said, ‘A hundred batos of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’   7  Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred cors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 

  8  “His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.

Today's message really applies mostly to me.  It is a reminder to not post anything evil.  But, since we all use cell phones and computers (well most of us, anyway), generically it applies to everyone.  What becomes commonplace is given less attention and the great danger there is NOT TO BE AS CAREFUL AS WE SHOULD!!!  The dishonest manager was "smart", but did a dishonest (evil) thing by his actions.  It showed him as a child of this world and NOT A CHILD OF THE LIGHT!!!  So, be careful what you write, Gary- the world is watching.  You know, right about now I am very thankful that I don't tweet- I have enough temptation in my life as it is!!!