Tunnel Vision

INTRO:

Illustration: (Ant & Tortilla Chip)

Living in North Carolina.

Sandy soil means lots of ants.

A constant battle to kill the ants in the yard.

BBQ / dropped chip / ants carry chip away.

A small ant carried a chip that was 10x larger than he was.

When obstacles got in his way, he just overcame those obstacles.

Go around or on top of the obstacle. He would go around the obstacle.

This ant gave me motivation. He was a fine example of how to persevere.

Even when things get rough, you must push on.

Truth Statement: Christians must learn how to persevere by overcoming obstacles & resisting temptation.

Need to have tunnel vision, focused on our destination instead of the path.

Truth Question: When the going gets tough, how do we persevere? How do we have endurance to get where we are trying to go?

What are they going to learn: Today, we are going to draw attention to 3 approaches to have tunnel vision and to live a full Christian life.

Today, we will be in James 1:9-18. Please stand for the reading of God’s Word. PRAY.

I. PUT YOUR VALUE IN GOD. (vv.9-11)

Explain: vv.9-11

James explains the status reversal that is experienced in fellowship w/ Jesus. Matt 19:30 “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The person with a lowly status is to rejoice. (v.9)

Not because he is poor or unhealthy, or crippled.

But this person is to rejoice in Christ despite the circumstances. Luke 19:17 “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’”

A Christian with a rich or high status in life should rejoice that he is made low by God. What does this mean exactly?

A rich or higher profile person is not accepted by God based on his status. A person’s status means nothing to God.

A rich or high-status person should use his money & influence to meet the needs of the starving, impoverished, diseased, homeless, sinful, dying, and lost people of the world. Matt. 19:27-30

All that the rich have will one day fade away.

Illustration: (An Old Watch & Self-Worth)

Before he died, a father said to his son.

200-year-old watch.

Jewelry Store. $100 (old).

Pawn Shop. $20 (scratch).

Museum. $350,000 (rare).

The right place will value you in the right way.

God knows this truth as well.

Where do you place your value or self-worth?

Argue:

The poor often allow their circumstances to numb or destroy their spirit.

They become bitter against people that have what they want.

This passage warns against the tendency of poverty and wealth.

The poor should find joy in their circumstances because of their spiritual privilege.

The wealthy must avoid finding joy in their wealth instead of in Christ.

And both must stop placing their value in their financial situation or status!

Apply:

We must rejoice in whatever status in life we are in.

Whether you are poor or rich, healthy, or unhealthy, crippled, or good to go, rejoice in the Lord.

The one who conquers a low status develops a strong spirit.

II. RESIST TEMPTATION. (vv.12-15)

Explain: vv.12-15

James writes here that we will be blessed, or happy, when we remain steadfast when we are under trial.

Blessed is the same word that we see over & over again in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12.

Used in Biblical terms, this blessing is an inner joy resting in God. That inner joy remains unaffected by external events.

This means in a sense, that if we faithfully endure during trials, we will be happy.

When we are going through hard times, we must remain firm in our faith & hold onto what is important.

In the NT, being “blessed” often refers to people who most of us would not consider to be blessed. Matt 5:11-12

You see, going through the trial is not a blessing. The endurance of the trial is what brings the blessing.

The crown of life (v.12)- the reward waiting on us.

It is not a crown like you would think of in terms of royalty, or kings & queens.

A garland wreath that was given to the victor in an athletic contest in the Greco-Roman world.

Given to let everyone know that the contestant was victorious.

Means that if we endure during trials, God gives us recognition for that spiritual victory.

Gives you spiritual privilege which allows you to live a deeper, fuller spiritual life here on earth. John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Enduring trials here on earth for His glory shows that we love God, & for that love, God gives us blessings.

James goes on to tell us that we should not say that “God is tempting us.”

How many times have you used this phrase yourself?

God cannot be tempted & therefore does not tempt us. Instead, we are tempted by our weakness.

We are tempted by the things we desire (money, sex, material things, things that we want but cannot have).

This desire causes us temptation.

But do not get confused. It is not temptation that is sin.

The temptation becomes sin when we act on that temptation.

Then, once we sin it leads to death. Romans 6:23

Death is the result of sin. That sin begins with temptation.

Illustration: (Adam & Eve)

Sin has lasting effects on our lives.

Temptation dates all the way back to the beginning of time. Gen 2:16-17

God realized that Adam needed a helper, so He made Eve out of Adam’s rib.

The serpent was crafty and began to tempt Eve until she gave in and ate the fruit on the tree of knowledge.

Then, she enticed Adam to eat the fruit also.

Both gave into temptation & ate what they were not supposed to eat.

Because they disobeyed God, they would have to pay the consequences for their actions. Gen 3:16-19

Argue:

We must resist temptation.

We are not tempted by God. The text does not say that we are tempted by the devil, but throughout the Bible we do see that.

Temptation comes from fleshly desires & once we act on those desires, it becomes sin.

Understand that when you sin, there are consequences.

As Christians, we must stop & think before we act. Just like Adam & Eve, our consequences often affect the lives of others, as well as our own.

Apply:

How do we resist sin?

You are an active participant in a battle against good & evil.

You not only have to fight off Satan & his demons. You also must fight off your own desires & evil will.

The defense we have for this is 2-fold.

We must get into God’s Word on a consistent basis. This means you need to be reading your Bible daily. Twice a day if you can. I challenge you to get a Bible reading plan, read it, & begin to understand it. In doing so, you will begin to build a strong foundation with Jesus as the cornerstone.

You must build a personal relationship with Jesus through prayer. Luke 22:39-40

Start your day with a morning prayer & end your day with an evening prayer.

Pray for strength so you do not give into temptation.

III. DO NOT DECEIVED BY THE DEVIL. (vv.16-18)

Explain: vv.16-18

Do not let the devil put doubt in your head.

First, we must look at ourselves & take some responsibility. We have some responsibility for sin because it comes from our desires.

Do not let there ever be doubt. God is not the source of our temptation.

You see, the devil wants you to believe that he is. Because if we believe God is tempting us, it allows bitterness to seep into our thinking. This bitterness can pull us away from God.

This passage tells us 2 things about God. (1) Verse 17 tells us that God is our creator. He created the stars & heavenly lights. (2) God does not change.

We know that there are variations in light because we have day & we have night.

But here, it says that with God, there is no variation, there is no shadow due to change.

God is consistent, even when we are not. He does not change.

God’s purposes do not vary or shift.

God’s character is always constant, true, unchanging, reliable, good & faithful.

First Fruit (v.18)

What does this mean?

The first fruits were often talked about in the OT.

They represented that initial portion of the harvest offered to God before the rest of the crop was harvested. They were the pledge of a full crop to come. Lev 23:9-11

Illustration: (Fall Back & Trust Game)

Demonstrate trust by playing a game.

You would blindfold someone & then they would have to fall backwards. This person’s friends would be behind them to catch them.

It takes a lot of trust to fall backwards not knowing if someone will catch you. In fact, it takes a lot of faith in your friends to be able to do this.

Argue:

James is encouraging us to take a leap of faith & put our trust in God.

It is God that will lead us through trials & help us to endure.

It is God who will provide us with strength for temptations.

We must put our faith in Him & trust Him fully.

His intentions for us are good. We should never fall away from Him because of bitterness.

Apply:

This means that we must be born again.

We need to put our faith in Jesus & understand that God is not tempting us.

When we fall into temptation, we must remember that this temptation comes from our own desires & we can overcome them through prayer.

To live a full Christian life, we must make sure that we understand that God does not change, however, our mindset does.

Put your faith in Him to get you through.

CONCLUSION:

Illustration: (Tunnel Vision when Skydiving)

Skydiving- when the door opens, you get a sensory overload.

A rush of chemicals rushes through your blood stream.

There is a suspension of your ability to think clearly.

Unable to assess the situation.

Unable to make decisions & to act accordingly.

This is why your first jump is always tandem (attached to a more experienced jumper.

You get tunnel vision.

The tendency to focus exclusively on a single or limited goal or point of view.

An experienced jumper also gets tunnel vision.

However, their tunnel vision is focused on each small task that they are conducting (jump out, spread eagle position, check altitude, extract chute).

With all the chaotic wind around them, they can focus on the task at hand.

Christians need tunnel vision as well.

Regardless of our status, we need to focus on God to overcome temptations & tests.

By focusing on God, we can find joy during chaos.

Look beyond the testing.

Humbly ask, “God, what is your intention with this season?”