JAMES A FAITH THAT WORKS-HOW TO HANDLE TEMPTATION (2)

INTRODUCTION.

Start off by  honoring people, this sets the tone, creating a safe environment and attracts the Holy Spirit.

Pray, Revelation, Envisioned, faith increase, receive more of the Holy Spirit.

Good morning, church! We in a series called James, a faith that works today, today  God has given me a message-- HOW TO DEAL WITH TEMPTATION.

Jesus is calling us to pattioenly , intimately know Him,He is calling us to find freedom ,to be in community and get people saved, He is calling us to develop and grow our gifts to make a difference, Monday to Sunday.

As we enter into the festive season, many of you may face temptations, especially in the marketplace YEAR END FUNCTION  and with some family function.

But I want you to know: God is setting you up to bless you and turn your trials into triumphs—so you can be a powerful witness for CHRIST.

The enemy is seeking to temp us and destroy us.

We must remain vigilant.

The enemy seeks to entrap us and destroy our testimonies, especially during difficult times.

Gods word in the book  james highlights a critical truth: when we face external trials, we must guard against allowing them to become internal temptations.

When circumstances get tough, it’s easy to question God and seek an escape—an opportunity that may lead us away from His best for us and end up destroying us.

There are many illustrations of this truth found in the Bible.

Abraham arrived in Canaan and discovered a famine there.

He was not able to care for his flocks and herds.

This trial was an opportunity to prove God; but Abraham turned it into a temptation and went down to Egypt.

God had to bring him back to the place of obedience and blessing.

Story.

WITH THIS IN MIND PLEASE TURN WITH ME TO JAMES 1:13-27

James 1:13–27 (NIV)

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

14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.

15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16Don’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.

18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

The mature person is patient in trials. Sometimes the trials are testings on the outside, and sometimes there  are temptations on the inside.

We have to remind ourselves of our vision.

We may ask, “Why did God  connect the two? What is the relationship

between testing without and temptations within?”

Simply this: if we are not careful, the testings on the outside may become temptations on the inside.

When our circumstances are difficult, we may find ourselves complaining against God, questioning His love, and resisting His will.

At this point, Satan provides us with an opportunity to escape the difficulty.

This opportunity is a temptation.

If we are to mature, we must face testing and temptations.

There are 3  facts that we must consider if we are to overcome temptation.

THE BAIT, PROCESS OF SIN.

GOD IS GOOD, GOD GIVES GOOD GIFTS.

JESUS SAVES US, PUTS HIS DIVINE NATURE IN US.

1.THE BAIT PROCESS OF SIN.

James 1:15 (NIV)

15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

This is a negative approach, but it is an important one. James said, “Look ahead and see where sin ends—death!”

Do not blame God for temptation.

He is too holy to be tempted, and He is too loving to tempt others. God does test us, as He did Abraham (Gen. 22); but He does not and cannot tempt us.

It is we who turn occasions of testing into temptations.

A temptation is an opportunity to accomplish a good thing in a bad way, out of the will of God or put human judgment or human opinion on the word of God, i think..

Is it wrong to want to pass an examination? Of course not; but if you cheat to pass it, then you have sinned.

We think of sin as a single act, but God sees it as a process. Adam committed one act of sin, and yet that one act brought sin, death, and judgment on the whole human race.

James described this process of sin...

Desire,Deception, Disobedience ,Death, WE NEED TO  KEEP OUR VISION IN FRONT OF US ALWAYS.

Desire.

James 1:14 (NKJV)

14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

The word  desire, and not necessarily MEAN ONLY sexual passions. The normal desires of life were given to us by God and, of themselves, are not sinful. Without these desires, we could not function. Unless we felt hunger and thirst, we would never eat and drink, and we would die.

Without fatigue, the body would never rest and would eventually wear out.

Sex is a normal desire; without it the human race could not continue.

It is when we want to satisfy these desires in ways outside God’s will that we get into trouble.

Eating is normal; gluttony is sin.

Sleep is normal; laziness is sin.

These fundamental desires of life are not wrong .

Take a athlete his vision , will say no to the wrong desire on food and time.

The secret is in constant self -control.

These desires must be our servants and not our masters; and this we can do through Jesus Christ, and the finished work of the cross buy the power of the Holy Spirit.

Give your life to Jesus at the end of the meeting.

Deception

James 1:14 (NKJV)

14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

The bible used 2  illustrations from the world of sports to prove his point.

Drawn away carries with it the idea of the baiting of a trap; and enticed in the original Greek means “to bait a hook.”

The hunter and the fisherman have to use bait to attract and catch their prey.

No animal is deliberately going to step into a trap and no fish will knowingly bite at a naked hook.

The idea is to hide the trap and the hook.

Temptation always carries with it some bait that appeals to our natural desires.

The bait not only attracts us, but it also hides the fact that yielding to the desire will eventually bring sorrow and punishment.

When David looked on his neighbor’s wife, he would never have committed adultery had he seen the tragic consequences: the death of a baby (Bathsheba’s son), the murder of a brave soldier (Uriah), .

The bait keeps us from seeing the consequences of sin.

When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He always dealt with the temptation on the basis of the Word of God. Three times He said, “It is written.” From the human point of view, turning stones into bread to satisfy hunger is a sensible thing to do; but not from God’s point of view.

When we know the Bible,Walk with the Holy Spirit, and we cary our God given vision .

We can detect the bait and deal with it decisively.

Disobedience

James 1:15 (NKJV)

15Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

We have moved from the emotions (desire) and the intellect (deception) to the will.

James changed the picture from hunting and fishing to the birth of a baby.

Desire conceives is a method for taking the bait.

The will approves and acts; and the result is sin.

Christian living is a matter of the will, not the feelings.

I often hear believers say, “I don’t feel like reading the Bible.”

Or, “I don’t feel like attending prayer meeting.”

Children operate on the basis of feeling, but adults operate on the basis of will.

They act because it is right, no matter how they feel. This explains why immature Christians easily fall into temptation: they let their feelings make the decisions.

The more you exercise your will in saying a decisive no to temptation, yes to God's vision for your life.

The more God will take control of your life. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).

Death

James 1:15 (NKJV)

15Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Disobedience gives birth to death, not life.

Whenever we  are faced with temptation, get our eyes off the bait and look ahead to see the consequences of sin, remind yourself of your calling in God.

2.GOD IS GOOD,GOD GIVES GOOD GIFTS.

James 1:17 (NKJV)

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

One of the enemy’s tricks is to convince us that our Father is holding out on us, that He does not really love us and care for us.

God gives “it keeps on coming down.”

God does not give occasionally; He gives constantly.

Even when we do not see His gifts, He is sending them.

How do we know this? Because He tells us so and we believe His Word.

When Satan approached Eve, he suggested that if God really loved her, He would permit her to eat of the forbidden tree.

When Satan tempted Jesus, he raised the question of hunger. “If Your Father loves You, why are You hungry?”

Once we start to doubt God’s goodness, we will be attracted to Satan’s offers; and the natural desires within will reach out for his bait.

God gives only good gifts, He gives constantly.

If you in a DREAM TEAM, Please open up and ask your leader to pray with you .. and hold you accountable to walking with Jesus.

3.JESUS SAVES US, PUTS HIS DIVINE NATURE IN US.

James 1:18 (NKJV)

1 8Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

It is divine. This birth is not of the flesh: it is from above (John 3:1–7).

Jesus is the perfect gift from above, coming to us.

He saves us by going to the cross dying on the cross and being raised to life.

It is the work of Jesus In our life that gives us a new birth an divine nature.

Just as we did not generate our own human birth, we cannot generate our own spiritual birth.

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ,the finished work of the cross, it was God who performed the miracle of salvation for us.

We receive this divine nature once we give our life to Jesus,

Once we receive Christ in our life, we need to share this gospel, we need to get souls saved , we need to win the lost at every cost, see people's lives changed and transformed.

A soul a day makes everyone rejoice.

IN CLOSING.

Jesus is calling you to resist temptation, if you make a mistake ask forgiveness, open up to your small group leaders, keep God's vision for your life before you .

Pray into it non-stop.