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Introduction
Good morning church family!Today we are continuing our journey through the book of James.
The main theme of the book of James is receiving wisdom from God's Word.
Wisdom from God results in a life that bears fruit.
Wisdom from God's Word that affects every area of life and results in a life the is fruitful and thrives even in the face of trials.
I encourage you to take time over the next few weeks or so to read the entire book of five chapters.Please stand together as we read God's Word.
James 1:13-18
"13 No one is to say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.
17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
18 In the exercise of His will He gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures."
Prayer
The Word of God is much more than instructions on how to live life.
It is more than following a bunch of rules and regulations.
The Word of God reveals to us who Jesus is, who we are, and how we ought to allow that relationship to change who we are.
The Word of God will encourage you, but it will also challenge you.
More importantly, if you allow it, it will change you.
One of the goals of Christianity is not to just read the Word of God of study it, but apply it to our lives.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
As we grow in the grace and knowledge of who Jesus is, we find out who we really are, and who Christ wants us to be.
At some point, change must take place in our lives.
A change not on the outside, but a change on the inside.
The change on the outside doesn't happen until there is a change on the inside.
Too often in the church world we want people to stop cussing, stop drinking, stop dressing this way, stop thinking that way, do this or do that, before they come into the church.
None of these things will not happen until a change happens in the inside!
When this happens, you will begin to have:
A new way of thinking - about yourself and othersA new way of responding - to situations, actions of othersA new way of living out your life by the new choices you are making
As we follow Christ, at some point our hearts become grieved because of the current state we are in as the Word of God illuminates these areas in our lives that God wants to change.
It is at that point we have to make a conscience decision whether or not to follow Christ as He illuminates our path.
When we choose Christ, we always choose life
The opposite of life is death.
If you read the Scriptures, you will quickly find that God doesn't deal with right and wrong, but He deals with life and death.
Let's jump into our study on James.
Your Flesh is the Enemy
A lot of the times it is not the enemy who is trying to bring death into your life, it is you.
James 1:13-14
"13 No one is to say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
"
All too often we are looking for evil in all kinds of things: music, movies, other people, but we never talk about our own evilness.
I think we talk about other kinds of evil and not our own because it easier to shift the blame on others rather than take the responsibility of our own actions.
In 2022 we are doing the exact same thing that Adam did in the Garden...we shift blame.
When in fact it is your very own flesh.
How does your flesh do this?
James 1:14
"14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust."
Your very own flesh, that is the sin nature, is what you must battle with.
Your own lusts, your own desires, goes against the very nature of God.
You are carried away and enticed by your own flesh.
These words that James uses are not by accident.
The words carried away and enticed are used in the context of hunting and fishing.
It describes attracting a fish with a lure or enticing an animal to enter into a trap.
I used to go fishing with my mom growing up and I would use a rubber worm.
I didn't like messing with real worms because they were messy and wiggly.
So I used a rubber worm and some spray that was supposed to attract a specific type of fish...large mouth bass.
My mom always used real bait and I remember one particular day on a lake in Michigan where we would camp that I must have caught about 6 or 7 large mouth while my mom didn't catch a thing.
Just like the enemy knows how to lure you, so does your own flesh.
There are desires or lusts that reside on the inside of you within your sin nature.
Question: How many of you desire to do the Godly thing?
How many of you often choose not to do the Godly thing?
You're in good company.
I struggle with that too.
We all do.
With this down:
ALL Christians struggle
As Christians, we all struggle with this on a daily basis.
It doesn't make you a bad person.
It doesn't make you ungodly.
It simply makes you human.
You need to know that.
The Apostle Paul, super Christian, the one who made it into the Scriptures and even wrote almost half of the New Testament, struggled.
Listen to his own words.
Romans 7:18-20
"18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me."
So you are in good company today.
We all struggle.
Tell two people next to you, "I struggle".
Thank God there is a solution to this problem.
Paul actually gives us the solution as he writes:
Romans 7:24-25a
"24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
It is because of what Christ did on the cross that I can choose not to give into the desires of the flesh.
I can choose not to fall for the traps and snares set by not only the devil, by myself.
I encourage you to continue to not only read James, but also in Romans.
In chapter 8, Paul reminds us that through the forgiveness of Christ we are freed from eternal condemnation (v.1).
Then by the strength of the indwelling Spirit we are empowered to do God’s will.
Which means I now have the ability to not give into the temptation of my flesh!
Romans 8:12-13
"12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh -
13 for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live."
Because of Christ crucified and resurrected, I am under no obligation to the flesh!
I am however, obligated to the Spirit.
Grace Window
The funny thing about obligation is, it is a choice we make whether or not we follow through with it.
Not only does God deal with life and death, but He leaves that choice up to you and me.
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