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| JAMES LESSON #18 If we�re constantly struggling with �temptation,� it�s important to understand where it comes from and how to battle it. Where DOES it comes from? Most would answer, �the devil.� Wrong. Look at verse 14. Doesn�t the devil �tempt?� Isn�t he called the �tempter?� Yes. But the temptation, the �enticement to sin� is not external, it�s internal. Read on down through verse 18. If you believe that temptation comes from God or that it comes from Satan and that it is totally external and that you had nothing to do with it, you are believing a lie. I want to look at the downhill ride that sin brings � and at what leads us to sin. James 1:13 God doesn�t lead us to sin. Why? Because He can not be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt us with evil. Read James 1:14 Sin begins with �lust.� �Lust,� in the Greek is: �epithumia: it is a strong desire of any kind � in and of itself it can mean either a good or a bad desire. The context is what determines whether it is good or evil. Most of the time when you see this word in the Word of God it�s referring to evil desire. In this passage it indicates that lust of the flesh is evil because it gives birth to sin and sin brings forth death � so we know from that the �desire� being talked about here, is evil desire. Notice that the �desire� has the ability to �carry you along-� Sin never starts with an action. It starts with a thought that�s a response to desire. Get that. Every sin that you have ever entered in to can be traced back to a desire that was initially acted out in your head. Sin is a response to a desire that has not been controlled. Every desire that you have must be ACTED upon. You can not be passive with a desire. When a desire is responded to in thought you will have to do one of two things: you will kill it or you will fulfill it. There are no other options. As a man thinks � so is he. Don�t forget that. A familiar scenario: a guy and a gal � married or unmarried � whatever fits your situation: IF they fall into sexual sin they didn�t just wake up one morning, walk up to the other person and engage in sexual activity. Wrong. The �SAW� each other �desire kicked into gear � and for probably weeks or longer, IN THEIR HEADS, they played out the drama. As a man thinks what? So is he. What happens in your head will happen with the rest of you. THAT is a promise. Your job in this �desire� battle is to kill or fulfill � How? First, you have to own responsibility for yourself. What you�re about to engage in has �choice� in the picture. You will not be �carried along� by something you can�t stop. YOU HAVE A CHOICE. Even if you don�t know Christ as Lord in your life, sin is still a choice. In acting on a desire/thought you will REALIZE it for what it is: or you will RATIONALIZE it in order to accommodate it. Don�t forget that. As the desire comes you have to make a choice. If you rationalize you will mentally position yourself to go ahead with thoughts like: he/she is never around- after all, my husband/wife isn�t meeting my needs � after all their life is just getting bigger and mine is getting smaller � I�m not doing anything physically, I�m just thinking about it ..it won�t hurt if I take a little money: they have so much, besides I deserve it � and on and on� I�m so lonely, I just can�t help it: WRONG � yes, you can �help it.� You are instructed in II Corinthians 10 to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ. We already talked about �how� to do that. If you�re questioning whether or not your head is going where your head should be going, you �Phillipians 4:8� whatever it is you�re thinking. If what you�re thinking is not in agreement with Phillipians 4:8, abandon the thought. Kill it. It�s important that you understand that with every trial comes temptation. You will be tempted to get out of the trial YOUR way, not God�s way. You will be tempted to respond according to the desires of your flesh instead of to obedience. The first response (desires of your flesh) comes from �self� in control: the second response (obedience) is a heart response out of love. Part of the problem in this picture is that as we start to �rationalize� we actually get to the point where we convince ourselves that we ARE being obedient and that God supports us in what we�re doing. Wrong move- the vulnerability? We�ve abandoned �relationship� � �joint effort� and we�re operating on our own -self. We�ve allowed ourselves to be �distracted� by desire: If, in that moment of desire we were to come face to face with a dying deeply wounded Jesus and heard Him whisper, �I�m dying�to be with you..� �would it break the distraction�s hold on our lives? Yes. We do not have to do anything except let our unworthy, ungrateful selves be loved AS WE ARE � Trust happens! Get this: You will trust Him to the degree that you know you are loved by Him. If you do not know you are loved by Him, the relationship, the �joint effort� will not be strong enough to keep you from the distraction of �desire.� As Brennan Manning states: The music of what is happening can be heard only in the present moment, right now, right here. Now/here spells nowhere. To be fully present to whoever or whatever is immediately before us is to pitch a tent in the wilderness of Nowhere. It is an act of radical trust- trust that God can be encountered at no other time and in no other place than the present moment. Why? Because in �nowhere� you don�t know where you are- you don�t know what is happening to you � you don�t know what�s ahead- you aren�t sure of what�s behind � and you don�t know what to do, be or say. So it is in a trial. You are rendered powerless by where you are : �nowhere� � My first response? I want out of here! When my mind is replaying past pain, past failures and defeats or imagining unknown tomorrows, or coming up with my own way out the music of what is happening in now/here is distorted by the �distraction of desire:� Desire to be depressed, desire to wallow in defeat, desire to stand in shame, desire to manipulate and control what lies ahead, desire for success, desire for approval, desire for love and affection � and the list goes on. When we entertain �desire� we let go of �relationship� � To live in the present moment, fully engaged and empowered by the �joint effort� requires profound trust that the �abundant life Jesus promised is experienced ONLY in now/here. Why? Because in now/here we have no ability to manipulate an outcome to anything. In now/here we become a child � God, becomes a Father. Why is the pull of �desire� so strong? Answer this question: How�s your �now/here� your �present moment?� Most would answer, �It�s flat, dull, empty. There�s no music whatsoever.� Enter: �DESIRE� --We try to pump up each moment with some sort of significance. We prefer agony or ecstasy over the ordinary or mundane. Whatever happened to the �child� we�re supposed to be? Look at Matthew 18:3 Unless you become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. As Manning suggests, The commitment to �living out� the �now/here� rather than escaping the gift of life through �desire distractions,� is the special gift of children. They find a way to sidestep time and progress. Money, position, status, power- don�t matter to them. They operate in another zone altogether. Watch a group of children on a playground or out in the woods throwing stones across a pond � counting the number of �skips.� If you watch them, you�ll notice that they could throw stones all day just to get the highest number of �skips� possible. Time, does not exist for children. Time is suspended. No hurry. Totally in and with the present moment. Almost all children are born with a natural inclination toward �pondering� �long loving looks at the Real�and a tendency to moments of thoughtful silence � just to �discover.� Wiggling their toes, for example, is such an engrossing experience that it is difficult to divert their attention to something else. However, their gift starts to wither when we insist, �Hurry up� I don�t have all day.� A child is secured in being �with� � �relationship� and through that is free to discover all the wonder that rests in now/here. You will not hear a young child say, �the present moment is flat, dull and empty. I am bored.� If the present moment is flat, dull and empty you are not engaged in the �joint effort.� If you were, you would be utterly unaware that you are bored. What�s replaced the �joint effort?� Self. Self-forgetfulness is the prerequisite for truly being in the now. Living in the now/here is to become as a little child: open, vulnerable, totally dependent and in awe with all that the �joint effort� releases into our lives. Ok � where does the �distraction of desire� fit in that picture? It doesn�t. In that picture, the child is so completely captivated by �being with � the �joint effort� and the discovery of the moment, that there�s no room for �distraction of desire� - How do we fight the �distraction of desire?� Matthew 26:41 Keep watching and praying why? So that you may not enter into temptation: the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. What�s He saying? As a mother says to her child as they cross a busy street, �Don�t let go of my hand!� � so here, Jesus is saying, �Abide.� �Stay close� � The street is full of busy cars- I know the way to the other side � we�ll go: �together.� Desire � Thought � Fulfill -or- Kill (Phillipians 4:8) Now/here � Unless you change and become like little children- Distraction of desire is defeated by �joint effort� in Nowhere- Much more to come on this subject, Loving you, Robin �copyright 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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