March 3, 2024
Morning Service

In our ever changing world advances in technology have changed the way we do things.  No one, but us old folks, look at maps anymore when we take a trip.  We simply type in the address, press the directions button, the start button, and then do whatever that nice lady on Google Maps tells us to do.  YouTube is another thing that changed how we do things.  If I have a problem with my mower, I go to YouTube type in my issues and before long I can view several videos that helps me to walk me through the troubleshooting process and bring me hopefully to how to fix the problem.  These new technologies are great when they work; but there are times the Maps lady tells you to turn left and there is no road.  They are videos that show you a lot about my mower but stop short showing exactly what I need to do to fix it.  These occurrences often leave us frustrated because the source of our information is not always right.  It is not perfect. 

What about in our spiritual lives?  Where can we go to find out which directions we need to go?  Where can we get guidance on how to fix things that are broken?  The answer is not on the internet, but in a Book that God has given us to find all the answers we need to stay on the straight and narrow path.  The good news is that this Book never leads you to a dead end road.  It never guides you do something that does not work.  This Bible is perfect.  If we follow what it says we will find the destination, we are looking for.  At times, we can read a scripture and it is very easy to understand giving us clear concise answers.  Other times, it takes some study, meditation and prayer to be given the answer we seek. But is both cases when we do find the answer, the hardest part is often applying it to our life. Today we are going to look at a process God has put in place for us to implement when we find ourselves in a point of temptation.  This process is easy to understand, but we must be disciplined enough to apply them.  We begin in James as he begins with a little background about temptation first.

 Jas 4:1-6 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?  (2)  You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.  (3)  You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.  (4)  Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  (5)  Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?  (6)  But He gives more grace. Therefore, He says: "GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."

            God has given to us a free will to make choices.  There is often a battle within us that arises between our flesh and our spirit.  We long to enjoy the pleasures of this world and many of them pull us in the opposite direction of where our Spirit is leading us.  We strive for things of this world and even “covet” them placing more value on them than on God.  James tells us that we are actually our own worst enemies.  It is from within us that sin originates and we “fight and war” with ourselves struggling to put God’s will over our own.  We all know the struggle, even the apostle Paul as he wrote about it in Romans 7.  “For what I want do I find myself falling short, and I find myself doing the things I know I shouldn’t.” Have you been there?  In that moment of choice, we fight with our flesh to give in to the temptation or to be an overcomer and choose to put God first over our fleshly desires.  How do we overcome temptation?  I am glad you asked!  Let’s consult our spiritual map and see how we can detour safely around that sin without giving in.  James now has identified the problem for us and now he presents to us the solution as he begins with “therefore;” meaning “here is what you do next.” 

 

Jas 4:7-10 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  (8)  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (9)  Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  (10)  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

1.      Submit to God-This is something that we have to do in preparation of the temptation coming.  We must have given our heart to God and chosen to “seek Him first” in all things.  We must “want” to be found faithful and be ready and willing to yield our will to His.  Without that full commitment to faithfully follow solidly in place the process fails before it begins.

 

2.     Resist -We must recognize the origin of the temptation that is presented before us as sin and run from it as Joseph did.  Don’t take a moment to think about it or try to justify it, run/resist.  Use the “shield of faith” to knock down the arrows of temptation the devil is shooting at us.  This action comes with a promises result; “he will flee from you.”

3.     Draw near to God-Go immediately to prayer, pick up your Bible, or turn on some worship music.  Call to light God’s presence in that moment.  We may be behind closed doors where no one can see us, but when we “draw God near” it changes our perspective.  Ask yourself “would I do this with Jesus by my side (which He is)?”  His presence in the moment of the temptation gives us the strength to overcome.  Again a promise from our action; if we draw near to Him, “He will draw near to you.”

4.     Cleanse your hands-Remove the temptation from your presence as you would wash dirt from your hands.  Turn it off, throw it away, or leave the area.  When we play in the mud we will eventually get dirty. Know the triggers for your temptation and avoid them.

5.     Purify-Ask forgiveness for even entertaining the thought of the sin in your mind even if you did not do it.  Sin begins in the mind and if our mind is pure, our actions will follow.  Confess before the Lord of your own powerlessness and call for His strength to fill you through the Holy Spirit.  It is through this confession and repentance process that we purify our hearts (I Jn. 1:9) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

6.     Lament, mourn and weep-In that moment of decision of choosing between sin and faithfulness’ do not take this lightly.  Sin is serious business and when we find ourselves confronted with it or tied up in it we need to come and prostrate ourselves before the Lord.  Crying out even mourning our shortcoming of being all that God has called us to be.  This is what is called “a fruit of repentance.”  We truly are sorry for what we have done and display regret and a desire to never go there again.  When we begin to accept sin as part of our lives we begin to walk out of the Light and into the darkness.

7.      Humble yourself before God-This final step summarizes all of the six other ones.  We must be humble before God showing reverence to Him as the Lord of lords and King of kings.  We are weak and He is strong.  We realize that we are nothing without Him, but we are complete in Him.  We can do all things through Him.  It is only through Him that we can have victory over temptation.  Pride pushes us away from God, and humility draws us near to Him.

 

I now want to share with you another of God’s wisdom shared to us in the Book of James that we quote quite often.

 

Jas 1:22-25 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  (23)  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; (24) for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.  (25)  But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

            It is one thing to know what to do and desire to do it, and totally another thing to actually do it.  (Frogs on a log) Thus lies the struggle we all have in this life with these mortal bodies.  We must not only read this Book God has written to us, but we must also be willing to act upon what the Holy Spirit reveals to us through reading.  Notice the only one deceived in our knowing and not doing is us (vs. 22) The Word is a mirror and it reflects back to us who we really are.  We see areas where we are “looking good” and also areas where we need to give attention to.  Don’t be that guy who clearly sees he needs to comb his hair and wash his face, but you don’t do it.  If we see something we are lacking on, do something about it.  If it is a big issue, recruit help by finding a brother or sister to walk through the overcoming process with you.  Here again a promise is given to us if we follow the guidance of our spiritual map; “this one will be blessed in what he does.” We can also assume the opposite is true in that God will not bless those who choose not to act.  When you find yourself in that moment of temptation, implement this process allowing the Holy Spirit to lead you and you will overcome.  Knowing is not enough the blessing comes in the doing.

 

Heavenly Father thank You for the simplicity of Your instruction for us on this matter.  Open our eyes to recognize the temptation that lies before us and empower us through the Holy Spirit to implement this process to be an overcomer.