13Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. (James 1:13-14)

When it comes to sin and temptation, alot of people like to blame God, right? They will say something like, “God made me this way” So therefor Its OK if I do this or that” However as the Apostle James said people claim “I am tempted by God” however as he reveals God can’t tempt anyone. This idea that God is tempting us into sin, that God made us this way, is a lie from the devil

You need to understand God is Holy, without sin, God can’t even be in the presence of sin, because He is Holy. Sin is complete opposition or being at war with God. We were seperated from God, why? Because of our sin, one of the reasons Jesus came here and died for our sins on the cross, was to reconcile us back to God. Why did we need to be reconciled? Because our sin separated us from God

Consider what the Apostle Paul says…

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

The Apostle Paul says “God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to handle, not only that God will create a way for you to escape that temptation. So people who are blaming God for their sins, its not only untruthful, its blasphemy. We need to take accountability for our actions, not blaming God for everything….

Many people will say “I was Born this Way, what does Jesus say  “Unless you are Born Again, you will not see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3) We must be Born Again in Christ

For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 1 John 2:16

Conception of Sin

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

Most sin doesn’t just happen spontaneously or randomly, typically an idea or temptation is planted in your heart and mind, and eventually that temptation is fed and given life to give birth to sin, the action of actually sinning. 

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

We need to guard our hearts and minds from the temptations of this world. Because what happens is we allow these things into us, and eventually it gives birth to sin, which equals spiritual death. So from a practical application of this, what movies are watching? What music are you listening to? What book are you reading? Because all these things have influence over us, we need to guard our hearts and minds…

I want you to consider how Jesus views sin….because it might be shocking to some people

21“You have heard that it was said to those [d]of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother [e]without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Matthew 5:21

27“You have heard that it was said [i]to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

 29If your right eye causes you to [j]sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to [k]sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Jesus is saying sin begins in the heart and mind, and just because you didn’t physically perform that act of murder or adultery, you are already guilty of it. That’s powerful when you think about this.

Now this should king of reveal to you, how serious God is about sin, God is so serious, that Jesus had to die on the cross to pay for our penalty, Christ took our place. So we need to guard our hearts and minds

Secondly Jesus is speaking hyperbole here, if your eye is causing you to sin, pluck it out. What is Jesus talking about here? Is he telling us to pluck our eyes out? No, hes telling you, if what you are looking at is causing you to sin, then stop looking at it. It’s as simple as that, stop looking at pornography, stop looking at those movies, because your condemning your soul to Hell. How about the foot? Well if everytime you go to the bar and causes you to sin, stop going there. Ect ect.

Everything good is from God

16Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17Every 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. 18Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. 

So now your probably a little upset with God because of all this sin and temptation in the world, however reminder God doesn’t tempt anyone. But remember this, everything that is good in this world, is from God. While this world can be a struggle, because we live in a fallen world due to sin. 

However we must remember that there are still many blessings in this world, even today that we can rejoice about. Think about just the beauty of this Earth and the Heavens, while man keeps trying to destroy it, its still awesome and beautiful. Think about the blessings of your family and friends, they are gifts from God, every single one of you, life itself, Creation is a gift from God

None of these things come from anywhere but God, so understand that. Even people who reject God, still enjoy some of the blessings from God

Consider what Jesus said here:

that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:45

The sun rises on the evil and the saved, the rain falls on the wicked and the saved. All people in some aspect enjoy the blessings of God and don’t even realize it, unit those gifts are taken away. Every good gift, including our salvation in Jesus Christ, comes from God, we can rejoice in this

Practical Applications:

1. Who are we spending time with? Bad Company Corrupts Good Character- (1 Cor. 15:33) God is not tempting you, maybe your company is?
2. What are we looking at? Movies, Music, Books, are they tempting us? Remove Temptation
3.  Be In The Word of God- Jesus rebuked Satan with scripture
4. Be lead by the Holy Spirit- Teacher, Comforter, Advocate, Guide
5. Develop a strong prayer life- Jesus on the mountain
6. Be Part of the Church- fellowship with Christians

In the last analysis it is not the temptations that meet us on the streets that determine our conduct; it is the heart of the man who faces them. Two men may face the same conditions; one falls, the other stands. The difference is not in the temptation but in the heart of the man. Martin Lyod Jones

And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Matthew 6:13

These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver us Lord from the Evil One , deliver us from all temptation and sin, deliver us from this world, because Jesus Christ has overcome the world already, we have victory in Jesus Christ, the King of all Kings, the Lord of all Lords, the Great I AM, Amen

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, (v2)

So how do we “Count it as joy” when we face trials during our life? Well I know I personally found Jesus during the worse time in my life. Maybe you have to? See it depends on the perspective we have in life. Are we living with a temporal perspective, live like there is no tomorrow, eat, drink for tomorrow we die” Or do we live in a eternal perspective? Do we live as we are preparing for Gods Kingdom to come, do we live as we will one day with Christ, in resurrected bodies, glorified and eternal. Trials also meaning adversity, experience of evil, temptations

A few years ago, during the pandemic , I think alot of us can relate to going through a trial or temptation, at my job I was threatened you either get vaccinated or you will be terminated. Thats what I was told, so obviously when I first heard this news I was troubled. Not only did I not want to be forced into taking something I personally didnt believe in, but as a man I needed to support my family. So the natural thing to do is to give in, but I didnt so I leaned into God. And many things happened during this process, there were many people, thousands who lost their job, including doctors, I’m not lying when I say that. But my wife, wrote a religious exemption, I submitted it to the Health System, letting them know my personal beliefs , my faith, and they accepted it

I didn’t know how any of this was going to work out, I thought there was a good chance I was going to be terminated, but I gave it over to God, whatever is His will let is happen. 

I learned this acronym for JOY years ago Jesus Over Yourself

So going back to those trials, we can count it as joy when we go through trials of life, because Jesus is preparing us for the Kingdom to Come. We can count it as joy because we already have victory in Jesus Christ. We can count is all joy because Christ has already overcome the grave, we can count it as joy because of regardless of what happens to us here, our names are already written in the book of life. Jesus Christ should be your Joy not anything else in this world

Think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, they are told you either worship the golden statue of Nebuchandnezzar or you will be thrown into the fire. What was there response? They said God will deliver us, however even if he doesn’t we will never serve your gods. The Hebrew men were faced with the possibility of death, however they considered that pure joy because they had faith God was going to deliver them one way or another. Then remember what happened?

16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” (Daniel 3)

Jesus was in the fire will the Hebrew men , it states “25“Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the[e] Son of God.”” Jesus Christ is in the fire with you today, every trial you face , you are not alone

Testing of Your Faith

knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (perseverance, endurance) . (v3)

God will allow some of these trials because its the testing of your faith. How do we know if your faith is real? It’s easy in todays Western world, to confess Jesus Christ as Lord, but is it real? Do we have genuine faith? Do we really love The Lord God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength? Going back the Hebrew men (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego) did they really have faith in God? They could have talked the good talk, but they were willing to go into the fire (literally) for their faith. Yeah I would say there faith was genuine

How about you? Have you been thrown into the fire yet? Has your faith been challenged? Have you been told to make a choice, Jesus or the world? The time will come, when we will all be challenged, however instead of dreading this trial, consider it pure joy

Consider what the Aposte Peter says 

Beloved, do not think it strange or suprising concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 1 Peter 4:12-13

Again the Apostle Peter says to Rejoice in our trials, why? Because you partake of Christs sufferings. Our Lord suffered and died for you, since our Lord suffered , don’t you think you are going to suffer also? A servant is not greater than their master (John 13:16) If Jesus is your Lord (Master) don’t expect better treatment than your Lord. 

It’s natural for us to say “This is not fair”, why does God allow this? Was it fair when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins? But Christ did it anyone, because He loves us, and has given us eternal life. However if the world is going to crucify the The Lord, don’t be surprised when the world comes after you. 

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. John 15:18

God Is Working on You

But let patience (perseverance)  have its perfect work, that you may be perfect (mature) and complete, lacking nothing. (v4)

We often heard the expressions, they are a baby (new) Christian and they are a mature (seasoned) Christian, what is the difference? Well if you have been a Christian long enough, you have gone through various trials already, your faith has been tested and challenged more times than you can count, what is the result? Typically it either builds your faith even stronger for the next storm or it totally destroys the faith of the person.

We think back to when Jesus and the disciples were in the boat, and the great storm came upon them.  What was the initial response of the disciples “Lord, don’t you care we are perishing”? They were going through a trial, and instead of putting their faith in God and they blamed God, can we relate to that?

But what was it that Jesus said to them? Jesus said “Why are you so fearful, How is it that you have no faith”? (Mark 4:40)  And we know that Jesus was in complete control of the storm the entire time, however their faith was being tested. 

The good news is our Lord, even the winds and the waves obey Him. We may be in the storm, we may be going through a trial of testing right now, but God is in complete control. 

Ask God?

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (5)

Now you might be going through a trial right now, you might be in the fire or storm today, what should you do? Well as the Apostle James says here “if you lack wisdom, ask God” I know I’m personally asking God for answers continually, while the world is looking for answers with AI or technology, why not ask the source of all Creation for answers. 

Remember what Jesus said “7“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. “ (Matthew 7:7-8)

This is another reason for trials, think about it? When we are going through something, we have a tendency to cling to God more. When everything is going great, most people have no need for God. Think about team building, alot of companies make their employees go through team building, why? Because when you go through something with other people, it usually builds your relationship with them. Its the same with God, God wants a relationship with you, not just religion. Allow these trials and testing to bring you closer to Christ

Ask in Faith

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (6)

However when we do ask God for wisdom, we need to ask in true faith. Again this is a testing of our faith, do we really believe God will save and help us? Did the Hebrew men really believe God will save them from the fire? Yes, Did the disciples really believe Jesus was going to save them in the storm? Truly put your trust in Jesus, don’t be like those who guess maybe God will answer them, Have faith God is with You, in the fire, in the storm, in every trial of your life

Anyone who comes to him with lack of faith shouldn’t expect anything from him. This faith is developed and endured during the trials and temptations of life, cling to Jesus and you will lack nothing!

Faith upholds a Christian under all trials, by assuring him that every painful dispensation is under the direction of his Lord; that chastisements (displines) are a token of His love; that the season, measure, and continuance of his sufferings, are appointed by Infinite Wisdom, and designed to work for his everlasting good; and that grace and strength shall be afforded him, according to his need. John Newton

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2)

There will be trials in your Christian walk, lets us consider it pure joy. Because just as Jesus was with the Hebrew men in the fire, Jesus was with the disciples in the storm, Jesus is with you also and always, Jesus is with you in every trial, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, during all times and trials

Rejoice brothers and sisters , rejoice always because Christ is Risen , Christ has already overcome the world, Amen!