Temptation

James 1:12-15 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 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 one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

1. THE ROOT OF TEMPTATION v13-15
A. We invite temptation to exist- it’s not temptation if we don’t want it
B. The best way to stay away from temptation is to stay full of God
C. We should work on doing what is right instead of worrying about doing what is wrong.

2. THE REASON FOR TEMPTATION v12
“We can stand up under the test, be approved”
A. Temptation is a chance for us to choose.
1. We prove our love by our choices.

Why does God test us? To see what’s in us? No, he already knows.
He tests us so that we might know what is in our hearts. John Bevere, A Heart Ablaze, pg. 49

B. Temptation shows what’s in our heart.
1. Our private life is the real us
2. 1 Timothy 5:24‑25 The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. 25 In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.

3. THE RESULT OF TEMPTATION v12
A. Some people fail the test.
1. Sin is choosing something over God
2. When we disobey God we harden our hearts
a. Hebrews 3:8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert

B. Temptation makes us stronger
1. The devil brings temptation to destroy us, but God turns it around for good.
a. Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
b. Luke 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
c. 1 Peter 1:7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
d. Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
2. So why does he try? He’s willing to take the chance that we will mess up

4. OUR REACTION TO TEMPTATION v12
A. Use the Word of God
1. Jesus did- Mt 4 “It is written”
2. Ephesians 6:17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
3. John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

B. Treasure your relationship with God.
1. Psalms 66:18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
2. You don’t want to do anything to disrupt the clean and open relationship you have with him.

C. Look for a way of escape
1. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
2. If you get stuck in a situation - run
a. Genesis 39:12 She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.
b. 1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality

D. Don’t think you are above temptation
1 Corinthians 10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!

E. Never give up
1. If you fall
a. Proverbs 24:16 for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.
b. Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.
2. If you don’t feel anything
a. Habakkuk 3:17‑18 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Just a few thoughts.

1. What a great day at Christian Center Assembly of God yesterday!

2. We officially changed our service schedule to two services.
I never knew going to two services could be so much fun!

3. Congratulations to our friends Angel and Jason.
I had the honor of officiating their wedding Saturday night.

4. I am beginning to realize how hard blogging is!
Coming up with fresh, insightful and interesting stuff to write is harder than I thought.

5. Looking forward to this Sunday, when we get to do two services again!
Yes this will become the normal thing at CCAG.

6. Making more room for people to be impacted by the Gospel of Christ!

7. Let Love Live.

8. Love Wins.

Hunger

Read this post on hunger. It was written by a friend of mine. Good stuff Michael Fleming!

http://mdfleming.wordpress.com/

I hope you are challenged by Michael's post!

Lessons From Disney World - Part 3

3. Dream Big

Many times I read the story about when they first opened Disney World in Florida. The story says that someone there said something like, "I wish Walt Disney could have seen this." To which someone else replied. "He did!"

I loved visiting Disney World and experiencing Walt Disney's dream.
Guess what, God has a big dream too. And He wants us to dream big.
If your dream is not unreachable, chances are it my not be from God. God wants us to dream big, He wants to accomplish great things in and through our lives.
One of my favorite worship songs lately has been "God of the City"; there's are part that says, "greater things are yet to come." Man I believe that.
Greater things are yet to come for me, my family, my church my city, and out nation.
We just need to dream bigger dreams and by faith follow God as He leads us in fulfilling those dreams.

And the truth be told... you don't have to go to Disney World to learn to dream big. All you have to do is read your Bible and you realize how amazing God is and how much He is waiting for us to catch His dream for our lives!

Lessons From Disney World - Part 2

Here's another lesson I learned while visiting Disney World:

2. Focus on kids and mom and dad will come!
Everything at Disney is kid friendly and done with excellence.
Imagine if Walt Disney had built a church! It would have world class children's ministry and probably world class youth ministry.
Why is it that we in the church world today have a tendency to spend most of our resources on the adults while children and youth ministry seems to get the "left-overs"?
Seems to me that God's desire for building His Kingdom and His church is first of all excellence. I get tired of seeing people and churches do things half-way.

What if Christ only half-way provided our atonement on the cross? What if He only half-way forgave your sins? Or half way provided for your needs?

What ever you do, do it all for the glory of God! The means do things with excellence.

Remember, excellence is doing the best you can with what you have!

My desire is for the church to have quality children's and youth ministries. I have learned that the parents will follow.

Remember Jesus' words:

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matt 19:14-15 NIV

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."Matt 18:3 NIV

Lessons From Disney World

Lately I've noticed many of my contemporaries are posting lessons they learned while visiting Disney World. I too visited Disney world while in Florida, so since it seems to be the common theme in the blogging world, here are my lessons from Disney World ...

1. It's a small word after all!

Right now the words to the song are most likely playing in your head! You're welcome!
As my family worked it's way through the massive crowds at the Magic Kingdom, I realized that no one knew who I was. Sometimes this can be dangerous. Let me explain.
When we find ourselves in a place where we think no one knows us, we are tempted to lay aside our integrity and character. We reason, "Well no one knows me so it doesn't matter what I do or how I act."
Remember, character and integrity are best defined, "Who you are when no one is looking."(Thanks Bill Hybels for writing that book!)
If I am really a person of charter and integrity, I am going to do the right thing and live a life worthy of a Christ follower, even in a strange city and a large crowd where chances are no one knows me.
And for the record, there's always someone who knows you, every where you go!
On day three of my visit to Disney World, I ran into a friend and his family also enjoying Disney.
I may have been on vacation from being "Pastor Joe" but I wasn't on vacation from being "Joe the Christ follower!"

So the lesson is, be real and be who you're supposed to be no matter where you are.
It's a small world after all!

The Cussing Pastor

Here's a post from Ed Young Jr's blog.
Makes you think about the things that come out of your mouth!

The Cussing Pastor