Temptation Under Pressure

James 1:13-15 The message
13 Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. 14 The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. 15 Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

James T Draper, in his book Faith That Works writes, "we need to recognize that in every test of our faith, in every trial in our lives, in every pressure that we experience, there is an element of temptation. It contains for example, an opportunity to become bitter or resentful, or to let animosity and hatred build. Within every trial, designed to strengthen and test our faith, there is also a temptation to evil" (page 39).

It is hard for most people to accept responsibility for their own actions. The tendancy on our part is to blame others. We see and hear others doing this daily, all around us. Let's be honest, we do it too. James reminds us that God is not responsible for our actions. He has no affinity toward evil. Temptation occurs because of a sinful side to us. When we do wrong we should not say "God tempted me." God is not responsible for our wrong choice or decision under pressure. We shouldn't even say "That is the way that God made me." It would be more aprropriate to say, "That is the way sin made us."

We shouldn't even blame the devil from a pratical standpoint. Sin is our own fault. The devil can't make us do anything. We give him too much credit. We give into our own desires and lusts. Whatever we do, we do because we choose to do it. Ouch.

The good news is that if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sin (John 1:9). The good news is that God provides us a way of escape our temptations to sin. When we are tempted, we will never be the same again. We will be either better or worse, stronger or weaker, more fulfilled or more frustrated. It is God's desire that we emerge from the pressure points in our lives as victorious over evil and wrong doing.

This week take personal responsibility for your actions and the words that you speak. Don't blame someone else. Own up to the fact that sin still resides within. We are a battleground for good and evil. However, as you and I lean on Jesus, we can overcome temptations.