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Psalms
149:1-9 Praise the
LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, And
His praise in the assembly of saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; Let
the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise His name with the
dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. For the LORD
takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. Let
the saints be joyful in glory; Let them sing aloud on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged
sword in their hand, To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on
the peoples; To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of
iron; To execute on them the written judgment— This honor have all His saints.
Praise the LORD!
Father God, magnify the power of the Holy
Spirit within us to crush temptation when it arises in our life. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!
Book of James 1:9-18 NKJV
This
lesson we will be covering four characters that a Christian believer should
display as a Christian. They are Humility, Endurance, Temptation, and God’s
Goodness. The first three are things that all Christians struggle with on a
daily basis. That Old Serpent planted so many desires in our DNA that
constantly tugs at us in an attempt to pull us away from God our Father through
our flesh. Our flesh, and I mean every human being born on earth, except Jesus,
was and is tainted by the Devil when he persuaded Eve to eat of the fruit and
then she convinced Adam to eat the forbidden fruit too. This is why Paul made
this statement in Romans; Romans
3:23 for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God. Have you ever wondered what would have
happened if Adam wouldn’t have eaten the fruit? Hmmmm, that is something to
ponder. Send me your thoughts on this.
I think endurance and temptation is
something believers deal with each day. When I was first saved the first couple
years I didn’t understand what seasoned believers were talking about when they
would say, “they struggle with sin on a daily basis” meaning temptation and
endurance. I have come to understand this through the sanctification process as
I grow in our Lord. The more I study God’s Word the more I understand the life
I lived before Spiritual Birth had me separated from God; any Born Again
Christian can claim this. OK, enough said let’s get started.
9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,
Let the lowly brother glory in his
exaltation; This
phrase is referring to one in humble circumstances; one of lowly rank or employment;
one in a condition of dependence or poverty. A person that is Born Again,
glories in the salvation of the Lord. They are happy and content because they
know what their eternity holds for them. They may not have a penny to their
name, but they know one day they will be with the Lord and never have a need of
anything again.
Christianity
brings a new dignity to the poor and not-so-influential people of this world. That
dignity is most apparent in the true church where there is no society class
distinctions, or there shouldn’t be any, if there is then it isn’t a true
church. All believers share the distinction and dignity of being changed by the
gospel and being charged with the mission of taking that same Good News to the
rest of the world. Believers know they have dignity before God because Christ
died for them.
Mary,
the mother of Jesus, is a great example of this truth. The dignity that she
displayed when she realized what God had done for her is seen in her prayer of
praise, (Luke 1:46-55).
Whatever our social or economic situation, James challenges us to see beyond it
to our eternal reward. What we can have in Jesus Christ outweighs anything in
this life. Knowing him gives us our high position, where we find our true
dignity. Our earthly goal is, or should be, to live a Christlike life to reap
the reward of Heaven.
10 but the
rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.
But the rich in his humiliation; What this means is that some point in
time a rich person will be disgraced when he stands before Jesus. All of his
earthly riches, prominence, and dignity will not be present for him to show
Jesus his accomplishments. He will stand before the Lord empty handed with his
head hung low, all of a sudden realizing what life on earth is all about. It
isn’t about what we can do for mankind, but for God.
Because as a flower of the field he
will pass away; All
the worldly possessions will be left behind when we die just as a flower in its
season passes away. A flower will look beautiful for a few days and then
withers away and its beauty is only remembered in our minds or from a picture. We
find true wealth by developing our spiritual life, not by developing our
worldly assets.
11 For no
sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its
flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will
fade away in his pursuits.
For no sooner has the sun risen with a
burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance
perishes; This verse
illustrates the concept of life, human life, plant life, animal life, any life.
We are only here for a brief time and then gone. We might be remembered for a
generation, but with time we fade away, unless we have done something like walking
on the moon, which was grand at the time, but now the younger generation just
reads the event as a history lesson without experiencing the excitement of the
moment. So what I getting at is this, we need to examine our life, our
spiritual life and focus on Jesus and what He did for us and not on our earthly
wants and desires. We need to make a choice; eternal bliss over earthly bliss
and quit flowing to and fro like a wave.
So the rich man also will fade away in
his pursuits; It
doesn’t matter how rich a person is, it is all temporal. If wealth, power, and
status mean nothing to God, why do we attribute so much importance to them and
so much honor to those who possess them? Do your material possessions give you
goals and your only reason for living? If they were gone, what would be left?
What you have in your heart, not your bank account, matters to God and endures
for eternity.
These
verses bring to mind the rich man and poor beggar. The rich man was in his
glory on earth which didn’t last long compared to eternity, and because of his
lifestyle of idolizing riches, he will spend his eternity in Hell. The beggar
had a very hard and painful life here on earth which was only temporary, but
now resides in Heaven for eternity. I chose the latter and place my faith in
the Cross of Christ. How about YOU?
Luke 16:19-25 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple
and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores,
who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with
the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and
licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar
died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died
and was buried. 23 And being in torments in
Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. 24
"Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have
mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said,
'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and
likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for
when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has
promised to those who love Him.
Blessed
is the man who endures
temptation; Temptation
is what we are plagued with due to the sin nature. Will we ever defeat it? No, but
as long as we keep our faith in Jesus and live for Him, we will have victory.
As this phrase states, if we can endure the day to day temptations and not cave
into our worldly desires, we will have victory. Always keep in mind that the
Apostle Paul also struggled with temptation. Romans 7:15-19 For what I
am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice;
but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with
the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin
that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh)
nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not
find. 19
For the good that I will to do,
I do not do; but the evil I will not to
do, that I practice.
For
when he has been approved, He will receive the crown of life which the Lord has
promised to those who love Him; If
we run a good race we will delight our Lord and meet his approval. John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Romans 6:14 For sin
shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
The
crown of life is like being in the winner’s circle of the Kentucky Derby. The
victory wreath is given to winning jockey and horse. God's crown of life is not
glory and honor here on earth but the reward of eternal life, living with God
forever. The way to be in God's winners' circle is by staying faithful, even
under the pressure of temptation. As Christians we must run the race of life
for nonperishable rewards. 1
Corinthians 9:25 And
everyone who competes for the prize
is temperate in all things. Now they do
it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
13 Let 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.
Let no one say when he is tempted,
"I am tempted by God"; We
have all heard people say that God is tempting them, but in reality God tempts
no one. It is our sinful flesh that causes us to be tempted. God allows things
to happen in our life for us to learn and to strengthen our faith.
For God cannot be tempted by evil; God can’t be tempted because there is
nothing in Him that would cause any type of temptation to come forth. God is
Holy! 1) There is no evil passion to be gratified, as there is in men; 2) There
is no want of power, He is all powerful; 3) There is no want of wealth, for He
has infinite resources, and all that there is, belong to Him; 4) There is no
want of happiness, that He should seek happiness in sources which are not now
in His possession. Nothing, therefore, could be presented to the divine mind as
an inducement to do evil. God’s omnipotent Holy Will fully resists any
direction toward sin.
Nor does He Himself tempt anyone; As stated previously, God doesn’t
tempt anyone, but allows things to happen in our life to wake us up; as a
calling to Him to become one of His children; to have a closer relationship
with Him; to cleanse us in the sanctification process; etc. It is our flesh
that induces us to sin.
14 But each
one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
People who live for God
often wonder why they still have temptations. Does God tempt them? No, God allows
things to happen to test us,
but he does not tempt us by
trying to seduce us to sin. God allows Satan to tempt people, in order to
refine our faith and to help us grow in our dependence on Christ. It is the moral
defect in our DNA that leads to sin, but we can resist the temptation to sin by
turning to God for strength and choosing to obey his Word.
15 Then,
when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is
full-grown, brings forth death.
Temptation comes from evil
desires inside us, not from God. It begins with an evil thought and becomes sin
when we dwell on the thought and allow it to become an action. Like a snowball
rolling downhill, sin grows more destructive the more we let it have its way.
The best time to stop a temptation is before it is too strong or moving too
fast to control. See Matthew 4:1-11;
1 Corinthians 10:13; and 2 Timothy 2:22 for more about escaping temptation.
The danger of sin is this:
When we sin the first time and disregard our convictions of wrong, each time the
conviction becomes less until there is no conviction anymore. This then is God turning
His back on the individual with no convictions, and the result brings forth death,
meaning Hell.
It is easy to blame others
and make excuses for evil thoughts and wrong actions. We use excuses such as: It's
the other person's fault; I couldn't help it; everybody's doing it; it was just
a mistake; nobody's perfect; the devil made me do it; I was pressured into it;
I didn't know it was wrong; God is tempting me; etc. A person who makes excuses
is trying to shift the blame from himself or herself to something or someone
else. A Christian, on the other hand, accepts responsibility for his or her wrongs,
confesses them, and asks God for forgiveness. As stated, temptations do not
come from God, but from the appetites of man’s sinful nature, which is a result
of the fall of Adam and Eve; the sin nature can be held at bay, and is meant to
be held at bay by the believer anchoring his faith in the Cross of Christ,
which will then give the Holy Spirit leeway to help us.
16 Do not be
deceived, my beloved brethren.
The
word brethren here is referring to believers and James is telling them not to
be deceived in thinking that God is the author of sin, and that the evils in
the world are to be linked to Him. One of the most powerful tactics of Satan is
deception to get believers to believe wrong or to blame what happens to us on
God.
17 Every
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.
Every good gift and every perfect gift
is from above; There
is nothing bad that comes from Heaven. Whatever the will of God is, and is
directed to us, is for our good. The most perfect gift that the Father has ever
sent to us is His Son Jesus Christ, and for us to accept Him, is left up to us.
And comes down from the Father of
lights; Our Father in
Heaven is light and provides the light in Heaven. He will supply the light in
the New Jerusalem also. Throughout the Bible light is good and darkness is
evil.
With whom there is no variation or
shadow of turning; This
phrase is stating that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, He will
never change, only we change due to our desires.
18 Of His
own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of
firstfruits of His creatures.
Of His own will He brought us forth by
the word of truth; It
is by the Words of God that the universe was created and it is by the Words of
God that we were conceived and brought forth in life.
That we might be a kind of firstfruits
of His creatures; We
are God’s firstfruits because He holds us more dear to Himself than all other creation.
Why, because we are made in His likeness, therefore He sent His only begotten Son
to redeem us of our fallen sin nature out of love.
Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him
and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe it with
your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord
Jesus I know I am a sinner. I confess my
sins to you; I am sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a
sinful lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from my
sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and right
now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are the Son
of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my Savior.” I believe this and have faith you will make a
new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart and lead
me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John 3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
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