TUESDAY, April 1st, 2008

No Devotions Today!!


APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!!!!

Ha! I Crack Myself Up!

James 1:9-18

9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,
10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.
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.
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.
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.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
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.
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.

Often times, I hear people say: "Why would God tempt us, if He knows we are going to sin?" And that sounds like a valid question doesnt it? This passage answers it. God does not tempt us! We are tempted when we take our eyes off of God and focus on our own lusts. Then our lust leads to sinful actions and our sinful actions leads to a life of destruction. It is not Gods fault it is ours. We will face much less temptation, and overcome what we do face much easier if we simply keep our focus on our Savior.
James also tells us DO NOT BE DECEIVED! It is so easy to be tricked into thinking that sin will be worth it, but the fact is, sin will only be worth death.
This passage is full of so much. What else did you get from it?