Baited, Hooked and Trapped...

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.--James 1:14-16

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

These are some of those most helpful, practical verses in Scripture.  They helped me change the way I thought about sin and enabled me to sin less.  I stopped letting myself be deceived by blaming my sin on God, some physical ailment, on someone else or Satan and saw that I was responsible for my sin.  I saw that there was an enemy inside, my flesh, that I needed to deal with and control.  For more on this go here:  The Blame Game - James 1:13

James starts off by telling us every man is tempted.  Temptation is common to all of us.  We are drawn away by our own desires and enticed.  Let's break that down a little bit.  What draws us away from the perfect will of God:   Our own lusts...our own desires....what WE want as opposed to what God wants.  The third reason God is not the source of our sin is the nature of lust. Lust comes from within our fallen nature.

James uses the hunting and fishing terms dragged and enticed in verse 14.  (feeling flattered??) The first speaks of an animal being lured into a trap and the second of a baited hook.  The bait covers the sorrow, pain and death that lies underneath.  The reason animals are baited  is to deceive them into being drawn into the trap. Instead of experiencing pleasure when they take the bait, they face capture and death.  The same thing happens to us girls.  Maybe it is a little more subtle, but we face the same kind of temptations.  The baited hooks come in all different shapes and sizes and some are more appealing to us than others because our lusts are our own...they are individual to us. Nevertheless, we are baited, hooked and trapped by them in a deadly way. 


James drops the hunting and fishing analogies in verse 15 to talk about babies.  Quite a switch.  He says then when lusts has conceived it brings forth a child and the child when it is full grown brings forth death.  Uh oh.  Do you see that sin is not a solitary act like some of us might like to think.  The bible tells us it is a process.  Girls, I cannot begin to tell you how helpful this is to know if you want to gain control of the enemy within. Here is how it starts...It starts with desire which plays with our emotions.  So we see something and we get that feeling that we want it.  We begin to feel that it will satisfy us. We begin to long for it.  Sin begins with desire.  It goes to the mind next.

The second "d" is deception.  This is when you start to reason with yourself why you need whatever it is you desire.  You justify it in your mind.  You begin to think you have a right to it.   It starts with desire in the emotion and then to deception in the mind as you try to rationalize your desire. 

The next thing that happens is sin is conceived in your will.  John MacArthur calls this "design".   Sin is conceived at the moment we convince our minds that we have every right to have whatever it is we want.  Once the mind is convinced...then it conceives of the sin itself.  Plans it, so to speak. 


The last "d" stands for disobedience.  The actual sin is committed and this, of course, occurs in the behavior.  Sin begins with desire in the emotions.  The emotions lead the mind to justify or rationalize the sin.  Once the mind is convinced, the sin is conceived in the will and acted upon in the behavior.

The last part of verse 15 says that when the child (sin) is full grown it brings forth death...literally it is a killer! You are being deceived if you think you are getting away with any sin and not experiencing consequences. Sin always results in death of some kind. Death in relationships, death of relationships, death of opportunity for blessing...and on and on.  Look carefully at those things in your life that are not in accordance with His will...even those you think might be harmless...follow the logical progression and you will find the end of it is death.   

So why did I say these verses are so practical?  They are practical because, as I said before, they tell us that sin is a process...it is not something that just happens out of the blue. We can stop it  before the sin is conceived  at the emotional level or in the mind...if it reaches the will..it is too late.  How? By being careful what we expose our emotions and our minds too.  A fool's mind is an open door...not discerning...allowing anything through.  It is also important to understand that emotions bypass our intellect. When we feel an emotional rush coming...stop and THINK!  Both our emotions and our minds need to be guarded by the word of God. Our emotions need to find a willing mate in our mind for sin to be conceived.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,  and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.--2nd Corinthians 10:4-5

How do we do this practically...the answer you will get from me is always the same.  Immerse yourself in the word.  Bring your mind and emotions under the control of the Spirit of God by saturating yourself in the word of God.  You will then have a mind renewed and transformed by His word.  A mind set on things above not on earthly things. Are you getting the picture?  Surrender to the Spirit of God and want what God wants in your life.  Let Him be your all in all.  Abide in His word...dwell there.

Secondly, stop blaming God or anyone else for your sin.  Verse 16 says it all:  DO NOT BE DECEIVED MY BELOVED BRETHREN (MY DAUGHTERS.) You have NO ONE to blame but yourself.  Stop walking around blindly...the enemy is you.  Start looking within when you sin.  What is your heart set on that you are willing to sin to get it.  Ask yourself what is it that you wanted that you were not getting that caused you to be impatient, unkind or unforgiving to those the Lord has placed in your life.  As you do this it will become clear to you that it is your own lusts that get you into trouble. 

Having done this repent of any wrong desires and ask God to give you the right desires (His desires) and by faith make the decision to move in the direction where Christ is leading you. Do it whether you feel like it or not, asking and counting on Him to align your will with His. Little by little you will see the fruit.

This process is the key to victory over sin.  It is a moment by moment dying to self and living for Christ. Putting off the old man and putting on the new. Remember you are part of God's plan. You have works that He has prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. You can't fulfill his perfect plan for you unless you are living for Him and dying to your wants and desires. You can't do that without surrendering moment by moment to God's Spirit and allowing Him to live through you. As a believer God promises to work all things together for you for good, but imagine what he can do with someone who is fully submitted to Him and His desires. Imitate Christ who fully submitted Himself to His Father making our redemption possible. Put all your energies and efforts into living for Christ.

Love
Mom

Sin Makes You STUPID!

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

 Lamentations 1: 9 ..She did not consider her destiny; Therefore her collapse was awesome; 

Here is the fourth reason not to sin...

Sin makes you stupid - For Judah the warnings were loud and clear...several prophets preached to her of coming judgment...Jeremiah for 40 years.  God's people, however, played with fire and they got burned. They refused to believe that their rejecting the word of God and living according to their own desires would bring God's punishment. Sin always eventually or sooner rather than later brings judgment.

Now all of us know that judgment is coming...both believers and unbelievers.  I was an unbeliever for 35 years, and I knew that judgment was coming; but I kept putting off coming to the Lord.  I thought I had to clean myself up to go to God...or I thought my life would be boring as a Christian and figured I would have fun while I could...but the bottom line was I did not want to admit my need...I thought I could fix whatever situation I got myself into. The things I did were so stupid...I knew they would have consequences later on but I did them anyway...Sin really does makes you stupid. AND it never starts off big...it starts off small and as your heart becomes hardened against the conviction of the Spirit it increases until you find yourself doing things you would have never thought possible. You begin to be blind to consequences and you lose the ability to see around corners, so to speak.

Finally, the Lord in His goodness, mercy and compassion, allowed my heart to be broken over a situation and I KNEW I had nowhere else to go.  Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death...but the gift of God is eternal life in His Son. The ultimate judgment is hell and it is reserved for those who go all their lives refusing to look up and acknowledge God.  The Bible tells us that even the demons believe and tremble...but knowing with your head and believing with your heart are two different things.  When your heart believes something your actions will follow...You can believe something intellectually and do nothing about it.  Romans 1 tells us that we are all without excuse.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.--Romans 1:18-23

When I think of sin making us stupid, I think of the story of Moses lifting the serpent up in the wilderness...the very story Jesus was telling Nicodemus in John 3. Here is what Jesus said in John 3 and the story from Numbers follows:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.--John 3:14-17

⁴ Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. ⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” ⁶ So the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.
⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.--Numbers 21:4-9

Would you believe that many refused to look at the serpent on the pole and died! It seems like such an easy thing...just look at the serpent on the pole and be healed...don't look and die! Many, many many of us do the same thing.  We refuse to lift our eyes to the cross and believe and be saved. We know in our heart of hearts that judgment is coming and  yet refuse to look. God does everything He can to get our attention...just like he did for Jerusalem, but He will not force belief on anyone.  If we continue in that refusal, we will ultimately die in our sins and live eternally separated from God.

Even after coming to God through belief in His Son, we can still resist the Spirit of God. Maybe we start to make a practice of a certain sin and continue in it, despite God's warnings to us...knowing that God will not allow us to get away with it forever...knowing  the law of sowing and reaping...knowing there will be a day of reckoning.  Yet in our pride we refuse to acknowledge it, because we are loving our sin at the moment more than we are loving God, or we are allowing offense and unforgiveness to cloud our vision.  Now, no one, not even us (John 10:28) can snatch us out of His hand, but we miss out on so many of His blessings this way and have to be led around like a mule rather than guided with His eye.

I don't know about you but I do not want to have to be harnessed and led around like a mule...I would much rather God be able to guide me with His eye.  What is the remedy? James says it best in Chapter 4 beginning in verse 7.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

There is your prescription and it is filled with humility...Girls, when we draw near to God and receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save our souls; He changes us and conforms us into His image.  We see ourselves as sinners in need of a Savior and readily put off our sin knowing the price that was paid for it.  We put off our offenses and forgive knowing HOW VERY MUCH we have been, are and will be forgiven!! The Word, girls, "ARIGHTS" our thinking.  Going any length of time without it causes our mind to become clouded...He wants us to seek Him daily...The Bible is your sword of the Spirit...it is your only offensive weapon.  If you do not use it, you are defenseless against the wiles of the enemy.  As you saturate yourself with the Word...it washes the filth of the world away...As we  keep our minds on Him by keeping in the Word, we are transformed daily into His image.

Our sin does make us stupid...but the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and with Him is knowledge of the Holy One.  I will end with the last half of Proverbs 1 starting in verse 20.

²⁰ Wisdom calls aloud outside;
      She raises her voice in the open squares.
       ²¹ She cries out in the chief concourses,
      At the openings of the gates in the city
      She speaks her words:
       ²² “ How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
      For scorners delight in their scorning,
      And fools hate knowledge.
       ²³ Turn at my rebuke;
      Surely I will pour out my spirit on you;
      I will make my words known to you.
       ²⁴ Because I have called and you refused,
      I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
       ²⁵ Because you disdained all my counsel,
      And would have none of my rebuke,
       ²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity;
      I will mock when your terror comes,
       ²⁷ When your terror comes like a storm,
      And your destruction comes like a whirlwind,
      When distress and anguish come upon you.
       ²⁸ “ Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;
      They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
       ²⁹ Because they hated knowledge
      And did not choose the fear of the LORD,
       ³⁰ They would have none of my counsel
      And despised my every rebuke.
       ³¹ Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
      And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
       ³² For the turning away of the simple will slay them,
      And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
       ³³ But whoever listens to me will dwell safely,
      And will be secure, without fear of evil.”--Proverbs 1:20-33

Love
Mom who is done with reasons not to sin even though Lamentations gives many more...