The Devil Made Me...WHAT???

So many excuses and so few answers. It began long, long ago… not in another galaxy but in a garden – The Garden! It continues on today just as powerfully as it began when sin entered the world and us.

“Adam, what have you done?”
“Uh, it was the woman you gave me.”
“Eve, what did you do?”
“Uh, it was that serpent, You know…the devil!”

Oh my, it all sounds so familiar doesn’t it. The blame game really is a lame game.

James is clear on this thought: “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.” James 1:14 (NLT) While Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan, the bottom line was, “We can be like God.” Genesis 3:4. So what are we to do to be overcomers? How are we to battle the day-by-day desires and temptations which threaten to destroy, not only us, but others we love (and some we don’t)?

“Don’t be misled…God is good and all good things come from Him.” And the good news? “He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.” James 1:17

God is not the source of evil we do but He is the good fight within us! He is the God of lights. God always gives us the things that will stand in the light, things...
• that give us joy.
• that are good for us.
• that do not shame us.
• that can build us up and perfect and mature us.
• that give us assurance and confidence.
• that make us secure.
• that bring us love and joy and peace.
• that show forth Christ and God.1

So when you are tempted remember that as a child of God we can choose to glorify God rather than give in to the thing that seeks to draw us away from God.

Father, help me today to love you as your prized possession. You do not change in your love for me. Help me not to change in my love for you. You are my joy, my peace, my assurance and in You alone I am secure. Amen.

1Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary - The Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible – Hebrew, James.