We Are Tempted

 We Are Tempted

We have An Enemy

 In the book of James, chapter one. God tells us that we are tempted. He explains that the Lord does not tempt us with evil. God is good and He does good always.

But. The scriptures say we are tempted and enticed. This happens because of our flesh. Our lust. Our desires.

So who tempts us?  

Historically preachers have used these verses to show that we sin because of our flesh.

Which is true.

But, over time the lesson has become totally about the flesh, and our corrupted nature from the Fall, while excluding the fact that we are being tempted and enticed by someone, who is not God.

Satan, his angels and demons, or unclean spirits.

We have even created jokes to ridicule the idea that we are tempted by demons. 

Saying things like "the devil made me do it." or we say, "Yeah but, God will protect us" Which is true, if you are saved. But, saved people do not have fellowship with demons. We rebuke them and drive them out like Jesus, in His name. But, too many "believers'' never wage spiritual warfare. Is your family protected? Your friends?

Peter said, that the devil is a roaring lion going around seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

We have an enemy. The enemy was defeated on the cross but it is our job to enforce that defeat.We have authority in Jesus name. Peter would not have warned us about an enemy, if we did not need to be aware.

But, we have lost our vigilance. We have lost our spiritual eyes.

The idea that it's all a battle in the flesh, has weakened us and caused us to only focus on the flesh.

But we need to be focused on both the spirit and the flesh. 

The earthly and spiritual.

It is a spiritual battle we need to be fighting. Not just the flesh. We need to learn and practice spiritual warfare. 

Obeying rules won't cut it. More church won't cut it.

We must turn to God and wage spiritual warfare. Confessing our sin to Him. Casting out demons. Praying. Listening to His Spirit as He guides us and directs us. He will tell you what to do.

Even James says so, in the same chapter we are looking at. If you seek wisdom ask God. (James 1:5)

It's not just a matter of "not sinning anymore." Jesus has washed away our sin if you are saved. We are not held to eternal account for sin. That's gone. But, we can suffer in this world and we can lose rewards, and be stopped from being of service.

That is the enemy's tactic. He does anything he can to keep us wrapped up in nonsense, while he snatches people into hell. The enemy keeps us focused on defeat and struggle. He gives us a spirit of fear, and doubt. He gets us to doubt God's promises and truth, or not know them at all. He gets us to think we are alone.

But, remember who we are.

We are Saints of the Living God. We are here waging war under the authority of the King of Kings. If you are saved.

It's not about trying to quit sinning, or obeying rules made by men, or playing church. We are dead to those things and risen in Christ, if you know Him.

It's about turning to God, and confessing. Then letting Him guide you in what to do next.

Pray and cast out the demons. Then, follow the Lord.

He might lead you away from things. He might show you a way to solve it. But, listen to Him.

You want God to fix it. If you do it in your flesh, it's not really solved. It just moves somewhere else.

The demon you seek to overcome will manifest in another way. Your sexual lust, might become gluttony. Your lies might become resentment. You have not cast it out or defeated it. Flesh cannot overcome spirit.

God must change us. God must fix it. We must wage Spiritual Warfare. This is why we confess our sins. We bring these things to God and He cleanses us spiritually, then starts working in our lives to make changes to set us free from this sin or behavior that is hurting us. We keep abiding in Him and confessing to Him and eventually we will see that it is gone. This what Jesus meant by washing our feet.

He knows what He's doing. Give it to Him. The enemy tries to get us caught in a snare. But we wage Spiritual Warfare by turning to God and letting Him cleanse us and direct our paths. That is just one small aspect of the war we wage.

Praise Jesus.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

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