he told me to _________

James 1:12-13 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.

You really ought to have a bookmark in your Bible for the first chapter of James. It is such clear, practical teachings of what you deal with in daily life. James speaks about how the world reaches out and grabs our attention, and how we struggle with so many temptations of the world that take our eyes off Jesus. James talks about the trials of life that God designs, or allows for our spiritual growth and maturity. James talks about the struggles of sin that Satan uses to draw us deeper into sin. James talks about the value we put on wealth, and clearly states that earthly wealth is temporal and will fade away just as the suns heat fades flowers in the field (James 1:11)

James moves to from talking about the trials, to the temptations that may play a role in them. God either designs or allows every single thing you face, every single day in your life. Let me be clear here; God does not tempt you to sin in any way, but Satan has asked God to tempt you with any sin that you face. God would be going against his holy nature if he enticed you to sin; his goal is to transform you into the image of his Son. Romans 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. You are born into sin, you have a sin-nature because you are a descendant of Adam; you are enticed to sin because Satan tempts you with the pleasures of sin. We all know that sin has a temporary pleasure, but the conviction of the sin carries a weight or a penalty with it that is eternal. We must answer for every thought, word, and action of our life here at the judgement seat of Christ. We will either be kneeling before him forgiven, or we will be kneeling before him condemned, because we never repented of our sin and lived our lives full of temporary pleasure. Then we will pay eternally for our mistake.

The struggle with sin and the temptation of sin are with us until we reach heaven. The closer you draw to God, the deeper your desire to remove yourself from sin becomes. Satan will continually seek to tempt you; he will continually raise the level of your temptations and the trials of life to try and get you to renounce your faith in God. Do you remember how the trials of Job escalated? Even those closest to Job begged him to renounce his faith. Job was rewarded with earthly pleasures and likely and an incredible heavenly reward for the depth and steadfastness of his faith in God. As children when we got in trouble, likely we blamed it on somebody else. We claimed they were at fault for our fault. Satan is at fault for your sin, but by seeking God daily in prayer and his Word, he will give you the strength to resist. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Paul also wrote in his epistles how we were not to continue in sin; sadly today many live misunderstanding grace, and think they have a pass to sin. Don’t let Satan convince you of that untruth. Spend enough time with God to recognize what is truth and error. Spend enough time with God that your only desire is to not sin. That desire is the strength to face the sins and temptation of the world with your shield of faith; to resist the schemes of the devil, and to stand fast for truth. You will become a light in a dark world that God uses to draw others to himself. You will become a Job of sorts, enduring trials and temptations, and drawing glory to God through them. Instead of blaming the other kid on the playground, you will be saying your faith in God gave you the strength to endure this trial of life.