Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: We will be tempted physically, emotionally, and spiritually in every way that you can. And yet if God is in control and God is behind what I'm facing and going through tonight, we know that God is good. And if God is sustaining me and if God's going to give me the victory and all the glory and the honor goes to who? to Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. It's great to have you with us as Raul continues our study of the book of James with assurance that you never have to face temptation alone. God is always with you to guard your thoughts and direct your actions. When you listen to the prompting of His Holy Spirit, He'll give you the wisdom and strength to resist all enticement to sin. In James chapter one beginning in verse 12, here's Raul Ries with today's study.

Raul Ries: Let me just go over and read up to verse 12 as James is moving us through this great book of James. He says James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing this, that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.

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. Now we pick it up in verse 12. And here he says, "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."

It's amazing that as we read in chapter one verse two, he said, "My brethren, count it," or consider it, "all joy when you fall into various trials" or temptations. Temptation is something that I think we all have to face in our own personal lives. We are tested by God. Sometimes we do not understand why we face these trials of life. And yet we understand that God will never try us far and beyond what we're not capable of handling, but He's always there for each one of us individually as we're going into the fire.

As I went back today to study in this past week and I read the words of James, oh, how happy! The word blessed is the word happy. It takes us back to the Sermon on the Mount where the Beatitudes, Jesus spoke the Beatitudes—how to have an attitude as a child of God. That, oh, how happy is that man. Notice, not who's defeated, but endures. Endures. Endures what? Endures temptation.

When we're being tried by the fire, tried by the fire. And I don't think that anybody can ever be tried so much as to lose someone you love, someone you really love. And I think of the story of Abraham and Isaac, when Abraham was called by God to take his son and to sacrifice him, to take him to Mount Moriah, a three-day journey, and to take him up and to commit him to the Lord.

I think of all of the temptations that every one of us have gone through or are going through today as the devil comes along and he begins to try your faith. He puts evil thoughts in your minds and brings evil temptations against you. Many times we can sit there and say, "I don't know if I can handle this," or we give in to it. But here in the actual Word of God, he says, "Oh, how happy is that man who endures temptation." Notice, "For when he has been proved," or approved, or tried, "he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."

Why do I overcome? Because I love Him so much. He's not going to do me wrong. He's always going to be there for me. It doesn't matter who you are here tonight. It doesn't really matter who you are tonight. It is amazing how the Lord takes care of us. I was looking up this word temptation with Oswald Chambers, and he says this: "Temptation is not something we may escape. It is an essential to be full-ordered like the Son of God wants it to be."

God allows it in our lives so that we can grow, we can mature, we can stand by faith in Jesus Christ. And we can come to that place in our life where we're looking in eternity, that if I'm able to obey God's Word and do exactly what He says when I am being tempted in that old man, in my old life, to go back and to be the way I used to be when I have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. How can I ever do that when I look at heaven and what heaven has to offer me today?

I can't do it. It doesn't mean I'm perfect or you're perfect. We all sin. We all trip, we all fall short of the glory of God. And yet we know that God is on the throne and that God will do a tremendous work in our lives. When you look up the word tempt in the Webster Dictionary, it's interesting. It says an attack or a trial, a tempting or being tempted, something that tempts or entices you.

The word tempt means to test, to try, to persuade, entice, especially to something immoral or even sexually immoral. When Satan comes to young people or he comes to married people, he always has a program in his mind to try to deceive each one of us individually. Why? He wants to break up the marriage. He wants to mark the young people so they don't have freedom in Christ Jesus so God can't use them as instruments of righteousness.

Lying, cheating, robbing, stealing, being angry—all these sins that Paul the Apostle talks about in the book of Corinthians, in Galatians, Ephesians, that are the works of the flesh that will slow you down, they will set you back as a child of God if you're not careful to come to the cross and crucify the old man to be dead. And yet, check this out, verse 13: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God.'"

How many people have you heard in bitterness say, "God is tempting me"? No, God cannot tempt you or me, ever. Ever. We cannot ever be tempted. There are three things that a child of God should know. We call them the three R's. If you want to write these down: number one, recognize who your enemy is. Number two, resist your enemy. And number three, rejoice in the victory that Jesus Christ gives to you because we are children of the light, not of the darkness.

I want to ask a question tonight. How are you going to respond when you're tempted, in the flesh or in the Spirit of God? In the Spirit of God, yes. That's the way to do it. Because we are going to be tempted in many, many ways. We're going to be tempted to lie, to steal. We're going to be tempted at work to put a time that we were not there to get more money. We're going to cheat in our coffee breaks.

We're going to do a lot of things that are not right if we don't have conviction, if we're not righteous before God. Then we will become wicked people instead of being a light in a dark place. We will become just like the darkness. Can you imagine in the book of Matthew chapter four when Jesus was being tested by Satan? Imagine that. Because look what he says here: "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil."

Why? Because God is light. "Nor does He Himself tempt anyone." God does not tempt you or me. I want you to write this down: God does not tempt you or me to ever, ever tempt us to do evil. Ever. He'll never do that. It's the devil. The devil always comes to try to get us to do something wicked like our first parents in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve. "If you only eat of that tree, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God. You'll be gods."

And what does she do? She tempted herself. She went and picked it up and she gave to her husband and both of their eyes were opened and they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. It's pretty heavy how Satan works in our lives. And yet God allows these things to happen to see if we're standing on the rock. When Satan came to Jesus, remember, he came and said, "Since you are," not if, "since you are the Son of God, you can turn those stones into bread. You're hungry, you haven't eaten for 40 days, go ahead and turn them into pita bread. You can eat."

But what did Jesus do? He came back with the Word of God and said, "No way. It is written in the book of Deuteronomy, 'Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.'" And then he came first physically, now he comes emotionally. And then he came the third time spiritually. "Why don't you go ahead and jump and the angels will catch you or you can fly since you're God?" Satan knew that. And yet Jesus never one time gave in to temptation.

Can you imagine what it must have been like when he was there in the Garden of Gethsemane and Satan came to him when he had to give up his will for the will of the Father to go to the cross? I could just see Satan saying, "Jesus, you don't have to do it. Don't do it. You don't have to do it." But what did he say? "Not my will, but thy will be done." I think that's the bottom line. Whose will do you want in your life? Your will or God's will? And if it's God's will, it has to be obedience. Obedience to the kingdom of God.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Visit somebodylovesyou.com for scripture-rich resources that will grow your faith and instruct you in God's ways. You can also join Raul for straight talk on his YouTube channel every Tuesday at 10:00 AM West Coast time. Let's continue now with more from Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: We will be tempted physically, emotionally, and spiritually in every way that you can. And yet if God is in control and God is behind what I'm facing and going through tonight, we know that God is good. And if God is sustaining me and if God's going to give me the victory and all the glory and the honor goes to who? to Jesus Christ. For He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Why? Because Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He accuses me and you day and night. And what does he want to do? He wants to confuse us. He wants us to have no faith. He wants us to become bitter. And he wants us to be just like them and say, "I am tempted by God. God, you're the one tempting me and I hate you." No, we're not going to do that. We know who's on the throne and we know who God is.

Satan always tempts us to evil or with evil. And yet God allows him to do it. Why? So that we can pass the test. And if you don't pass the test, you've got to retake the test. Why? Because He wants to make you stronger. He wants to use your life. He is molding you and He's shaping you into His image. I love that. I love the way God works within each one of our lives.

Because the Word of God is not only powerful in our lives, but at the same time, the Word of God is used by the great tempter. Don't forget that he uses God's Word and he does what? He twists the Word of God. He doesn't give you the truth about God. He always twists the Word of God. He does that all the time. He did it with Jesus in Matthew chapter four. He took away from the scripture and then he adds to the scripture.

And so if tonight you find yourself in a place of temptation—you're at work and you're being tempted by some woman or some guy at work, or maybe drugs, alcohol, sexual adventures, money, power, whatever it may be—or maybe you've gone through a tragedy tonight. A tragedy. What's the first thing Satan wants you to do? To curse God. Just like Job, when God allowed Satan to take his family from him, even his wife when he was attacked by Satan, she said, "Job, why don't you curse God?"

And he said, "There's no possible I can do that. No way. If God is in control, then who can be against me?" No way. I'd rather put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Who else can I go to? Who else can we go to if God is for me, then who can be against me? Nobody. "Let no one say when he or she is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone."

Why? Because God is light and evil is darkness. And we are children of what? The light, not of darkness. And that's why we're here tonight. And then check this out, verse 14: "But each one is tempted when he or she are drawn away by his own desires and enticed." Isn't that interesting? You can't blame it on God. I can't blame it on God.

When I sin against God and I allow myself to go ahead and sin against God, he said I am allowing myself to do that. I am being drawn away by my own desires. My own feelings. Why? Because God always has a way of escape, always, that we can run out. We cannot ever say I was tempted by the Lord. No, He doesn't tempt you to evil.

He tests you. He tests you, but He doesn't tempt you to do evil because He is not evil, He is good. He is light, not darkness. Satan is the one that comes along to tempt us. And he wants to destroy our lives. And yet here James opens the door. But each one is tempted. Notice that. It is what? It is my desire that I would lead me into temptation.

If you find it in your own life that you're being tempted, you have to ask the question: Is God allowing this to happen in my life? Am I going to obey or am I going to disobey? You have that will to choose. You see? To choose. To make the choice: Yes or no. And I would say no. Because if you pass the test, think of what God has for your lives as you pass that test that God is allowing in your own personal life to happen.

Because He loves you so much that He's allowing you to go through these things so that you can help other people in your family or friends, to make them stronger as they see you going through these things and yet they see the joy of the Lord in your life. Because you don't lose that joy. You gain that joy in the Lord because of the love and grace and mercy that He has for each one of us individually.

Check this out, verse 15. He says, "Then, when desire has conceived," notice when the desire comes, that's the evil desire, when it is conceived, "it gives birth to sin." You see, if you don't watch yourself, it gives birth to sin. "And sin, when it is full-blown," or grown, notice, "it brings forth," what? not life, death. "The wages of sin is death." Romans 6:23. The wages of sin is death.

When sin is born, death is involved just like in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Because it feeds upon the flesh. It doesn't feed upon the spirit. So we need to be ready when the Lord allows things to happen in my life. Why? Because when he speaks of here of death, he's speaking of spiritual death and eventually physical death too, when it comes. That's why we have to make a stand and be strong and put our trust and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because He's the only one that can help us. And how do we do that? We need to walk by the Holy Spirit. And we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to do that. Because if we don't do that, then we are walking in the flesh. When he says the desire here, it is in desiring of the lust of the flesh. The desires of the flesh, not of the spirit.

So James says, then, when desire or your lusting has conceived you, it gives birth to your sin, and sin, when it is full grown, it brings forth death—physical and spiritual death. You can't get away from that. Physical and spiritual death will be there. Why? Because God doesn't tempt us to sin. It's our own desires. What are you hearing? What are you watching? What are you reading?

Whatever you read, whatever you hear, whatever you watch, you put that into your mind and into your heart, that's what you're going to become, what you're doing in your own personal life. That's why we give ourselves to the Word, to prayer, to fasting, and to seeking the things of the Lord. Why? Because we want to be more like Jesus Christ than anybody else. We have to be in the light 24/7, not in the darkness.

And if you're walking tonight in the darkness, please, I beg you, get out of the darkness. Stop what you're doing and come back to the light. The light is greater. As soon as you turn the light on, what happens to the darkness? It is gone. It is done. It is no longer there. And the Bible says that we are children of the light and not of darkness.

Guest (Male): Well, we hope you've been encouraged by today's assurance that you never have to face temptation on your own but can look to the Lord for His strength. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. If you'd like to hear today's message in its entirety, just call us at 800-634-9165 and ask for Raul's teaching from James chapter one verses 12 through 15. We'll send a copy to you for a donation of $5 or more.

Now, we'd also like to tell you about a resource exploring more of how you can nurture a strong relationship with God and order your life to bring glory to His name. Raul's eight-part series titled Traits of a Christian is available on both CD and flash drive. Inspiring you to spend daily time in the Word and in prayer, this resource will motivate you to keep God at the center of your life as you obey His will and share His love with others.

To order Raul's eight-message series Traits of a Christian, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165. We'll send you the thumb drive for $12 or the CD set for $22. That's 800-634-9165. Or write to us at Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765. Thank you for partnering with us in sharing God's Word. We are grateful for every contribution.

Next time on Somebody Loves You Radio, we'll return to the book of James for more guidance in effectively resisting temptation. You'll discover that you can always be confident of victory when you stand in the Lord's power and truth. Now, with a closing thought, here's Raul once again.

Raul Ries: So I would pray tonight that if anybody here tonight is going through very, very deep valley in temptation and you're being tested, are you going to pass or are you going to fail? If you fail, I want to say it again: you have to retake the test until you pass. Because God wants obedience. And that's why we have to be great examples of the faith in Jesus Christ, like James talks about here.

That as we're going in this life, like the children of Israel that were tempted for 40 years, and many, many of them didn't make it. They all died in the wilderness. But only those that were 20 years old and under were the only ones that were able to go all the way into the promised land. Why? Because of what God had done in them and through them. And we have to be children of the light, and we have to go through testing so that we can become better people in the kingdom of God so that God can use our lives and we can have the boldness and the discipline and we can be holy as He is holy so that God can use our lives to bring glory and honor to His name.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.