God foolishly. Where does sin or iginate? Do not look to anyone else. To do so would be immature judgment. There is a need for ac cepting personal responsibility for our actions. Sin is always the result of lust. Who of us has not had some kind of a daring desire which was con trary to what God's will might be. That evil purpose will issue in sin. Because we are human beings with sin still dwelling, we have the flesh constantly warring with the flesh. “Man is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own de sires." Satan is the one who tempts us. The illustration of the culmina tion of sin issuing in death is com pared to the birth of a child. Temp tation does not become sin until we yield to it. Such a full course brings about death. We must rec ognize sin for what it is. We all like circumstances that are pleasant. Yet life is not like that at all. If desires are allowed to run their course then dire results will issue. The death here can mean physical death in some instances as well as a deaden ing of interest in the things of God. Believers can sometimes be disci plined by God through physical death. Yes, sin that is allowed to progress and grow can finally result in death as a chastisement from God. Do not be deceived on this vital point! Do not try to minimize these things. We are living in a world where people do not like to talk about sin. Yet, as believers we must have correct thinking on this point. Coping with trials requires the right kind of attitude, facing such things with joy and looking for what God may have in store for us. Page 37
the Lord promises to them who are loving (present tense) Him. This approvedness is important since it is in this manner that other people see Christianity's practicality in our relationship to God. There is also the future outlook which calls for the “crown of life." There are var ied types of crowns with which the Lord will reward His believers when He calls us to be with Himself. He rewards faithfulness of all types by crowns. It also intrigues me that, according to the New Testament, when we see Christ, standing in His presence, we will cast our crowns before Him. He alone is worthy to receive all praise and glory. There is a very real warning against rationalization in verses 13- 15. There is a kind of wisdom which errupts in jealousy. Such is not from above but is earthly, sensual, and devilish. One of the first things we have to do is to get our situa tions straightened out. We must be sure we understand where respon sibility is properly placed—as far as temptations, God cannot be im plicated whatsoever. It is always easier to try to blame someone else when we get into trouble. The children of Israel did this to Moses. The sad thing is to see so many Christians reasoning just as natural men would think. We must under stand what God is like. Nowhere in the Word of God do we see Him trying to make plans to foul us up. He is not scheming to bring us de feat. The Lord cannot be tempted with evil. If He does not do it, then who does? The answer is both Sa tan and ourselves. The first two chapters of Job show us this more clearly. The great thing about Job is that he did not sin in charging
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