The Blame and the Glory
James 1:13-17 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. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
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My pastor really got my attention this week when he said, “Don’t blame God for the bad things in your life, and don’t give glory to Satan for them, either.”
For many years as a Christian, I was taught (and believed) that God sent sickness, death, temptation, poverty, and sorrow on Christians to build our character and make us more like Christ.
Then I graduated to the next level, where I believed Satan brought those things on us so we would spend all our time focusing on our problems and not have time to serve God. In fact, I have met many people who turned away from their faith in Christ because of trials and temptations.
But just over the past couple of years, I’ve come to understand that where I am today is a result of my own thoughts, words, and actions. That’s a painful realization. I really felt better about things when I could blame God or Satan. But Satan doesn’t have to waste his time sending sin and death and temptation on individual Christians because there’s so much of them available in our fallen world. We give Satan too much credit—to the point of “glorifying” him beyond his actual capabilities.
The good news is, if you caused the problems in your life, you also have the ability to change them through the power of the Holy Spirit. God never asked you to “fix” your life. He knows you can’t do that in your flesh. He said to cast all your cares on Him and He would care for you. If we will just make a dramatic change in what we “fill” ourselves with and what we allow to come out of our mouths, we will see a dramatic change in our circumstances. More on that tomorrow…
Cathleen
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
-----------------------------------------------
My pastor really got my attention this week when he said, “Don’t blame God for the bad things in your life, and don’t give glory to Satan for them, either.”
For many years as a Christian, I was taught (and believed) that God sent sickness, death, temptation, poverty, and sorrow on Christians to build our character and make us more like Christ.
Then I graduated to the next level, where I believed Satan brought those things on us so we would spend all our time focusing on our problems and not have time to serve God. In fact, I have met many people who turned away from their faith in Christ because of trials and temptations.
But just over the past couple of years, I’ve come to understand that where I am today is a result of my own thoughts, words, and actions. That’s a painful realization. I really felt better about things when I could blame God or Satan. But Satan doesn’t have to waste his time sending sin and death and temptation on individual Christians because there’s so much of them available in our fallen world. We give Satan too much credit—to the point of “glorifying” him beyond his actual capabilities.
The good news is, if you caused the problems in your life, you also have the ability to change them through the power of the Holy Spirit. God never asked you to “fix” your life. He knows you can’t do that in your flesh. He said to cast all your cares on Him and He would care for you. If we will just make a dramatic change in what we “fill” ourselves with and what we allow to come out of our mouths, we will see a dramatic change in our circumstances. More on that tomorrow…
Cathleen
posted by BreadBakers at 12:51 PM
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