It Came From Within

TOPIC: Temptation

SCRIPTURE: "BUT each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. " (James 1:14-15)

I love the way the message puts it:
"The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame BUT the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust get pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer."
[The Message]

OBSERVATION: Temptation comes from within, not from God. It starts with a thought and becomes something more as we dwell on it. The longer we focus the greater the lure to action.

APPLICATION: We've all used excuses like these:
It's the other person's fault
I couldn't help it
Everybody's doing it
It was just a mistake
Nobody's perfect
The Devil made me do it
I was pressured into it
I didn't know it was wrong
God didn't stop me

We need to realize these are
Nothing
BUT
EXCUSES

We need to realize that this verse is
TRUE
That it really did
Come
From
WITHIN

Specifically
It Came From Within
Our
VERY
OWN
HEART

Mark 7:21 reads "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts...envy, slander, pride..."

The best time

The best time to
STOP
a
temptation
is BEFORE
it is too strong
&
moving
too fast to control it.

In light of the truth of this verse
We might ought to start paying attention
to not only what is flowing out of our hearts
BUT also
what is going into them

ABOVE ALL ELSE WATCH OVER YOUR HEART WITH ALL DILIGENCE, FOR FROM IT FLOW THE ISSUES OF LIFE
(Proverbs 4:23)

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for reminding me that I need to clean out and continually guard my heart because out of it flows who I really am.