Dear Brothers and Sisters,

You are invited to come to the Wednesday evening prayer meeting and pray. (7:00 PM LHF time, Wed., Nov. 29, 2000)

Text: James 1:13-18

"When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he temp anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

"Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created."

'Trials' in verse 2 ("Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face TRIALS of many kinds...") is the same in Greek as 'temptations' in verse 13 (Except that in verse 2 the noun form of the word is used, while, in verse 13 the verb form is used). The reason the NIV translators used 'trials' in verse 2 and 'temptations' in verse 13 is that the purpose of the trial in verse 2 is to strengthen the recipient (you), while the purpose of the temptation in verse 13 is to cause you to do evil. "God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone [by evil]." I believe that 'by evil' is implied at the end of verse 13 -- God does not tempt anyone by evil.

Satan the devil does, however, temp people by evil. His purpose is to cause us to do evil and to fail the test -- to sin, and then, finally, to die. However, God limits what he allows Satan to do in the way of testing us. Satan told God that if he would take away his protection from Job, Job would curse him to his face. God permitted Satan to test Job but restricted what he could take away from Job to things outside of his own body -- his possessions and his children. Satan was not allowed to take away his health. Satan tested Job and Job passed the test. When everything was taken away from Job, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in WORSHIP and said, "Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." After Job passed the first test (and had grown in perseverance) God permitted Satan to also take away his health. He was miserable. Even his wife said to him, "Are you still holding onto your integrity? Curse God and die!" But Job replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?" In all this Job did not sin in what he said. Job trusted God. After he had passed the first test, his faith was strengthened for the second test which happened some time later (see Job 1, 2). He learned perseverance.

Now I've been talking about Satan's trying to get people to sin -- Job in this case. But James does not mention Satan till quite a bit later in his book. In today's passage James says that "each one is tempted when, by his OWN evil desires he is dragged away and enticed." It is necessary for us to consider ourselves to be responsible for our own evil desire and therefore, for our own sin. If you think, "The devil made me do it," you will surely do it. You will fail the test. But if you think, "God is faithful. He will not allow me to be tempted beyond what I can bear and he will provide a way out so that I can stand up under it (see 1 Cor. 10:13)," you will certainly stand. This is what God is teaching you to do.

Now to get back to Job, Job said, "Should we accept good from God and not trouble?" Job recognized that all the good things that he had had came from God. James also knew that every good and perfect gift was from God (Js 1:17). Even the testing is a good and perfect gift from God. If it isn't, why else would he expect us to consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds. Satan may mean the testing for evil, but God means it for our salvation. He is the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created (v18). He gave us his own Son, Jesus, whom he loved and through whom he created all things including us. Why should we think that he would withhold any good thing that he has promised. Praise God!

Pray for us to have the "word of truth" deeply in our hearts -- to have Jesus deeply in our hearts and to deeply know his love. Pray for the Holy Spirit of God to make us know with certainty that God our Father chose us and that he does not and will not change.

Come and let's pray for each other as well as for the whole church. Come and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

Love in Christ,
Dean

PS: If you absolutely can't make it to the prayer meeting, send your prayer requests back to me by e-mail and we'll pray for them.