Latest / Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self / 17.4 - James 1:12-16 - What To Do In Hard Times and In Temptations

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17.4 - James 1:12-16 - What To Do In Hard Times and In Temptations · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  We hope that this podcast will help you to know Christ, grow in
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  his word, and show his love to others.
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  Let's dive right in. Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk.
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  Hope that you're having a great day today.
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  We are back in James chapter 1 and verses 12 through 16 today
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  versus 12 through 16 today. And we're going to learn a very
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  important truth together. And that truth is what do we do
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  with temptation? What do we do with temptation?
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  And as we go through these verses together, I believe that
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  it'll be a challenge and an encouragement to you.
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  It's going to make us think about Jesus.
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  It's going to make us think about our own lives and the ways
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  in which we fail the Lord and the ways in which we don't have
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  to fail. That we can have freedom and
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  life and liberty even from temptation, or I should say,
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  even from sin while we are here on this earth.
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  And I hope that this will be an encouragement to you.
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  The letter from James. James is writing.
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  He's basically the the lead pastor or one of the lead
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  pastors in the church at Jerusalem.
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  He's writing it to people that used to be a part of his
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  congregation that are now spread all across the Roman Empire as a
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  result of persecution. And he's writing to encourage
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  them in some practical ways of things that they need to be
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  doing. They have also kind of been
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  infiltrated in their various congregations by some rich
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  individuals that they really want to be in charge.
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  They want to be the ones that are teaching and commanding
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  others. They're even, you know,
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  determining seat seating arrangements at the church.
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  And so James also writes about that.
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  But we don't have to worry about that until a little bit later in
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  the book. Today we're looking at
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  temptation and how to have victory over it.
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  Going to read through the verses and then we'll look at what God
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  has for us today. James one and verse 12.
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  Blessed is the one who endures trials, because when he has
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  stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has
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  promised to those who love him. No one undergoing a trial should
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  say I'm being tempted by God, since God is not tempted by evil
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  and he himself doesn't tempt anyone.
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  But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by
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  his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived,
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  it gives birth to sin, and sin when it's fully grown, it gives
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  birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear
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  brothers and sisters. All right, so we've got kind of
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  the first thing that we read in this passage is that there is a
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  blessing for the people that are undergoing hard times and trials
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  and temptations in their life. Now there's 2 words that are
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  happening several times in these verses and it's the word trials
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  and it's the word temptation. And both of these are very, very
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  similar. So it's not even necessarily
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  like 2 entirely different things.
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  I'll, I'll put it this way for us, every trial that we go
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  through brings with it a temptation to sin.
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  But just because you're going through a trial does not mean
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  that you have to give into temptation.
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  Jesus went through trials in his life.
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  He went through the Garden of Gethsemane.
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  He went through the temptation the the trial of Satan
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  presenting to him the kingdoms of the world and a a path to
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  ruling that did not involve the cross and Jesus's sacrificial
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  death. He went through those trials.
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  But even as we would read in verse #13 God is not tempted by
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  evil. There is nothing in God that is
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  drawn to rejecting the will of God.
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  We'll we'll, we'll see when we get to verse 13 if we'll deal
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  with that more. But I wanted to start off with
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  that. You're going to hear the word
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  trial. You're going to hear the word
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  temptation. Temptation is do this wrong
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  thing. A trial is a difficult
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  circumstance in or around you. When we think of it, we think of
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  like a, a financial difficulty that, you know, we're, we're
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  short on rent. We, we don't know about the, you
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  know, utility bills or taxes. We're like, OK, man, I'm a, I'm
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  a little bit short on what I need here.
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  This is a trial that I'm going through or a loved one that is
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  going through a health difficulty at the time that I'm
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  recording this. Praying for a friend right now
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  who has a loved one that's likely to pass.
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  I'm praying for her because that is a trial.
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  It is a time of, of grief and of sadness within our trials.
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  There is then the opportunity for temptation to take place
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  that within a financial trial, there can be a temptation to
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  say, OK, I'm going to step outside of the will of God and
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  I'm going to steal to make some money.
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  Or, you know, I'm going to sell things that I shouldn't sell in
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  order to try and get some money. There's a temptation within the
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  difficult circumstance, a trial can be that someone, a neighbor
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  or a family member is really deriding and attacking you,
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  maybe slandering you to others. And the temptation within that
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  trial is I'm going to have bitterness take hold of my life
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  against this other person. You can have a temptation to
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  kind of fight fire with fire and slander back instead of you
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  know, doing what Jesus commanded us to and and turn the other
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  cheek that we would not return evil for evil, but we would give
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  blessing when others bring cursing.
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  We pray for those that despitefully use us even as we
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  would read in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 S trials are
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  hard times. Temptations are you should sin
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  as a result of the trial that you're going through.
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  So kind of with that framework, let's jump first into verse 12.
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  Blessed is the one who endures trials who when they go through
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  the hard times, they do not succumb to sin.
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  They are job that are that that loses his possessions, loses
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  family, loses even his own health and yet says the Lord
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  gives the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh.
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  We ought to have that heart that we are going to go through
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  trials and we are not going to succumb to sin.
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  We're not going to turn our back on God.
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  We are not going to turn to sin as opposed to turning to our
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  Savior. And so when we go through
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  trials, we endure it. We don't allow it to turn us
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  away from the Lord. We will receive it says when we
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  have stood the test, we will receive the crown of life that
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  God has promised to those who love him.
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  We will receive the crown of life.
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  We talked about this. I actually don't know if this
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  episode in the order of everything.
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  I think you can go to our Tabernacle tidbits in second
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  Timothy. I believe the episode has come
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  out. It's like chapter 4 and around
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  verse like 4 through 7 in Second Timothy 4, Paul says that he is
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  going to receive a crown as a result of the the life and
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  ministry that he has lived. And he says and not he says I'm
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  not going to be the only one that receives this crown of
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  righteousness. But also everyone that looks
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  forward to Jesus is appearing and Jesus is coming.
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  Those that have put their faith in Jesus will receive the crown
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  of righteousness. This is a like Olympic Games
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  Laurel wreath crown. This is not a like golden crown.
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  This is for the race that you've run.
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  You are receiving a crown not based on our righteousness, not
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  based on our greatness, but based on Jesus.
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  And so when we have turned to the Lord in our trials, God says
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  you will receive a reward at the end of your life and says that
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  God has promised to those who love him.
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  If you want to get through the trials in your life, it's not
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  just have a happy enough attitude, it's not just saying
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  no to bad things. The way to endure trials is to
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  love God. Beginning of the verse, Blessed
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  is the one who endures trials because when he has stood the
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  test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised
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  to. It doesn't say those that have
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  endured the trial, It doesn't say those that have stood the
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  test. It says the crown of life that
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  God has promised to those who love him.
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  In the Garden of Eden, if Adam and Eve had loved God, there was
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  a trial there that Satan had given them an opportunity to be
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  like God. They had been told by the Lord,
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  don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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  And instead of loving God, they chose their own wisdom and their
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  own way. For you and I, when we go
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  through trials, our options are not just give in or don't give
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  in. It's follow our own wisdom and
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  our own way of dealing with the trial.
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  Or we can choose to love God in the trial because we know God
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  loves us within the trials. God's love never changes.
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  He will never take away His love for us.
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  We can read that in Romans 838 and 39.
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  What can separate us from the love of God?
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  Can persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword,
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  as it is written for your sake? We are killed all the day long.
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  Know in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him
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  who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
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  death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things
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  present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
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  creature will be able to separate us from the love of God
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  that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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  So as a result of this, you want to win over temptation.
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  Love God because when you love him, you will obey his commands.
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  That's what we read in John 14 through 17.
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  Jesus says it over and over and over again.
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  If you love me, keep my commandments.
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  And what is his commandment? Love God and love people.
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  That's, that's, that's our goal. That's our direction.
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  That's where we're headed. OK, now James brings it down to
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  how this process looks. What does it look like to love
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  God and to say no to temptation to endure, to walk through a
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  trial verse #13 no one undergoing a trial should say I
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  am being tempted by God. I'll, I'll say one of the ways
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  that I have heard this most often in today's culture is,
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  well, this is just the way God made me.
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  And so if God made me this way, then I guess I have no choice.
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  Or so I've heard that most often in relation to sexual
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  orientation and action that people say, because I have these
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  desires that I want to act on, therefore it means God created
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  me with these desires and with this, with his mindset.
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  And so I'm just going to give in because God gave me this.
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  And so I guess I have to use it. That is a errant look at what is
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  known as the total depravity of man, that God made you, but you
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  are not your impulses. You are not your desires.
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  You are so much more than that all of us Romans 323 have sinned
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  and fall short of the glory of God.
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  Or as we would read in Psalm 51, where David the the sweet
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  psalmist of Israel, the anointed one by God the the ancestor of
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  Jesus Christ himself said in sin, did my mother conceive me?
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  He says from the very moment of my existence I have had a
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  separation from God, or as we would read in Romans 5, that in
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  Adam all died. All of humanity was separated
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  from God both by their nature and by their choice.
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  And so as a result of that, not every impulse that you have is
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  good. Just because you think something
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  doesn't mean that you should say it.
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  Just because you feel like you should hit someone does not mean
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  that you should hit someone. Just because you feel attracted
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  to a person of the same gender or you feel attracted to someone
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  that is not your spouse, does not mean that God put that
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  desire to sin in you. Instead, that is the part of you
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  that right now is tainted by sin and that God wants to call you
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  out from that into obedience to him that you would choose to
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  love and obey and follow His word, that you would not love
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  and follow and obey your natural sinful desires because you're so
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  much more than that. So verse 13, no one undergoing a
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  trial should say I'm being tempted by God.
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  And he says, you can't say that because God is not tempted by
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  evil, that there was no part of Jesus that was drawn to listen
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  to Satan. Satan presented the temptation,
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  but it had no draw. It had no pull on Jesus when
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  Peter said no, no, no, you're not going to die and and and
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  raise from the dead three days later.
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  We're not going to let you die. And Jesus says, get behind me,
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  Satan. There is no part of Jesus that
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  went, Oh yeah, maybe I really should consider this.
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  He was perfect and holy in every way.
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  And God himself the the Father is never tempted to do what is
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  wrong. We can always know that our God
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  is going to do what is righteous and sometimes that means that
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  he's going to bring justice. He might not always bring
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  justice on your timetable, but know that he is bringing, if you
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  will, He is bringing the hammer down.
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  It's just a question of when and in his patients and his
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  long-suffering, knowing he's an eternal God.
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  And it might not happen within this lifetime, but as soon as
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  this lifetime is over, every single thing that needs justice
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  will receive it in full eternally.
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  So God is not tempted by evil. Last part of verse 13.
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  And he himself doesn't tempt anyone.
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  God never does anything in your life so that you would turn to
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  sin. Now Satan does Satan in the
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  Satan brings trials so that you would be tempted.
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  But when God allows you to be tested, it is not so that you
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  would be enticed to sin. God is bringing you trials so
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  that you would choose to love him and that you would not
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  listen to Satan. We see this even in Job's life
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  where God is proving Job to be a mature, a complete, a righteous
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  and just man and He wants to bring blessing into Job's life
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  even as a result of the heartbreak and trials that he
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  goes through. You can look at the end of the
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  story of Job where all of the people that used to be
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  acquaintances with Job, they loved him and they gave things
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  to him. And so he got twice as much
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  stuff as he did at the end of the story than that he had at
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  the beginning. And he was even more fabulously
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  rich. I will say that will not happen
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  to every single one of us. But but that is the story of
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  Job, that God wanted to bring blessing and God wanted Job to
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  know him and to love him and to trust Him.
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  Even in trials where Satan was trying to get Job to curse God
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  and die, but God does. When God brings trials into our
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  life, it is so that you would know Him and love Him more, that
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  you would experience His presence, that you would
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  recognize His greatness, and so that you would obey and follow
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  Him. That's why trials are in your
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  life, so you can love God more. So next time you've got that
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  relationship difficulty, that financial difficulty, that
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  health difficulty, realize God is bringing it so that you would
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  love Him more, that you would know knowingly, experientially
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  know God more as Emmanuel, God with us, the one who is a very
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  present help in times of trouble.
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  Verse #14 So if God doesn't tempt us, if God's not trying to
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  invite us to sin, it says each person is tempted, is drawn to
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  sin when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire.
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  Your temptations, the ways in which you want to do wrong,
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  comes from the inside of you. It is not coming from God.
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  It is coming from the, if you will, the evil part of you, that
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  old nature, that old man that is mentioned in Romans chapter 6
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  that Paul says is dead, but it's still trying to like claw out of
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  the grave to still control your actions.
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  Even though it has been defeated by the Holy Spirit inside of
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  you. It's still trying to call the
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  shots. Don't let it don't.
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  So when you're tempted, when you're drawn to sin, realize
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  this is a call from a defeated enemy who wants to control my
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  actions and my words and my thoughts right now.
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  And I will not listen to this dead and defeated enemy.
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  I'm going to listen to the victorious Jesus.
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  I'm going to listen to the Word of God.
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  I'm going to listen to the Holy Spirit who wants to conquer this
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  evil desire within my life. Verse #15 So when we're drawn to
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  sin, it's from the evil desire within us that wants to control
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  us. And it says after desire has
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  conceived, it gives birth to sin, that when you listen to
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  that desire, then sin shows up in your life.
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  And when sin is fully grown, verse 15, it gives birth to
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  death, to destruction and devastation within your life.
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  Don't assume that just because you are a Christian, you have
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  believed in Jesus for salvation, that you can sin and it will do
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  nothing to your relationships, to to your health, to your job,
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  to your church. Sin will kill you if you allow
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  it to go on. And I'm not just talking like
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  physical death, certainly, but you know, you can sin in a way
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  that you can rob a bank. You can, you know, the armed
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  robbery or whatever. And you might actually literally
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  die directly as a result of your actions in in those sins.
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  But it can also bring death to your marriage.
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  If you step out, you commit adultery.
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  You, you know, are are looking at things that you shouldn't.
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  It can destroy you. It can in your friendships that
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  you lie or you take advantage of, or you are cruel or you
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  gossip about your friends. It can kill your friendships.
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  It can kill churches and many churches have been killed
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  through sins that people have refused to repent of.
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  And instead of saying this is an evil enemy that I want nothing
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  to do with and it is not going to call the shots of my life
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  those that have yielded to sin, it brings death and destruction
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  and devastation to every. Area And so in verse #16 James
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  ends this section by saying, don't be deceived, my dear
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  brothers and sisters. It says do not, do not air.
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  Just as Adam and Eve in the garden.
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  They were deceived. They were tricked by the
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  temptation that they experienced from Satan and they listened to
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  him. They did not love God and follow
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  His commands to love God and to love people.
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  Instead, they were tricked and they sinned and it brought forth
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  death. And so he says, don't be LED
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  astray. Sin is a liar.
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  It is not looking out for you, you responding in anger, you
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  responding in in wrath, you being envious of what other
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  people have, covetous of other people's possessions or
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  relationships, lust in your life, all of those things.
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  They are liars. Do not trust them, don't listen
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  to them, they will destroy you. Instead, choose instead of your
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  own way and your own wisdom and how you will act and react and
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  talk and think. Instead, love God and pursue His
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  character and His nature. That in every trial you're
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  responding with Lovejoy, peace, patience, long-suffering,
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  gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control.
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  And that as you pursue those and that's the life that you're
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  living. No, there's a reward waiting for
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  you from your Father. Not as a result of how perfectly
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  you went through things, but that you chose.
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  I'm going to love God and I'm going to pursue Him, even though
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  I'm going to do it imperfectly, even though at times I'm going
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  to slip and I'm going to fall. I know that there is forgiveness
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  and redemption with my Savior. And so as a result, I know that
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  there is a crown of life that God has promised to those that
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  love him. So endure the trials.
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  Go through them. Don't allow them to tempt you to
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  say, I'm going to pursue now. I'm going to respond to these
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  trials in sin. Instead, choose I'm going to
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  respond in faith and endurance that that maturity, that
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  patience that we read about at the beginning of chapter 1.
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  Let the love of God help you win the battle against trials.
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  Thanks for tuning in today. Hope that this was an
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  encouragement to you. I know it was.
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  I know it was to me. And looking forward to next
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  time. I think we're in verses 17 and
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  18 next episode.