Sometimes it can be hard to understand the word of God when we don't have ears to hear it, sometimes we all need it broken down for us, I know I do.... DD
James brother of Jesus
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.(James 1:13-15)......
This is not just referring to physical and spiritual death, it is also telling us when we give in to our own wrongful desires it can bring death to our relationships with family and friends, our careers, and other things in our lives. People often blame God for allowing them to sin, but it states, God cannot tempt anyone. People also blame Satan for making them sin, Satan cannot make us sin. As the above verse says, we sin when "We Ourselves" give in to our own desires, we choose to sin. Satan plays off of that, he lures us in with bait so that we are easily tempted to make the wrong decisions for ourselves. But in verse 12 of this same passage it states, "Blessed is the man that ENDURES temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which The Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Verses 16-18 state, "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. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of His creatures."....
You might ask, what is James talking about when he says, "no variation or shadow of turning"??? This means that, we as men can change like night and day, we can be good one minute and bad the next but God does not have this nature, he doesn't wake up on the wrong side of the bed one day and be happy the next. God is constant and unchanging forever. When James talks about us being a kind of first-fruits of God's creatures, he is referring to us accepting His gift of salvation. First-Fruits in the Old Testament refer to the first and best harvest of crops, which God expected as an initial offering. Giving God that first crop was an act of faith that he would fulfill His promise of a full harvest to come. In the same way, Christians are the first evidence of God's new creation that is to come and enjoy presently in their new life a taste of future glory.
In verses 19 and 20, James tells us how we can endure temptation. "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
God knows temptation will be around us all the days of our lives. He knows we will never be perfect. That is why he gives us these words so that we can have comfort knowing that he understands us.
