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What if the lure of the forbidden could transform simple desires into obsessions that impact your spiritual journey? In this episode of the Jaime Luce Podcast, we explore this captivating concept through the lens of Genesis chapters 2 and 3. By examining the nature of temptation, we reveal how understanding scripture accurately can help resist the deceptive allure of forbidden knowledge. Join us as we reflect on the encounter between Eve and the serpent, emphasizing the importance of discernment and staying rooted in God’s incorruptible word to guard against misunderstandings and distortions that challenge our faith.

Temptation often works its way into our lives by twisting truth and playing on pride. We dive into the dangerous twists of temptation, focusing on how cultural shifts can distort biblical truths and lead us away from a life of peace and contentment. By drawing insights from biblical stories, this episode highlights the necessity of humility and wisdom in overcoming pride’s deception. We encourage proactive recognition of temptations and offer practical steps to foster spiritual correction and the transformative power of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Finding strength in God’s presence is key to overcoming sin’s impact on our spiritual journey. This episode sheds light on how renewing our faith through God’s word can help us align with His will, rather than conforming to worldly influences. We discuss the importance of cultivating a passion for God’s word, bringing burdens to Him, and seeking His guidance through prayer to overcome the obstacles of pride and temptation. By immersing ourselves in scripture, we can find true understanding and peace, ensuring our faith remains steadfast against the deceptive allure of forbidden desires.

Where to dive in:

(0:00:00) – Obsession for the Forbidden (5 Minutes)

This chapter explores the concept of “an obsession for the forbidden” and its impact on human nature, as rooted in the biblical narrative of Genesis chapters 2 and 3. I discuss how temptation often arises from the knowledge of something being off-limits, and how this awareness can transform a simple desire into an unhealthy obsession. By drawing parallels between the natural inclination to satisfy basic needs and the compulsive urge to pursue forbidden desires, I emphasize the difference between natural desires and obsessive behavior. Throughout the chapter, I offer insights into how feeding one’s spiritual life through time spent with God and in prayer can counteract these obsessions, reducing the desire to feed the flesh. Additionally, I encourage listeners to be proactive in recognizing and addressing these temptations, ultimately allowing the wisdom and truth of scripture to sanctify and transform our lives.

(0:05:08) – God’s Warning and Temptation (7 Minutes)

This chapter examines the narrative from Genesis chapters 2 and 3, focusing on the freedom God granted Adam in the Garden of Eden and the specific prohibition against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I reflect on the nature of temptation, emphasizing how individuals perceive and react to temptations differently due to their unique backgrounds and experiences. The discussion highlights how people often misinterpret God’s guidance, viewing restrictions as more significant than freedoms. We explore the encounter between Eve and the serpent, illustrating the importance of accurately understanding God’s word to resist temptations effectively. The chapter underscores the necessity of knowing scripture to guard against misunderstandings and distortions.

(0:12:36) – The Deception of Forbidden Knowledge (10 Minutes)

This chapter emphasizes the importance of adhering strictly to the word of God without adding or subtracting from it. We explore the story of the serpent in the Garden of Eden and how it challenged God’s word, offering Adam and Eve the knowledge of good and evil rather than true wisdom. We examine how God, out of love, intended to keep them pure and protected from evil, highlighting the crucial aspect of choice in demonstrating love and trust in God. The discussion stresses that desire, once pure and uncorrupted, was manipulated by the enemy to seem desirable and wise, but was in fact a deception leading to death. We underscore the necessity of discernment, as the enemy can distort the truth, making it vital to stay rooted in the incorruptible word of God to avoid being misled by temptation.

(0:23:05) – Dangerous Twists in Temptation (5 Minutes)

This chapter addresses the concept of temptation and the importance of adhering to the teachings of the word of God. I explore how individuals often react to temptation by hiding it, a tendency that is dangerous as it aligns with cultural shifts that distort biblical truths. There is a focus on the importance of remaining true to God’s eternal word, which does not change with time or culture. We discuss the dangers of twisting scripture and the serious consequences of sin, emphasizing the need to rely on God’s guidance for what is good and acceptable. Additionally, I highlight the impact of knowledge that may lead individuals away from their faith, cautioning against environments, like certain colleges, that could distort one’s understanding of God and potentially lead to a loss of faith.

(0:28:23) – The Dangers of Pride and Temptation (16 Minutes)

This chapter explores the pervasive nature of pride and its detrimental effects on individuals and society. By examining the story of Satan and Eve, we uncover how pride distorts wisdom and stunts personal growth, leading to selfishness, obsession, and a lack of empathy. I encourage listeners to engage in self-reflection, identifying their own desires and distinguishing between those aligned with God’s will and those that are temptations. We discuss the importance of humility, openness to wisdom, and steadfastness in overcoming pride’s deception. By referencing scriptures like James 1:12 and John 3:30, we offer practical steps to address pride, emphasizing the need for self-examination and spiritual correction to foster a life of peace, contentment, and true understanding.

(0:43:58) – Renewing Faith Through God’s Word (3 Minutes)

This chapter emphasizes the importance of truly engaging with and living according to the teachings of the Bible. We explore how simply having knowledge of scripture isn’t enough; true wisdom comes from actively applying that knowledge in our daily lives. I encourage listeners to immerse themselves in the word daily, find a community that genuinely adheres to biblical teachings, and stay connected to God’s voice through prayer and scripture. Recognizing the Lord’s guidance often comes from an inner peace or lack thereof, which is cultivated through a close relationship with Him. The discussion highlights the necessity of renewing our minds by the washing of the word, as stated in Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 5:26, to ensure we align with God’s spirit rather than conforming to worldly influences.

(0:47:09) – Finding Strength in God’s Presence (2 Minutes)

This chapter addresses the impact of sin on our desire to be in God’s presence, highlighting how sin can lead to feelings of shame and a reluctance to engage with God and His community. We explore the notion that these feelings serve as red flags indicating a deviation from God’s will. Emphasizing God’s open invitation to bring our burdens to Him, we reflect on the transformative power of Jesus’ sacrifice, which covers and cleanses our sins. The chapter encourages cultivating a passion for God’s word and presence, reminding us to seek His wisdom and strength in overcoming temptation. Through prayer, we express our need for God’s guidance and nourishment, seeking to align our desires with His will.

About your host: Jaime Luce’s testimony has daunting personal mountains and treacherous financial valleys. She was trapped in day-to-day stress and couldn’t see a way forward. But how she started is not how she finished! And she wants you to know God has a plan for your life too, no matter how tough it seems. Today, Jaime has been married to the love of her life for almost three decades, owns two companies, and has become an author and podcaster. God’s way is always the blessed way!

Connect:

– Website: https://jaimeluce.com

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– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaime_luce/

– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaime-luce-00395691/

Full Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.

0:00:00 – Jaime Luce
That means, if I, the more of him that I have. That means the more time I’m spending with him, the more time in his word, the more time in prayer, the more time with God’s people, the more time um doing what he’s called me to do, um equipping the church and the body, being the body, supporting what God wants, supported, loving those that need to be loved, carrying out the work of the body of Christ. The more I’m doing that, the less I feel or desire to feed my flesh, because the more you feed something, the more it grows. So the more I feed of God, then, the less of me that I feed. Welcome to the Jamie Luce Podcast. Thanks for taking some time with me today.

Today we’re going to be talking about an obsession for the forbidden, the obsession for the forbidden. In other words, we’re going to talk about what sin did in putting inside of our human natures the ability to be tempted and fall into temptation, what that looks like, what that did, and we’re going to talk about what we can do to counteract that and to change that about us. Before we get started, let me just pray. Change that about us Before we get started. Let me just pray. Father, I just thank you for the opportunity to dive into your word, to take a look at what we can learn from scripture, what can be changed in us, what can be done that we can deal with this life in the natural and do it according to the spirit of God. Father, I ask that today you will bring to us truth, to uncover anything that needs to be uncovered, that our hearts would be ready to receive word and to be washed by your word, to be changed by your word, to be sanctified by your word. We ask for your wisdom to be imparted unto us and that we would have minds that not only accept this word, agree with this word, but allow this word to impact us, to change us, and we will give you all the glory in Jesus name. Well, like I said, I’m really glad that you’re with me today, as I was thinking about this particular passage of scripture. We’re going to be in Genesis, chapter two, and then chapter three as well, but I’ve also got a lot of scripture for you today, so it would be a good day to take notes. If you’ve got something to write with, grab yourself a cup of coffee, get comfortable and let’s go to the word.

Let’s talk about this problem that we face as Christians, this obsession for the forbidden, because temptation is nothing more really than you knowing something should be technically off limits, right, but instead of addressing it as that’s not something I need to be messing with, or putting a proper distance between us and that, whatever that is, it sometimes instead can stir up in us. Paul talked about this that the law is what makes us knowledgeable about the sin, and then our propensity toward that sin. And this obsession for the forbidden, this temptation, is that not only then, if someone says that’s fire, that’s hot, don’t touch it, do we want to touch it, but it almost becomes I have to touch it. It goes from being something that is outside of us to then an internal strong desire, not just a desire. A strong desire. Obsession is really more. It’s a good word for deciding that you will do what it takes, or deciding that you will do what it takes manipulate maybe, circumstances or um, ways to ways to make it happen that you can actually touch or partake of whatever that forbidden thing is, um, it’s, it’s obsessive, it changes your natural course, the things you would normally do, naturally do. That would be something like if you’re hungry, you know you’re naturally hungry, at some point you’re going to reach out and take some food. But obsession is I’m looking for every way to eat that food. Eat the food that’s really calling to me. Make plans to be at a certain place at a certain time, make sure I don’t miss it. Cancel other things if I need to to make sure I can be there for that. Whatever that is, there’s a difference between a natural desire and then what would be considered an unhealthy obsession. So I want to talk about that today. Would you get your Bibles out?

And let’s look at Genesis, chapter 2. I’m only going to read two verses in chapter 2, but it’s when the Lord has created Adam, he’s placed him in the garden to keep it, and he says and the Lord, god commanded the man, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden. I mean that’s complete freedom. I’ve put you here. Everything you see, go for it. But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. So the Lord not only gives Adam the instruction for all of the freedom that he has, an entire garden, the whole garden that God has provided for him. You can have everything here, everything versus one thing, everything versus one thing. The one thing is this one tree. Have everything else, all of the trees, the bushes, the berries, you know, the plants, whatever, you can have it all, just this one tree. I don’t want you touching this one tree. If you eat, not touching, if you eat of this tree, you shall surely die. It will start a course of death for you the minute you partake of this.

And that’s kind of the nature of any kind of temptation. If it’s a temptation, that generally means generally that there’s something about it that’s not good for you and that’s why you are tempted by it. There’s, there’s something that looks good, you want it, there’s appeal to it, but the actual partaking of it will cause damage In some way. This is harmful for you and this can be different for everybody. You can have one person who partakes of something and that doesn’t affect them at all. They’re not tempted by it, it’s just kind of there or not there, it doesn’t matter. It’s. It’s something they may partake and do. It may be something that they participate in and do. It has nothing to do with anything else. It doesn’t affect them internally, emotionally, whatever. It’s just a thing. You have another person who looks at that exact same thing and that thing drives them, that thing motivates them, that thing pushes them or pulls them. That thing causes changes in them. That thing makes them think a certain way, feel a certain way. It’s the same thing, but it can be different effects on different people.

This is partly why you are never to compare yourself, because none of us is the same. None of us reacts the same. None of us feels the same about every single thing. None of us acts out the same way. None of us is motivated by the same things necessarily. So we may have similarities but we are individual, very individual creatures and our backgrounds and our upbringings and the influences in our life and the experiences that we’ve had will affect those things. But something happens in chapter three that affects all of us.

God gave the plan. It’s a healthy plan. You have all of this and simply just this one thing. It’s like saying 99%, you get to have only 1%. You don’t. 99% yes, 1%, no, and we tend to look at the no as if it’s 99% and the yes is 1%. We tend to flip that around. We don’t have proper eyesight when we look at temptations. We tend to flip that around, we don’t have proper eyesight when we look at temptations.

Whatever those temptations are, I’m not even going to try to give you a list because they’re so unique to each person. It could be you might have a temptation that has to do with the way you speak, the way that you carry out the plan of your day, and the temptation could be to, you know, not follow a certain regimen that you know works for you and you get enough sleep and it makes it so that you can exercise and spend time doing what you need to do. And whatever that thing is, if you stop and do that or if you rearrange your schedule, it knocks everything out of whack. It’s so unique. So I’m not even you just know, you know what you’re tempted by. You don’t need me to make a list for you. You know what it is. But let’s look at chapter three. Okay, it says uh, verse one Now, the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman now we just heard what God said in chapter two to the man, to Adam. So the serpent has come to the woman. Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden. Well, right off the bat, that’s incorrect. God didn’t say you can’t eat of any tree in the garden. He said you can have every tree in the garden, you just can’t have that one. So immediately he said it wrong.

This is lesson number one. You need to know your word. The devil will tempt you. He will come at you from a perspective of challenging something, saying something that goes against God’s words, twisting God’s words, and he knows that you don’t know it, so he’s going to use it against you. If you don’t know the word, you need to know the word. We’ll talk about that later. And the woman said to the serpent we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it, lest you die. So she added something. She didn’t get it right. God didn’t say you can’t touch it, he said you can’t eat it. Okay, so the serpent twisted it and changed what it said. Excuse me, but Eve takes that word and adds to it. Do you know that there is a scripture that says you’re not to add one jot or tittle. You also can’t take away from the word of God. All of those things are wrong to add to it, to take away from it.

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So it’s imperative that we do not add or take away from the word of God, the only way to know if you’re adding to it or taking away from it, is to know the word. Get in the word, know the word. Know the word, read the word, stay in the word. That’s how we know. Okay, moving on Verse four.

But the serpent said to the woman you will not surely die? So now he’s challenging the word of God. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Now, this is actually true. God did know this and he knew that if they knew evil, they were no longer protected from evil. If they knew evil, it would now influence them. If they knew evil, it would be to know something is to be intimate with it. It would now be an infection to you. God knew this and out of his love for his children, he wanted them to remain. This is the wrong word, but you’re going to know what I mean when I say it.

In essence, it was to remain naive. Why? Because in that pure state of that, of that naivete, not knowing evil, not knowing what it is not to be good, that robs them of their purity. Because if you don’t know evil, you do know evil. If you don’t know evil, your motives, your intentions are all good. There is nothing but trust that is birthed from purity and good. There is no bad in that. There is no evil corruption in that. There is no twisting in that. So the enemy knew he was telling them a truth. Yeah, you’re going to know this, you’re going to know this. But instead of them understanding it wasn’t wisdom they were being given, it was the knowledge of evil. They were getting the knowledge of evil.

Now I’m not going to spend time today talking about why would God put that in the garden in the first place. That has to do with you needed the freedom to choose. We were not created robots. We were created to love, and in order to love, you have to choose. They had to choose to follow God’s commands as his children, to love him, to trust him. And trusting him means I’m giving you the option, and if you choose not to, that’s up to you. But to trust me is to. If I say don’t touch that, don’t touch that. It’s a trust issue with us folks. When God says don’t touch that thing and you’re tempted by it, that’s a trust issue that you have with the Lord, to know that what he says to you is for your good. He’s not robbing you, he’s not keeping any good thing from you. He’s protecting you and loving you. But it’s up to you whether you’re going to listen or not. You have the same set of circumstances that will be fallen in front of you. You have a temptation now because of this circumstance. So let’s keep reading Verse six.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired, to make one wise, so that right, there is a misunderstanding. She thinks oh, it looks good because it’s a fruit that’s growing like every other fruit in this garden. It looks good to know this On its appearance on the outside, from my ability to see on this, from this perspective, it looks good. There’s desire, I have desire. It was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired. It was to be desired Desired Folks before the fall. Desire was a good thing. Every desire could be met. God could give them their heart’s desire. He provided for them everything they needed. Desire was uncorrupted, it was pure.

But because of this situation, the enemy takes this desire and he lies about the desire, because the desire says this looks good, this seems good. Everything that I can tell by my senses tells me this is good. But this says that it, the tree, was to be desired to make one wise, it wasn’t wisdom they would gain. This is the lie. It was knowledge. For sure it was not wisdom. Not all knowledge is wisdom. You can have knowledge of very dark things. You can have knowledge of very dark things. You can have knowledge of wicked things. That does not make that desirable, nor is it good that you know that. That’s just knowledge. Wisdom is what gives you the ability to make the right decision. Wisdom is what leads. It’s what brings comfort. Knowing what you need to do, knowing what you need to say, knowing how something’s outcome will be. Wisdom is good. This tree was not going to impart wisdom. The tree was called the knowledge of good and evil, not the wisdom, the knowledge.

This is a lie from the enemy. She took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her. So the man who heard straight from God that this was not something to be desired. God did not say this was to be desired. The enemy is saying you should desire this right and God said you’ll die. This will produce death in your life. The enemy lied and said this won’t produce death.

This is desirable. It’s a complete lie, folks, the enemy will come to you and it will look like scripture, sound like scripture. Sound good, it will be a lie. It will be a lie. That’s why scripture says that the enemy is the father of lies, that there is no truth in him. You cannot bank on what you hear temptation saying to you. The tempter will lie to you, he will deceive you. He will corrupt what is incorruptible. The word of God is incorruptible, but he will take it and twist it. He will attempt to corrupt what is incorruptible. So by the time it hits your ears, it’s not what the word said. The incorruptible is not what’s hitting your ears, it’s the deception you’re hearing that is corruptible. So let’s go back. Adam knows it. Adam hears the lie. Adam doesn’t correct the lie. Adam is also tempted and partakes as his wife gives it to him. Verse seven Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that’s knowledge that they were naked.

Now they realize oh, my gosh, what just happened. I can never go back. I can never undo this. This knowledge was not good for me. Do you know? Not all knowledge is good for you. I know I’m kind of pressing on that a little bit, but we need to understand this. Not all knowledge is good for you. Some knowledge to all of a sudden know something. Have you ever wished you didn’t know something? You can’t go once. You can’t unknow it. I’ve said this before I can’t. I wish I could unknow. What I now know. It’s the ignorance is bliss idea, right? That’s not always true, but you understand what I’m trying to say. It implies something that that I’m making a point about. There is, there are things you don’t need to know. If the enemy is trying to push you to be curious about things that you know, the Lord has said don’t go there Then don’t allow curiosity to be the thing that draws and pulls on you and twists your desires. It’s. It’s a trap. Every time it’s a trap, and once you know it, you can’t unknow it. Let’s go back to verse seven.

And they sewed fig leaves together and they made themselves loincloths and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. Now, what was that? What does it represent that God comes every day, walks and talks with them in the cool of the day. That’s wisdom, that’s real relationship, that’s the trusting, loving relationship. Every day they were imparted by God wisdom for their life, wisdom to tend the garden, wisdom how to do and take care of everything that God has blessed them with. Wisdom on their relationships, how to see one another, because up until this point they didn’t see that they were naked. There was nothing to be ashamed of. So they didn’t look at each other with eyes of shame, they didn’t see themselves as shameful and they didn’t see each other as shameful. But partaking and being tempted and falling to this temptation, having aning for something that is forbidden, will anchor you to knowledge you wish you didn’t have. They heard the sound of the Lord, god walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of God among the trees of the garden.

Partaking in temptation. What is the first thing that people tend to do every single time they’ve fallen into temptation? Run from it, hide, don’t let anybody know, don’t let it be discovered Immediately. They had sown fig leaves, trying to cover up, trying to unsee what they have seen. Folks, this is a um, this is a dangerous trap right now because culture is screaming so loudly at us to accept what the world says is good or evil, what the world says is acceptable or not acceptable, what is desirable, attitudes desirable. Attitudes desirable even in the church. Now, I hesitate to call them the church, because if you don’t adhere to the teachings of the word of God, I don’t think you can be reasonably called the church of God. But there are buildings that they call churches and there are groups and denominations who no longer adhere to what the Bible says is an abomination to him or what is acceptable to him, what is good in his sight or what is evil in his sight, and it has been twisted and manipulated.

We are watching this scenario play out in churches, not just the unsaved world in temptation, we’re talking about Christians and churches. And they draw people in with a twisted word Did God really say? I mean they literally will say well, that’s not what God meant. They literally will say with their mouths the same words that Satan used Well, that’s not what it means now. Well, that’s not pertinent to our culture. Now, well, that’s old and things aren’t like that anymore. You can’t take that for what it means, because that was talking in a different time they twist it.

God’s word is eternal. God of himself said I am the Lord, thy God. I change not. His word doesn’t change. Culture doesn’t change it, time doesn’t change it, circumstance doesn’t change it. His word is his word and if we know the word and we adhere to the word, we are safe. It is when we twist this word that we are no longer safe. Temptation is real and temptation will take you out. Temptation will warp and twist and cause damages that cannot be undone.

We have to take our Christian walk seriously. We have to understand the severity of temptation and sin. We need to understand that it won’t remain a light temptation If we don’t give it to the Lord and decide that what God says is truly good and that’s the way I’m going to live. That’s how I’m going to decide to live my life and choose. I’m going to let God’s word decide if this is acceptable for me or not. If God speaks to me and I know his voice and I just get that, check that little. Don’t do that. Nah, you ever hear your mom say that? I used to say that, nah, it was this little sound. No, no, no, no, no. It means you know better. This isn’t good for you.

God knows how he created us. He knows what he’s put in us. He knows what we’re designed to do and where he wants us to go. He knows what’s good for your life and what will be a derailment to you, what will be a detour in your life, what will waste time and bring consequence or pain that is unnecessary for us and bring consequence or pain that is unnecessary for us. This was avoidable and it still is avoidable for us.

Not all knowledge is wisdom. Not all knowledge is good for you. The Lord may be telling you don’t go to that college. They’re going to impart a lot of knowledge to you, a lot of knowledge, but that same knowledge may take you and twist what you know about God and turn you against God. Do you know how many young people have gone to colleges? They’ve gone in as Christians and come out as atheists who stand against the word of God, who come out, go loving their families and come back home hating their families, standing against everything the family stood for, to walk away and live a completely different life by knowledge, by knowledge.

Folks, this warning about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is still very pertinent to today. This hasn’t changed. It hasn’t gone away. This is still a temptation right now, and we’ve got to get this right.

Satan, through Eve, birthed a desire, for the forbidden Sin was not just pride. We know that Satan’s fall was because of pride, that sin begins with pride, but the sin was not just the pride of being like God, but pride affects every other desire. For the proud. Think about this, for those who have fallen to the sin of pride. Because once you get that knowledge, have you ever found it extremely difficult to try to reason with somebody who thinks they know better, they think their knowledge is superior? They now completely speak from a place of pride that my knowledge no longer lets me hear your knowledge. My knowledge is better, my knowledge is higher. I have no room to hear your perspective. That’s pride we have. Pride marches, pride parades. You can’t tell me is what that says? Because to the proud, you think your voice is more important than anybody else’s voice, than anybody else’s voice. Your own voice is more important. Pride takes assent over, which means it refuses to come under. Everything is a challenge and I will remain over. I refuse to come under.

They don’t see humility as a virtue. They see pride as a virtue. It no longer is willing to receive instruction and consequently, because of that, it stops the flow of wisdom. Walk with the father in the cool of the day, which is when they would receive their wisdom. When you think you know better and you no longer have yourself placed where you can hear from God because you’re in his presence, walking in his presence, you now no longer. What did they do? They ran from his presence, they hid from his presence. Well, the minute I hide from his presence, I’m no longer in the place where I can receive wisdom. So this pride no longer is willing to receive instruction. It halts all new wisdom. It stunts wisdom. It stunts growth. It creates obsession. Look around at what we see happening all around us in our culture.

These pride things produce obsession and it no longer is their own personal obsession. They make that obsession affect you. It doesn’t stay internal, it becomes very external and it’s wanting to make you bow to it, because it takes a scent over. It says I can have what I want when I want and no one can stop me and I have the final say. It makes very selfish, which in turn removes empathy, giving and compassion.

I am shocked. I have seen so many reels of people who have taken video on the streets of somebody who has an opinion. They’re standing there, they’re not saying anything, they simply are standing for something, they have an opinion, and this other person who has the opposite opinion comes and says things to them like I hope you die. I hope you die. I mean, I’ve been watching this recently. It’s shocking, it’s really shocking. And that’s because that pride, that’s because that pride, that inability to receive true wisdom, that stunted growth, that assent of I know better and you’re not telling me and I’m going to force you to come under produces wrath. It is the ugliest, most demonic thing and it removes all empathy, giving and compassion and it will twist what those are and say, while it’s vilely shooting out of its mouth, hatred. It’s calling you the one with no empathy, no giving heart and no compassion. It’s like the basis of all gaslighting pride, pride, basis of all gaslighting pride, pride.

So let’s take a look, let’s do an inward look at our own personal desires. I want you to take some time, even if you don’t do it right now, get out a piece of paper, take some time to meditate and pray before the Lord and say father, show me what the desires are that I have. What are my big desires? What are my strong desires? List them in the categories, now that we know that there are good desires and there are not good desires. They may not necessarily be evil, but they’re not good for you. List those out. God’s desires versus your other desires. They’re not God desires. What are those desires? List them out Now.

I want you to take time and think about them. Are these desires producing temptations in your life? Do you make decisions based off of those desires and do a self-examination. If you have good desires, you can list those too. What things are you doing that those desires cause you to do? What are the actions you take based on those desires? But what are the actions you take based on the desires that are not godly, that are not good for you, that are temptations to you? Where are you making concessions for them? Where are you making a way for them? We need to understand this. We need to take this as wisdom, to know this, so that I can bring correction to this, so I can remove temptations from my life, that I know how to respond to these temptations.

Let’s look at James, james chapter one and verse 12. It says blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. Another word there for trial is temptation, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. God does not tempt Scripture tells us that. But pride, or lack of humility and surrender will pursue with an insatiable appetite the thing that is forbidden and brings death. Pride will twist and question truth. It manipulates for carnal gain, not for godly gain, but for carnal gain. Its deception deceives even the one with pride, not just the one it’s trying to manipulate by pride. So both are being deceived by it, both are being affected by it. It robs you of peace, contentment, joy and the ability to receive. So what do we do with that? I’ve listed out six things that we can do according to scripture in dealing with this pride issue. Let’s go to John, chapter three and verse 30.

This is an understanding, this is a mindset that we have to take, because what do we want by knowledge or what do we want by fulfilling a temptation? There’s some kind of satisfaction, there’s some kind of emptiness we’re trying to fill, there’s some kind of desire we’re trying to to um compensate for. There’s something going on internally in us that is causing us to be tempted by this. We need to know what that is. We need to know what the driver is that’s causing that temptation. Because if we deal with the driver, we can deal with the temptation. But if you never deal with the driver, the temptation will just pop up in another form, in another way. It’s like for an addict If, if one there you may. A lot of times addicts are addicted to more than one thing. It may not be just drugs. It’d be drugs and alcohol, or drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, like. It’s it that there’s something that once you fall into this category, other things become easily also the problem trying to satisfy that thing on the inside.

But there’s a knowledge that we can have, there’s an understanding we can have that is a godly understanding, a godly knowledge that will help us take the right um stance in in moving forward in dealing with temptation. That is this he must increase, but I must decrease. And what do I mean by that? I need to be filling myself with more of him, because the more of him that is in me, the less of my flesh that is making itself known, the more that I desire God and want him to grow. That means if I the more of him that I have. That means the more time I’m spending with him, the more time in his word, the more time in prayer, the more time with God’s people, the more time um doing what he’s called me to do, um equipping the church and the body, being the body, supporting what God wants, supported, loving those that need to be loved, carrying out the work of the body of Christ. The more I’m doing that, the less I feel or desire to feed my flesh, because the more you feed something, the more it grows. So the more I feed of God then, the less of me that I feed. If you starve it, it will die. If you feed it, it will grow. If I need my flesh and the temptations of my life to decrease, then I have to increase in God. If I don’t increase in God, there’s no way I’m going to decrease the me, the problems with me. We don’t want these two things um to be equal per se. John isn’t saying I need to come to a midpoint and Jesus come to a midpoint. He’s saying, no, I need to decrease, god needs to increase, end of story. That’s just the truth.

I know a lot of people say well, you can’t be so heavenly minded that you’re of no earthly good. I don’t think that’s possible. The more heavenly minded I am, the more wisdom I walk in, the less that I will deal with this flesh man as far as its temptations against me and what I. It doesn’t mean I’m not living my life, having a job, raising a family, doing what. Being heavenly minded doesn’t mean I can’t walk my life out on this earth. I’m not in heaven, I’m on earth. Therefore, I can do it, but I can do it with the wisdom of God.

Number two Psalm 119, verse 11. Psalm 119, verse 11. And it says I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you, that I might not sin against you. This is the knowledge that the power of God’s word in me will remind me. It will remind me when I am facing temptation, if I have his word in me. That’s why the enemy came and said did God say you need to know? Yeah, this is what God said. Adam should have spoke up. This is what God said. He didn’t say that he didn’t. Yeah, this is what God said. Adam should have spoke up. This is what God said. He didn’t say that. He didn’t say that this is what God said. We need to know what God said and then act accordingly. Act accordingly.

Let’s go to Matthew 26, 41. It says watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation, which means if you can fall into it, it’s a trap. You need to be looking. If I’m walking down the path and I need to make sure I don’t fall into something. What do I need? I need a light. I need my path lit. What does scripture say? Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. If I remain in the word, I won’t fall into temptation. Watch and pray. Watch, read the word pray. Always be looking in the word for how to deal with the temptations of life. Watch, watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation.

Let’s look at James, chapter five, verse 16. It says, therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. What is he saying? Make yourself accountable, talk, get around people who are godly people, trustworthy people, who know the word of God and talk about it openly and say I’m struggling with this. Pray with me, help me, hold me accountable, let me give, uh, be honest with you and express what I’m dealing with.

Be honest, tell the temptation. Why? Why do we do that? Because that means you are removing pride as the lead so that wisdom can come. You are taking yourself and putting yourself under submission to God’s word and to others who can help you walk that path. You are refusing pride’s way. You are saying I will not hide from truth. I will not hide from the presence of God. I welcome, I welcome his wisdom from truth. I will not hide from the presence of God. I welcome, I welcome his wisdom, I welcome his help. I want to walk a life pleasing to the Lord.

All right, let’s go to number five, galatians. Galatians, chapter five, verse 16. So I say walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. How do you walk by the spirit? Stay in his presence, stay in his word. I’m not giving you anything new that you haven’t heard before, because it’s true and I’m going to keep saying it.

My hope is that you will get it, that the light bulb will finally go off and realize I need more time in the word. I need, it’s one thing to have head knowledge, folks. The wisdom is that I actually do it. I don’t just know I should do it, I actually do it. My actions actually produce the thing I know to do. I’m really doing it. I need to know the word. Stay in the word daily, be in the word, read your word, be around people who quote the word, who live their lives according to the word.

If you’re not in a group of people like that, you need to get in a group of people like that. Find a true Bible believing church, one that adheres to the actual teachings that are found in these scriptures, who does not twist and thwart the Bible, who actually loves God’s word, treasures his word in their hearts. These are the kind of people you want to surround yourself with. Find them, make it your endeavor and walk according to the spirit. When the by the spirit can mean it can literally mean the word says to do this. So that’s what I’m going to do, so I’m going to walk that way. That’s what the Bible says. It could mean that you’re in a situation and you get that what I said a minute ago. You get that. Check.

There’s a voice kind of speaking to you. That’s the Lord’s voice and he’s saying, yeah, don’t do that, I don’t want you going over there. Or yes, go that way, go talk to that person, go. When you hear the Lord say that, and now you’ll know it’s his voice if you spend enough time with him. He says that my sheep know my voice and they won’t follow another, you’ll get to know his voice.

Think about when you first met somebody and you didn’t even know that was them when they answered the phone. You didn’t even know their voice. But now all they have to do is say, hey, and you totally know their voice. You know who that is and you totally know their voice. You know who that is. They never have to say their name. That’s because you now know their voice. You spend enough time. You spend enough time in the word and in prayer.

You’re going to know that voice. You’re going to know the Lord saying yeah, I don’t want you doing that. And you’ll have peace or no peace. The Lord many times leads me by peace. I’ll know I have peace to necessarily hearing a voice say don’t do something.

But inside there’s trouble, there’s uneasiness, there’s anxiousness about that, and I’m not talking about carnal anxiety. That comes from experience. That we’ve done and we don’t want to do that thing, or we now have a fear of that thing. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about knowing inside yourself yeah, there’s something not good there. There’s something I don’t know. There’s something I need to know that I don’t know.

Wisdom, not knowledge. Wisdom, okay, and number six this is the last one. There’s two verses for this. We need to renew our minds. Romans 12, two says do not be conformed to this world. Right, we are not to become the image of what the culture around us says, but we are to renew our mind. What does Ephesians 5, 26 say? You renew your mind by the washing of the word. So we need to make sure all of this points back to go to the word. Go to the word, know the voice of God. Don’t run from his presence. Stay in his presence.

Sin will cause you to want to hide and get out of God’s presence. It’s a sure sign that you fall into temptation if you don’t want to be in God’s presence, if you don’t want to go to church, if you don’t want to be with God’s people. That’s a clue, folks, that’s a clue. That’s a red flag. You need to understand what that’s telling you that’s telling you there’s something that you’re doing that God didn’t want you to do, otherwise you’d want to be in his presence.

You might be feeling shame and thinking that God doesn’t want you. That’s not God either. He says come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. I will give you rest. Bring that thing to him. Bring that shame to him. Bring that guilt to him. Him, bring that shame to him. Bring that guilt to him. He wants to remove your sewn fig leaves and give you skins to cover you. The blood of Jesus. He gave us Jesus his blood that covers our sin, that washes us white and makes us new in his presence.

This is what we need from the Lord. This is what we need from the Lord. You need to be in his presence. Let’s not be those anymore who have wrong desires, who have been corrupted in our desires. Our desires have been corrupted and there’s now an obsession for the forbidden. Instead, let’s be those who have an insatiable appetite for the word of God, for his presence and for his wisdom. Spend that time every day walking and talking with God in the cool of the day. Let him be your motivator and the thing that keeps your foot from slipping. He’ll make sure he’s not the tempter, but he will be your strength to carry you through when you are tempted.

Let’s pray, father. Thank you so much for your precious word. Oh, how we need it. We need to eat it every day, your fresh bread that nourishes us, the manna from heaven. God, we ask right now that you would do a work in our hearts. Wash us, father, for those who feel guilt and shame, right now, that you would do a work in our hearts. Wash us, father, for those who feel guilt and shame right now. Wash them, lord, as they invite your presence into their room right now, wherever they are, into their car, wherever they might be. Wash them, lord. May they know your presence, may they feel your love, the washing. Be calling to them every day that they spend that time with you, lord. Show them by your word where to walk, where not to walk, where the traps are. Give them the wisdom from heaven that they need to make wise decisions for a blessed life. I thank you that that’s your desire, that your desire for us is good, your plan for us is good and you are faithful and you will do what you have promised. Help us, lord, to take on those same characteristics, to be those who walk in faithfulness, who walk in courage, who walk in truth, who walk according to the Spirit of God and not fulfill the lusts of our flesh. And we will be so careful, jesus, to come back like the one leper out of 10 to say thank you, thank you for changing me, Thank you for helping me, thank you for washing me, thank you for healing me, and we give you the glory for it. In Jesus’ name, we pray amen. Thank you so much for spending time with me. If this was an encouragement to you, then I encourage you to like, subscribe, get notified, share this with somebody, leave us a review. If you’d like to see more, hear more, get more information, you can go to my website, jamielucecom, and everything I’ve got is there access to anything there. You can leave me an email with praise reports. You can let me know if you have any prayer requests. We’ll be praying for you, but it was my pleasure to spend some time with you today. Be blessed.