Girls Gone Bible - Why You Keep Falling Into Temptation | Girls Gone Bible

Episode Date: September 11, 2026

Hiii GGB:)   Why do we keep falling into the same temptations—and is God ever responsible for the test? In James 1:13–18, we uncover where temptation really comes from, how desire grows into sin, and why God is always the giver of what is good.   We love you so much. Jesus loves you more. -Ang & Ari   Thanks to our sponsors!   Shopify Start your free trial today. https://Shopify.com/GGB   Mint Mobile Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month. https://MintMobile.com/GGB   NOCD Book a free 15-minute call. https://NOCD.com   Glorify Ring Grow closer to God every day and reserve your Glorify Ring. https://Glorify.global/GGB   Hiya Health Get 50% off your first order on any Hiya product. https://HiyaHealth.com/GGB   - Grand Canyon University (GCU)  Find your purpose at GCU. https://GCU.edu   GET OUR BOOK Out of the Wilderness: 31 Devotions to Walk with God Through Your Hardest Seasons Available wherever books are sold. https://GirlsGoneBible.com/book   SEE US ON TOUR Get tickets and find a city near you at https://GirlsGoneBible.com/tour    Follow Girls Gone Bible: Instagram: @girlsgonebible TikTok: @girlsgonebible YouTube: @GirlsGoneBible  

I'm wearing like brown, like so much brown. I like it. That's what's in this fall. It's what's in this fall. Swade, brown. I had no idea. Yeah. Swade and brown.

Yeah. I also got, I got, oh, yes, you go. I got gold. I got suede brown shoes, flats. No way. Can I see them? They're, yeah, from rough. A ballet flat?

Yeah. They're these, but in. They're these. Those are cute. Are they comfortable? They're these. Did we, um, we're talking. I retire the Birkenstocks?

Yeah, I retired the Burkonstocks. I retired the Rothes. I actually gave myself the ick. I gave myself. Why? I, well, I think you tell me one too many times that you hate my big shoes and that I look like a cloud. My big shoes. I retired them.

I got to be honest. I love you being honest. I don't want you to look weird. Thank you. I want you to show up. Even when it's at the airport. You are the reason why I don't look weird because I could probably look weird if it weren't for you. What are we substituting with the Rothies when we go to the airport?

Can I be honest? I'm still wearing the Rothies at the airport. That's my one place. You don't know me at the airport. If you see me, don't look at me. Because actually, no, like if you do, like I love you, please look at me. But like, if you see me at the airport, that's like me in the wild. Yeah.

You know, I go no makeup. hair in a hair mask probably like you don't recognize me yeah you have eye patches on eye patches I'm like I have a face mask I actually literally will take a sweatshers something and put it over my eyes so I can sleep no you do and it you were so mad at me one time I went to the airport and I brought this inflatable thing off Amazon it's like a thing yeah you like stick your head in yeah it's like you put your arms in and you put your head in it's like don't ever embarrass me like that again I took it out to blow it up and she goes, if you don't put that back in your bag.

You're like blowing it up with your mouth. You have to. What else you're going to blow it up with? Anyways. What's up? What's up, gang? What's up gang? Hey, gang.

Back in episode one through seven, we used to say gang. Yeah, we used to, I think someone wrote the ads for us and it was like, all right, gang. And we didn't know at that time that like we didn't have to say what they wrote. No, it's because we like, we... Where GGB, gang? Gang. What's up, gang? What's up, gay?

All right, gang. What's up, buddy? I can't see it. How you've been living? I've been living good. How you've been living good? Shillums back? Oh, no.

I don't know. I saw a hummingbird, but I don't know if it was her. So I'm looking in... I haven't seen her. How do you know if it's a girl or a boy? Because she had babies. Remember the nests? What's up with you?

What's up with me? Do you like first dates? It's a little nerve-wracking, right? Do you get nervous? The feeling that I feel right before walking out. You like want to throw up. I want to die, throw up, and I'm literally like, I'm not going. So where are you from?

Your brother and sisters? Oh, yeah. Two sisters and a brother. Yeah, Boston. So cute. See, I like, I hate the, the second before I have to go outside is just the most miserable time of my life. I text all my friends and I say, I'm not going, I'm not going, I'm not going, I'm not going, you can't make me. And then once we're at, and then that first thing, if I see that the other person is nervous, that's what gets me because then I have to start overcompensating because I'll feel so bad.

What will you say? I'll just be like, bleh, show phony. Like I'm literally like, don't be nervous. Like we're getting along so well. Look at this. Like I am the, I just like spend the whole time making sure the other person isn't nervous and feels comfortable. And then once we're like comfortable though, then I actually really enjoy. I love asking questions and like that like first getting to know someone is actually really fun for me.

But right before going out, miserable. Now are you all? Now, are you just doing dinner dates? Are you open to a coffee? I feel like that was a trick question. Am I open to a coffee? Probably not. Yeah.

If you're like any girl that actually says like, no, I think it's good to meet like for a coffee or like a walk. Like before you commit yourself to a whole dinner. I'm like, no, you're just saying that because no, that cannot be. true. You can't tell me that you don't feel a little bit like, huh, if a guy isn't courting you and being like, I'll pick you up, I'll take you to dinner. A hundred percent. Like a coffee is such a That's always been your one thing. It's just so, it's just so boyish to me. Yeah. Yeah. You know if someone's like a true man, if they're like dinner this time, they have it booked, they have the restaurant, a nice dinner. I love this. Men, don't ask the girl where. You know,

you should go. Don't ask her what kind of food she likes. Yeah, sure. You can get some, yeah. And even. But I'm like, why don't you get to know someone on FaceTime first? See, you like that? I think it's good to talk to someone a little bit before you commit to a date. I'm not just going to go on a blind, like, I mean, I'll never say never, but. Yeah. I love a good blind date. People are like, well, I don't know if I'll like them. We'll talk to them for a little bit, an hour or so on the phone. I think it's better to be so intentional. Hey, I'm taking you out. I'll take you to dinner.

It doesn't need to be anything crazy. But for men, I just think that that's the classiest way to go. Take her to dinner. I, the last date I went on, actually, every day that I ever go on, I go, I'm sitting on the same side as you. Do you say that? Every time. Every single time.

And it's actually such a good icebreaker. I just feel like it just causes like a friend. shippy, like, like, we're cool. Like, everything's cool. Hey, we're sitting on the same side, you know, because I'm not fun. First dates really are so fun if you just look at it as like, first dates should be really fun. I actually really do have. Are you having fun?

Yeah, honestly. Sometimes. Yeah. Most of the time. I actually do. I love getting to know people. And I just think if you look at dating like that as you're just getting to know people. I mean, I do ask really hard questions on the first date.

Give me one that you ask. I talk about purity on every first date. Honestly, good for you. Every first date. You have to know. Yeah. Yeah. What do you say?

I'm like so curious. I mean, it's so natural because I'm obviously like going on, I'm not like going on a bunch of days. You're just like coming out the gate like with purity. Right when you sit down on the same side. Yeah. So do you watch porn? I want to know now. Ew, so sad.

You talk about porn? No, I haven't, but I would. I think it's interesting that girls don't talk to their boyfriends about, like... Porn? Like, do you watch porn? Like, there are some girls who, like, wouldn't ask. Like, I, like, my ex, I literally was like, so what's up? How is, you know what I mean?

Yeah. I think that's such an important conversation to have, and it shouldn't be weird. Yeah. Get off them sides, boy. Let me see your research history, boy. Okay, anyway. And then, yeah, I just, I think it should come really naturally. I'm always like, so how you live in?

Because this is how I'm living. So how you live in. So it just kind of. They got to know when they go on a date with you, who you are. You'd be surprised. Yeah. You'd be surprised. You'd be surprised how many people aren't living the way he's living, you know.

Oh, yeah. 100% Oh yeah Jesus You want a Catholic guy Don't you I know you do No I know you do

I know you do I've been wanting a cat I feel like you want an Orthodox guy I want Just a good classy man That's what I want

He loves Jesus Yes Who's very strong Yes So whatever Whatever that is I see what The

Night's orthodox man A nice orthodox man doing your orthodox prayer rope. That's because you want an Orthodox man. I don't know what I want. I just want to be, listen, I don't even care. Who cares? Are you boy crazy? No, no.

Genuinely not. I used to be. You don't feel like you are anymore? No, and why are you being in that face? No, not at all. You and me used to be boy crazy Well you know I'm not anymore You really know I'm not anymore

Yeah we used to be though Remember that? We loved Having a boyfriend We love talking to boys about boys And you feel like no more No I'm genuinely not boy crazy at all 100% is broken It definitely broke

Same with a straight face Something broke potentially me um i definitely feel a new season coming i feel like there's going to be a lot of change coming i feel that i feel that i feel that heavily in your life yeah what do you think it is i don't know i feel like i'm coming into a new era era yeah let's go now that you know we're like wrapping up tour guys before we continue You have Justinus? Ah, ha, shoot!

No, don't go. Do you know you look into the light? Disney's, no, please don't go away. Do you guys like the smell of markers? Okay. You're sniffing markers? No. You're getting high off markers?

I just like to smell of them. Ari, why are you sniffing markers? No, it's just like a smell I like... Yeah, I like the smell of gas, too. I actually love the smell of gas. Yeah. Have you been sniffing markers? the markers before we film yeah I'm listening to it from markers do you have to sneeze yeah do you see

it's okay by nose guys I'm really loving so do you say huh sorry I'm really loving the book of James dude I love the book it's like it's like an accountability actually yeah actually whenever I want to be held accountable we just go to James that's why we're going to read through it read through the whole thing because we need all to be held accountable. A hundred percent. And the book of Santiago. All right, boys and girls, we are heading into the Bibli, the book of Santiago. We love our brothers and sisters. We love you guys so much. We are so ins serious. We really love you guys. We love you guys so much. Right in the comments, how everyone's doing, what you've been up to, prayer requests. We read everything and we love to see how

everyone's doing. That's how we stay in community. Okay, today we're going to be reading from the NIV version, James Chapter 1, verse 13 to 18. As you guys know, the last couple of episodes, we went through the first part of James chapter 1. The first episode, it was all about trials and what that produces in us. The last episode we filmed, it was kind of like, what do you do in the face of trials and temptations? And then this episode, we're going to, we're going to be going to talk about who God is amidst the trials and temptations. And I think that this is so important. I love like how cohesive the Bible is. It's like one verse leads you into the next. It's all important. There's not one verse in the Bible that's not important. There are verses that we highlight because

they encourage us and they empower us. But every single verse, every line, every word in this Bible is important. And I love that we're going through verse by verse. James basically moves from what do we do when life is hard into what happens when hardship turns into temptation. And this is something that I think we've all faced before that you want to be the type of person that hardship hits you and you are just obedient. Yeah. You're rejoicing. You're strong in the face of trial.

But in actuality, when trials happen, what's already in us is revealed and comes to the surface. And that's where a lot of moments of temptation comes in. when you're hurt, when you're lonely, when you're sad, when you're anxious, when you're X, Y, Z, when you're all of these things that oftentimes can lead to temptation. Let's just read through it and then we'll go verse by verse. When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.

But each person is tempted when they are dragged away but their own evil desires and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. sin and sin when it is full grown gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above. Coming down from the Father, the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we may be a kind of first fruits of all he created.

Amen. Thank you, Jesus. Let's go verse by verse. R, do you want to talk about the first verse? First, go ahead. So in the first verse, when you're tempted, no one should say God is tempting me. God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. James in this moment makes it clear that God allows testing, but he never tempts us to sin.

And I think when we're struggling, it is so easy to think, like, why would God put me in this position? If God is good, why would this happen to me? If God is really real, why would this happen to me? If God is in this, how could be this be my current circumstance? But I think it's important to remember, and James thinks it's important to remember that God is never the one tempting us or creating evil because his entire being and his nature is completely in opposition to any sort of evil. He is never creating evil. He is never leading us towards evil. He's never leading us towards sin. He's never testing and tempting us in that way. It is simply the evil and sinful nature of the world producing and allowing things that are bad to happen. And Jesus takes. taking what is bad, never creating what is bad, but taking what is bad and then using it for our good. Yeah. But we just can never, this is literally, I think as a Christian, you think you know that until you're faced in a situation where you are thrown off course and you genuinely believe that if God is as good as he is, how could this happen?

There have been so many moments. I think you and I both face this. Am I being punished? If you have this wrong view of Jesus, if you have this view from childhood because of the way that maybe your parents parented you or you were bullied at school or the way your teacher spoke to you or whatever voices you had when you were a child that shaped you to think that you are bad or you're being punished. You grow up and you start to think, am I being punished for these things? And the truth is you're never being punished. There are consequences to our actions, obviously, but there is an evil nature of the sinful world that we're living in that is constantly active. But Jesus is always using what the enemy meant for evil for our good.

That is literally just the world that we live in. But it's also us too, right? Like it's also our own desires. Yes, definitely. Yeah, it's also we have these desires that we're. that we want to do and that and when we give into him, it gives birth to sin. Yeah. And so, um, I think a lot of the times we can be like, the devil made me do it. Yeah. But actually it's, it's, it's the Bible says that we all we have wicked hearts. Our hearts are deceitful. And so we're

always going to be tempted. We're going to be tempted. Jesus was tempted. I think a lot of people have this perception that temptation is so bad. Yeah. And it's actually not. It's actually if we give into that temptation. So we're always going to be tempted. We're going to be tempted in this life, but will we give into those temptations? A thousand percent. And I think that takes us exactly what you're saying to the next verse, James 114. It says, so first we talked about how when you're being tempted, it's not God. God's not tempting you towards sin. He does not do that. His heart never bends towards evil. And then the next verse, what are he's talking about, but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. I love that James brings the responsibility

back to us because temptation happens when we are drawn away by our own desires. That's why David writes in the Psalms, search my heart or Lord. Find me pure and clean and holy. Like genuinely allowing Jesus to search your heart and reveal to you what is inside of you that is causing you to go and sin because yes, it's the evils of the world and it's our flesh, which is a result of the evil of the world. But it's like, it's so important to take accountability. I just saw Jeremy Riddle post something on a story. You love Jeremy Riddle. I love him. I just saw him on his stories talking about how like, yes, when somebody is in sin or inactive addiction or battling X, Y, and Z, of course there's there's the time for, that's a result of your soul is not in

good condition. You need to get your soul right because that's just a result of something happening within. However, before we can even address the soul, we have to cut off the sin. We have to take accountability for what's taking place and cut off anything that even leads to that so that we can even get to the matter of your heart in the first place. But the first step, when I have ever been engaging in sinful, whatever, actions, whatever it might be, addictions, little things here and there, distractions. Like, yes, those are bad, but those are a result of what's taking place in my heart. Andge needs something.

That something is Jesus, but I need something specific. I need comfort. I need healing. I need whatever it might be. But to even let Jesus get close enough to my heart, I have to. cut off and take responsibility for what is in my life. And that's always the first step. And I thought it was so interesting.

This verse that James talks about, like, the temptation may come from outside of us, but it always hooks on to something that's inside of us. It's usually a craving, insecurity, pride, loneliness, desire for approval, lust, anger, control, et cetera. any time that I'll speak for myself, but like I was engaging in sexual immorality outside of marriage. It's not just about sex. Yeah. It's not about like something you want something or your body wants something.

Sure, there's a level of like the flesh wants what it wants. But it's so much deeper than that. I'm looking for something. I'm feigning for something that I can only truly receive in Jesus. And so, yeah, the sex bad. However, there's something deeper taking place here. Yeah, let's stop the behavior. So then we can tend to the heart.

It's always about coming back to yourself and taking responsibility. And having the spiritual awareness, the emotional awareness, the emotional intelligence to be able to see that stuff. Yeah, I love that you say that because a lot, most of us with sex, we're so condemned. but it always comes from a place of emptiness, that we want to feel love, that we want to feel safe, that we feel like that's what's going to make somebody else love us. Right. Exactly. So I love that you talk about that because I feel like a lot of people shame themselves and feel so dirty and far gone when really they're just looking for love. Yeah. And they feel that's how they get it. Yeah. So I love that you talk about that. And we'll be the first ones to tell you that is not where you get it.

That is not how you get it. You know, it's a journey that Ari, if you guys are new here, it's a journey that Ari and I walked along our entire lives, entire lives in the world, living in sin, not even remotely thinking about pursuing a life of purity and holiness. And not even being aware that it was actually killing us. And then once we gained the spiritual insight to see what was taking place, then we were. hyper aware of, oh my gosh, this is actually killing me. Like this is not good. Yeah. Throughout my journey with Jesus, there have been multiple times where I have like

picked up smoking even while following Jesus. And that temptation, which birthed a sinful desire, that temptation came from a longing for security, for safety, for something to comfort and ease, whatever it is. that I'm going through. That cigarette or that vape doesn't make you a bad person, but it does clearly indicate that your soul's not good. Your soul's not whole. You need to, you need wholeness. You need to become whole. And on top of that idolatry addiction, I remember every time that I've smoked while following Jesus and seeing the spiritual implications of it, I'm like, oh my gosh, this is literally taking me away from Jesus because the moments that I should turn to him, I'm turning to something else.

That's where the death comes in that we're going to talk about. And then James 1.15 says, then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin when it is full grown gives birth to death. Well, let's talk about it. And I just want to preface as I talk about even temptations and, you know, fighting temptations and sin, it's something that. that I'm really walking through. Yeah. Like right now even.

Like I think we all are, right? But I just want to, before I even get into us, I'm not preaching at you. I'm literally walking through this with you. But yeah, I mean, temptation is something that, you know, it's been really difficult that I've been walking through. And I want to talk about even step by step what you do to fight the temptation. Because yes, we have to cut it off, but how do we cut it off? Yes, that's something that I've been learning and walking through and trial and error. What do you do to fight it?

And I even want to, can we just give some examples? Well, let's start with sexual temptation instead of thinking, how close can I get without actually sinning? Because that's a lot of the times what we think. Like we're lonely, like you said. We've been single for a long time. We get into that place where we want comfort because there's something missing. And so we compromise and we're like, let's just see. And so we'll hang on with someone that maybe is outside of Jesus that God doesn't have for us.

What do we do to fight back that? We don't entertain certain conversations. Late night texting. Paul says flee from sexual immorality. I'll literally say that out loud. I'll be like, flee. Like, get up. Get up. Walk around. The Bible says, come boldly to the throne of grace. He says we don't have a high priest who doesn't understand what we go through. That means he has so much compassion for us. He knows, he understands what we go through. He understands how weak we are. And so when we're in that moment of wanting to

to give into those sinful desires, what better than to go boldly to the throne of grace instead of sitting in shame and bring it to him? Because he has so much compassion for you and who better to help you fight through that than going to his feet in the middle of that and be like, help me. Yes. The first thing that came to my mind of like things that we think are, it's just like everything is such a slippery slope. Like desire leads to sin, leads to death. it just grows and grows. Like any time I feel like if I've ever, like, if you engage in gossip, like, just like with any other sin, it starts out small and then all of a sudden you've been gossiping

about someone for two hours. And then all of a sudden that has birthed a hatred in your heart towards that person. You've like fed on a narrative that is so negative that maybe didn't even start out that bad. But if you're adding fuel to the fire and then it's birthed this like, death of purity in you towards a certain person. Like I know that I've I've dealt with that. That's like when it comes to gossip specifically, it literally just feels like you're just adding so much fuel to a fire that will make you just look at someone like they're not even

a human being anymore, you know? And so that's that's the first thing that came to my mind. And then it creates bitterness and anger. You'll be in this like whirlwind of like it's just there's a reason why he tells you not to do it. one thing that I will do sometimes if I'm desiring to give into temptation is I'll almost in that moment picture myself outside of my body, picture myself gossiping about a person, and then picture myself praying for that person. Which person do you want to be like? Because I would want to be the person that's praying for them instead of talking about them. I'd rather be the person that doesn't give into that sexual sin and runs to Jesus. So almost get a picture.

picture of yourself doing both, which one would you rather be? And I'm telling you right now, when you choose the high road, when you choose Jesus' way, you have an authority that is, that is why he says we are set apart. There is an authority you carry when you overcome that temptation. Truly. Your obedience is literally a snare to the enemy. It is like you, it's every time I have overcome temptation the way I feel, I'm like, oh my gosh, rather than if you give into that temptation, which, listen, I've given in many times, but the Bible says the righteous fall seven times, but they will rise up again. You cannot sit in shame because guess what? We all mess up. We all mess up. We all fall into temptation. But what do you do when you fall in temptation?

You get back up. That is why David is called a man after God's heart. He didn't turn his back from him when he did since he ran to him. Like you said, create a clean heart in me. Anger is a big one. Anger is something that I have been walking through during my journey. Growing up, I'm a girl who's like, no one's going to mess with me. I'm defensive. Like, I'll show them. But you have that feeling to retaliate. But in that moment, you don't. You pray about it. Like we were talking about it. Comparison is one. Going back to an old relationship because you feel lonely and so you'll settle. Yeah. I think too when there's something again like I just think that this is so there's like some sin that we genuinely choose like you're you're like I like this like I just

I like it feels good the flesh it feels good. Yeah whether it be sex gossip drinking like who knows whatever it might be anger like that can even feel good. Yeah. Um so there's some sin that like you genuinely just enjoy which like of course that's what sin is it's it's it's it's. It's promising you something that it never actually fulfills, but it's so deceptive that it makes you feel like it is doing what it promises to do, even though it's not. So yeah, there's some sin that you just genuinely like in doing. And then there's some situations that if there's a sin that you continuously fall into like we all have, and the sins that I fall into are going to be different than the sins you fall into. And that's why you never cast judgment on the sin that

someone else is falling into because I promise you that you're falling into some sort of sin as well just might look different. Here's the thing. I think if there's a sin that you continuously are falling into, there's one sin that you're continuously being tempted into and the sin is winning. I just think that's something that you take to a Christian counselor who can help you break the pattern because there's a pattern that's been created. There's something in your soul that you are longing for and that is like your fix. That's the fix for you. We all have it.

I have many instances, like I've done so much counseling to identify the parts of me that reach for whatever it might be. Why? It's not just about the thing. Yeah. It's about my heart. What is specifically, so if like you're constantly falling into lust, I completely understand it, we have grace for it and don't settle for just constantly falling into it.

there are precautions that you can take there are people you can talk to there's revelation that you can receive that sets you free and the power of jesus by the way can set you free in a moment there are some things that we walk out but do not underestimate the power of the holy spirit when you call on jesus to set you free in a moment never stop calling on jesus and saying lord set me free set me free what is it that i'm looking for in this thing that i can that i'm supposed to get from you give that to me you give me the comfort, you give me the love, you give me the security. Don't forget Jesus in all of this. This is not something that we do in our own might.

This is not something that you muster up the power to do yourself. The Holy Spirit empowers you to overcome. You can't do this apart from Jesus. And you also can't do this apart from your own participation in it. We do it with him alongside one another. It's a partnership. I just want to say like, deal with temptation early.

Don't wait until the thought becomes an action and the action becomes a pattern. Just don't wait. If you see something in you, I think that there's been so much in me that I'm like, oh, man, I wish I face this in a season where it wasn't this intense. But here we are facing it and it's that much worse. Now I feel equipped. Like I texted two of the elders at my church earlier. And I was like, hey, girls, do you think that we can meet, like, twice a month and just, like, have, and you guys be a space for me to just confess and pray.

And, like, let me lay everything down. The smallest things that don't even feel like a big deal. Like, I'm in a good season right now. Let's let me lay down everything that could even potentially become something now. Be held accountable. Yeah. Be covered and prayed for. And, like, that's just, like, what I.

am drawn to do right now in the season of like, okay, we're good, we're on our feet. Like, we're feel like, let's take care of things now. Well, that's how, you know, that's exactly how you fight temptation. Right. We have to confess it. And that's why I'm so open with my struggles, even when I'm on stages, when I'm on this podcast, I'm open. Because the minute you are open and you confess, it loses its power, I have a village.

I have my close people that I tell everything. to that I hold nothing back and I confess and I tell them and boom it loses his power and I keep telling them and I keep telling them and when you tell them and you God can't heal the fake version of you a hundred percent and the fact that we act fake is so such a waste of time because he already knows who we are he knows every single thing about us so why not bring it boldly to the throne of grace because he has compassion on you and he wants to help you heal it yeah and And yeah, and I just want to say one more thing. For me and my walk, I love what you say. Like, the Holy Spirit empowers you. You have to refuse to let it dominate you. That is why we have to guard our heart and we have to guard our eyes. It may sound so stupid to some people, but I can't watch certain things. I'm not going to put myself in certain situations. Heck no. Do you know what I'm saying? And so these little things are actually not little things. It's actually

going to help us be set apart to not fall in temptation. Because if you're wondering, why do I keep falling into the temptation? Who are you hanging around? Where are you going? What are you doing? What type of conversations? What are you watching? What are you listening to? Because what you don't, what you don't understand is these things are such a big part of why you're falling into temptation. So good. To be set apart is not like religious rules. It's truly alignment with God. It's to say be set apart to me. And so that's how I overcome temptation. And to overcome temptation, are you spending enough time with Jesus? Are you in your word enough? When Jesus went to the wilderness, he was filled with the spirit. That's a cheat code. He was so filled that when he was tempted, the devil couldn't even get close to him. So to start your morning, to get filled up through the word, to be in prayer, to spend time with him. You already have authority. And sometimes you're still going to get tempted.

And maybe sometimes you're like, well, I still felt. Well, refuse to let it dominate you and refuse to sit in shame. Because I talk to so many people and they feel like they're so alone and they hide. And then what happens is you keep falling in the same trap because you look and you're like, I've already fallen so much. So they keep just doing it over and over again. No, get up. and nail it to the cross and keep turning to Jesus.

It's not about being perfect. It's about letting him transform you. And little by little, you'll look and you'll be so far ahead. This is a lifelong process for all of us. Truly lifelong. And I just want you to know that you're truly not alone. And I'm in it with you and just in with you. And no one's perfect.

And when you realize that no one's perfect and we're all battling something, it makes you come into the light a little more instead of like staying in the dark so much. Because we're all just the same. Like literally. We're all just the same. And talk about guarding your eyes. Why don't I confess something while we're here? I watched a scary, scary documentary.

Which one? Oh. I watched a scary documentary. And yeah, my like temptation, I don't really have to, not that I don't have to worry. I always, everybody needs to be on guard. But like when it comes to lust, I don't, when it comes to lust, I don't, when it I don't need to be afraid that I might do something out of character. It's just not where I fall into temptation.

I fall into temptation with fear, with overthinking and with control and with like, I have to figure everything out and make everything better and God can't be sovereign. That's like my biggest sin is my control and my lack, which is not my fault. You know what I mean? It is just the way that my brain works at times. But anyways, so I watch a documentary so, forget about it. about sexual stuff. I won't even, I can't even begin. Was it sexual? No, it wasn't sexual, but I can't even begin to, I would never even allow myself, but like, I watch a scary documentary,

and then what do I think? Someone's going to come kill me. Like, I was terrified, but like, I was on the phone with a friend of mine, and I literally felt this fear come over. I, like, almost felt it come from the outside. Like, it felt like something came and, like, landed on me. this fear that sent me into a spiral. And I'm like, oh my gosh, but what if this happens? But what if that happens? And it was just like all so irrational of like something bad happening to me. And I literally finally caught myself in a little spiral.

And I go, I rebuke this fear in the name of Jesus. I rebuke these thought in the name of Jesus. I was like, I am done in Jesus' name. I declare the peace of God. over my mind right now, like all of my thoughts have to be caught taking captive in Jesus' name. And I literally, it was as if our, the fear just left. It was so, and I'm not saying that happens every time. But it was like, I could tell it was oppression that came on me and then immediately left once I took authority against it. My friend goes, whoa, I should try that sometime.

But I was like, 100%. Anyways. So what I'm trying to say is, remember, you have a mouth that can speak against these things. And you say, no, in Jesus' name, I am not submitting to this fear. I'm not submitting to this temptation. Get away from me, Satan, in Jesus' name. Get behind me. I think Philip Mitchell actually said when he's like, you don't have to do these little whimsy prayers. You say, Lord, get it out. Get the lust out. Stop letting it dominate me. Help me. Like, he goes like, take it for you. Yeah.

But that, but that's, we have the, he kind of says come boldly. You have a voice. You have authority. Imagine that. We're like his priesthood, his royal priesthood. We can come boldly and ask and be in. Yeah. Because I used to come little.

Again. Or take it from my mom. My mom will be in the car and then rolls down her window and says, get out devil. To say that. go down the window and tell the devil to get out. Next verse, verse 16, don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters, which I love this so much. One verse, this is the whole verse, don't be deceived. That's the entirety of the verse. Why? Because it's important to know that temptation always involves deceit. There's always a lie when you're being tempted. That's why

the entirety of like, there's so much in the Christian walk that is, all about destroying lies and discovering truth because sin says this will satisfy you. This will make you feel better. Nobody will know. It's not that serious. I actually hear those voices in my head. Satan, what did he say to Eve in the garden? Did God really say that?

Is it that bad? It's two lies. Just one night. Yeah. Have you heard of? I'm serious. Just one night. Just go.

And then we have. James 117, every good. Oh, I love this because we immediately go into who we're believing lies. The temptation is a lie, but what is the truth? Who is the truth? It says every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of the heavenly lights who does not change like these shifting shadows. James completely shifts our attention back to who God is because that's the only way we can fight back

against lies. God is not the source of the darkness that's tempting you. God is the source only of what is good. This is what's so important because so many people either are Christians and don't have a right view of faith and that's why they're so stuck in a wrong perspective. What did we talk about last week? we talked about how rejoicing in trials and temptation isn't about being happy about it. It's about having the right perspective of what's taking place. If you have the right perspective that God is good no matter what in all circumstances and he's not responsible for the bad things that are taking place, that is the only way that you can actually fight.

I mean, I love that he calls him the Father of Heavenly Lights. And he doesn't change like the shifting shadows because it means that God's character, is not unpredictable. God's character is always predictable. You always can count on him being the same yesterday as he was the day before and as he will be tomorrow. Jesus is good yesterday and he doesn't become bad tomorrow. Don't let your pain distort God's character because I will tell you there have been so many times where I have been in pain just not well and I go to all. all these other things for comfort. Yeah.

Because I'm like, no, he's not who he says he is, obviously. And I become hardened. Your heart becomes hard. And so you'll go to sex. You'll go to substances. You'll go to all these things. But he doesn't change. He's still good.

You can trust him. You can trust this. You can trust his character that no matter what you're going through, you can still stand on the word of God, no matter what you're going through. Stand on. And you can't send your way out of God's love. I don't know why.

I just feel like, and maybe I'm even projecting, because so much of my walk has just, you know, I've been walking for a little over three years and I have gone back and forth of shame and oh my gosh, I can't go into his presence. I fell again. I, you know what I mean? And while yes, there are circumstances for our actions when we do fall into temptations and we do sin. Don't let that be the thing that causes you to have a divide and turn your back from him. go to him because he will transform you and he will help you. We have our last verse, verse 18. I love this one.

He chose to give us birth through the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created. I love that James ends by reminding us of what God has already done. He chose to give us new birth through the Word of Truth. In verse 15, we see two births in this, which I love so much in verse 15. It says that sin, we have a pregnancy and we have a birth. It says that sin gives birth to death in verse 15, but praise Jesus. That in verse 18, God gives birth to life because the desires of the flesh lead one direction

in the person of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God lead to another. I love this so much because it just shows you the way is narrow and you get to choose where you go. You genuinely just choose where you go. You choose what kind of life you want to live. And we all face temptation and we all face the same types of things in different fonts. But we all have the same choice. How do we want to live our lives? When James calls believers the first fruits of creation, he is communicating that they belong,

especially to God in our evidence of the new thing that God is doing through Christ. I think so many of us can walk through life and like genuinely like what Ari was saying, something bad happens. We don't get what we want. Life doesn't turn out the way that we thought it would. And you genuinely think that God is like out to get you or something. Like there are so many people, including myself, you can go through seasons of being like, are you like joking?

Yeah. Is this a game? Is this, this is crazy. Sometimes you can think it's a game. Yeah. And I'm just so grateful for the Word of God that I believe in with every fiber of my being, not because I have seen it all come to life, but because I choose to believe in the Holy Spirit has truly opened my eyes

because I've had the humility in my heart to ask him to truly show me the truth. And I know this to be the truth. And I'm so grateful that I've been given a choice, that I've first been adopted. Jesus did what he needed to do to allow me to even have the choice to choose him. And I'll just say this one last thing. Trials can be opportunities for temptation. Yeah.

But we can't blame God for our sin. Yeah. Temptation works by pulling on our desires. Sin grows when we agree with those desires. And sin ultimately produces death. But God is the exact opposite. it. Jesus gives good gifts. He never changes. And through his word, he gives us life. Through his word and through his son, he gives us life. And so I'm grateful for James. I'm grateful for Jesus. And I'm grateful for the

Holy Spirit who empowers you to walk in the ways of the Lord Jesus. You can do it. There is no temptation that is strong enough to overtake you. Like the Lord actually always gives you an opportunity out. So every time you say, and I've said this before, the temptation was just too strong, no, it wasn't. You have the opportunity to flee, to turn the other way, to repent. And afterwards, and you know what? And if you did fall, repent, come back to God. Choose wholeheartedly to not go back to the thing that you know is hurting you, that you know is hurting God. And I'll just say one more thing.

one thing that I will do is I went in the middle of that strong desire. I'll go back to the time, all the times, even now that God has stuck by me. He saved my life. Go back to a time where he truly literally picked you up and go to that time and be like, you saved my life. I owe my life to you. Why would I give into something that you're telling me not to do? And that's something that I will consciously do is I remember him.

I remember his goodness. I remember that I live for him now. That I consider him in all of my ways. That doesn't mean I'm perfect, but everything I do, I consider Jesus. And so to go back and to think about, like literally, I will think about, wait a minute, no, no, no, no, you're like, you're with me, you love me, you're for me.

But you tell me this isn't good for me, so I'm not going to give in to the desires of my flesh just to please myself. Yeah. And so, yeah, that's, you guys have the ability to overcome it. You really do. Confess, be in community. Don't hide. Heal with people. And stay in the word and stay in prayer and stay close to Jesus and keep bringing it to him every time you do fall. Yeah. I love you guys. We love you. Be in your word. Meditate on the word today. Meditate on James. we love you guys so much. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

May he turn his face towards you and give you peace. Shalom, shalom. I love you.