Burning With Desire?… Could Be Flaming Arrows!

Cupid’s Satan’s arrows…

James 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust… Formed just for you

James 1:15 Then when lust has conceived… pregnant… burned and burning!

it gives birth to sin;… “born to rule”

and when sin is accomplished… taken the throne!

it brings forth death… the late-term abortion of you! 

It’s just a LITTLE lie sin. It didn’t HURT kill anyone. I can stop anytime I WANT to with just had a little more willpower and a little less temptation.

We’d like to believe that evil and his desire to kill and destroy (not just a little poke and a lot of frustration) is just a childhood storybook character that parent’s and pastors use to “scare” us into obedience. Just as we would like to believe that God is a myth we can choose to discredit with no real consequences.

Here’s the BAD NEWS… Though you might be able to convince yourself that the only GOOD that happens in our world, is by luck and/or self-sufficiency, you cannot “wish” or “imagine” or “avoid” the EVIL that happens over and over again all across the world, all day long!

Not only do we take lightly the sin which results, but we fail to recognize the coming destruction that evil desires. “Oh sure there are “bad” (those who aren’t us) people… BUT… they probably only became bad in frustration/martyrdom to fighting for their FREEDOM to BE WHO THEY ARE. Stop harassing them with all the rules and regulations designed to make them OWN their choices.”

1 Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Satan is our enemy and he HATES us… EVERYONE of us! Even as evil is whispering sweet nothings in our ear, declaring he’s on our side, he will DESTROY us and our life the moment he is allowed to. Of course we still insist God (if He cares) or SOMEONE protect us from any and all harm and destruction to us and our stuff, OR ELSE we will blame you for all of it.

We would very much like to distance ourselves from the evil potential that resides in us by making ourselves & our “friends” VICTIMS. However, the very same victim (poor poor me) can turn and strike our neighbor with the venom of hatred and bigotry, simply because they disagree with our profound opinion. Should all else fail to enforce MY law (I’m always right), I will indeed use every means at my disposal to put all the evil (especially mine) on the back of any and all SCAPEGOATS who cannot/will not answer back, and send them to be sacrificed on the altar of evil.

Satan makes us imagine he is harmless, only offering us his version of innocent truth, that WE CAN BE (not just – like) the god of our choice. “Don’t listen to God (the One who with His word created you and blew into you His very breath of life), He’s afraid you will replace Him when you figure out how ‘cool’ you are!”

Satan (EVIL) is never going to tell you or show you the results of serving him… he is already defeated and we have it on the authority of God, that he will reside eternally, never to come out again, in the pit of hell.

In the meantime… The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

Here’s the GOOD NEWS… Evil doesn’t have the power to MAKE us like him, nor does he have the authority to choose his followers. We have the ability and authority to choose!

In order to fulfill and preserve the irrevocable gift of FREE WILL, God has given to mankind, He has also allowed our FREE WILL (the ability and responsibility to CHOOSE between good and evil) to be tested – to be trained up – to be USED.

Thus, Satan has a limited opportunity to “help” us choose. From the beginning, his weapon of choice is TEMPTATION. “Show them something useful/pretty/powerful, and watch them BURN when God finds out they’ve not only looked and touched, they have eaten its fruit and are now pregnant with Satan’s prodigy (hatred) which will rule the heart of those who give it a nursery.”

Here’s some MORE GOOD NEWS… No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) 

God is not waiting to “find out” what you have done! He KNOWS and He PROVIDES! But don’t imagine that the way of escape provides a way of NO PAIN – NO CONSEQUENCES – NO OWNERSHIP. The choice this gift bears is eternity – once this life of flesh ends, the choice made is eternal. If your eternal home is not that important to you, let me tell you it is THE ONLY THING on God’s heart!

Free Will is the gift that separates man from every other creature. It is the gift that bears the image of God… the ability and authority to choose WHOM we live for – WHAT we do for them -…and most importantly… in whose kingdom we will eternally reside.

God – Who is the giver of every good thing and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. (James 1:16-17)

Satan – a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour

Self – The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. (Luke 6:45)

Which treasure have we hoarded? Which treasure will we bring forth? The choice is certainly a temptation! An enticement… sometimes a battle that ends with our deepest scars.

There are those of us who would prefer that God take away all the evil (if He cared enough for us…). Unfortunately, we (mankind) used the eternal gift of FREE WILL to give evil a position of influence in all of creation. Only God determines when He’s satisfied that all His fearfully and wonderfully made sons and daughters have chosen the Best and will return to spend eternity with Him.

In the meantime… Buckle Up Buttercup…

Joshua 24:15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, (the Giver) choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served (the roaring destroyer) which were beyond the River, or the gods (yourself and your peers) of the Amorites in whose land you are living;

The flaming missiles are here to stay, after all it’s the only thing our defeated enemy has to fight with.

The temptation itself is not the sin. It can do no harm if YOU do not give it the flesh to burn. But don’t be naive, the BURN is beyond anything you can imagine. Not a sunburn (from the flames) but a burn that scars and leaves shame in it’s smoldering wake.

If we are going to “Burn with Desire” let it be for Our Only. One. True. God., with His love filling our hearts, and His armor in place for battles we will indeed face.

Ephesians 6:14-17 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.