Title: Can The Devil Make You Do It?
Speaker: David Wilson
Location: Lubbock, TX
Date: 2 October 2022
Verse: James 1:12-16

1. The surety of temptation (13)
A.a The trial will test your faith: the temptation will test your obedience
B.a Temptation is usually something we find easy to do: testing is usually something we find difficult to do
C.a Temptation is focused on selfishnesswithout reference to God: testing brings dependence on God and a deeper relationship
D.a Temptation exploits our weakness to our detriment: testing exposes our weakness to be strengthened by God
E.a Temptation completed leads to slavery to sin, spiritual immaturity, guilt, and broken fellowship: testing completed leads to godly freedom, spiritual maturity, and open fellowship

2. The source of temptation (13-14)

3. The sequence of desire
A. Desire (Lust) – a strong desire for something
B. Opportunity (Enticement)
C. Action (Sin)
D. Separation (Death) (15)

4. The success over temptation
A. Remove yourself from opportunity
B. Control desire through renewing the mind (Word) Romans 12:2
C. Depend on the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16)
D. Accountability (1 Corinthians 10:13)

It’s “not the corn maze” because it didn’t rain enough this year.

And no water – means no corn.

So this year we went to the grain sorghum maze.

It’s one of the annual fundraisers that Southcrest does where some percent of ticket sales goes back to the school.

We did the tractor ride, stopped and looked at the animals, picked pumpkins, picked sunflowers, and ate snacks from the snack bar.

But the ridiculous part of the night was doing the maze.

H, I ended up in the maze with you and three of your classmates!

(K, you rode horses with Mom twice while we were gone.)

• Of course, y’all didn’t want to do the shorter maze to the right, y’all wanted the huge maze to the left.
• Of course, only one of you girls got a map and then would not give it to me to help with directions.
• Of course, y’all kept running away making me worried I would lose one of you.
• Of course, it took us so long that the sun started going down.
• And – of course – through some act of revenge or indifference by mom, I ended up in the maze somehow with T – whom I carried on my shoulders or hip 99% of the time. I mean, what in the $@!%?

I am not going to lie.

Being n the maze was not fun.

Just writing this makes me mad all over again at how in the world T somehow ended up with us.

But, but!

I did get an awesome picture of T out of it.

I love you.

-Dad