[Discoveries] 10-07-08 Becoming whole -- James 1:15

[Inspiration in Your Inbox]

/*... after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin ... -- James 1:15*/

Now how does God satisfying our desires enable us to live a supernatural 
Christian life? Think about it for a moment. Where do sins come from? 
Don't they come from our own evil desires?

In fact, I'm going to throw out an alternative definition of sin: Any 
time we use something other than God's provision to satisfy our desires. 
I'm not sure that covers every instance of sin, but it covers a lot.

When we go to God with our desires -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- 
then He can untangle them, untwist them, un-corrupt them, satisfy them 
and make us whole.

Some time ago I exchanged a few emails with a woman who was struggling 
with lesbian desires. Here's a desire that isn't going to go away simply 
by wishing it away. She needed something more powerful than a wish. This 
was her Canaan. And the only way the walls of Jericho are going to fall 
for her is when she takes those desires to God. Only Jesus can satisfy 
those desires with good things.

There are, of course, many other ways of receiving the grace of God for 
everyday supernatural Christian living. One of them is to take our hurts 
to God. Living in a fallen world, we expend tremendous energy managing 
and avoiding emotional pain. It's hard to stay in step with the Spirit 
when we are continually dodging the arrows of the enemy because our 
shield of faith is full of holes. But, when God heals the hurts with 
soothing Truth, the shield gets patched and the arrows don't sting anymore.

Be encouraged!
Dwight

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