it begins with a natural desire…

now when you make your plan to avoid temptation you need to understand that temptation always begins with a natural desire in your life.

for example, sex is a natural desire.  where do you think you got your sex drive?  you got it from GOD.  sex is not evil.  sex is not bad.  sex is holy.  it is a gift of GOD.  but anything that’s a gift of GOD can be abused or misused or perverted. 

in fact, everything GOD’s given the human race has been abused, misused and perverted.  but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.  it just means it’s been abused, misused and perverted.

so your sexuality, your sex drive – thank GOD for it.  listen it’s a natural drive to want to be loved. 

it’s a natural desire to eat.  there’s nothing wrong with eating.  it’s a natural desire to eat.  it’s a natural desire to sleep.  nothing wrong with sleep.  or drink.  or whatever.  but anything that becomes out of control becomes damaging to your life.  those are all GOD given. 

but what temptation is, it takes a natural desire that you have and it challenges you to fulfill it in the wrong way or at the wrong time.  that’s what it is, the temptation to fulfill a legitimate desire the wrong way at the wrong time.  it takes a very natural or routine desire and turns it into a runaway desire.  all of a sudden it’s all you can think about.  all of a sudden it possesses your mind.  it becomes more important than anything else.  you’ve got to have it and it’s all you can think about. 

now please note that any desire no matter how good it is when it’s out of control becomes destructive.  a fire in the fireplace can warm your house.  but a fire out of place can destroy your house.  it’s just what you’re doing with it that makes the difference. 

you need to understand GOD says you need to build boundaries in your life.  once you know the patterns you’re used to falling into then you say, “i’m just not going to put myself in this situation.”  that’s the smart way to do it.  that’s the way to keep from falling into the traps that satan has laid for you and me to keep us from living the effective, peaceful life that GOD has for us to live.

just a thought from the front porch…

willing to wait for the dream…

what about the test of destruction?  what happens when it seems like the dream has been wiped out?  everything that you were building on to make this dream happen GOD knocked all the cards down.  what do you do then? 

you ask yourself the question, “am i willing to wait for the dream?”  then you ask, “how long?’  the answer is time to the test of destruction.  usually GOD’s dreams take some time to fulfill.  they’re not very often instantaneous things.  they take time to fulfill.  when it seems like there’s no possible way for this dream to happen in your life, GOD has you right where HE wants you.  that’s the very moment HE can show us it’s HIS dream done HIS way in HIS power and no other way.

if you’ve got a GOD-given dream it’s going to face tests.  guaranteed.  one of those greatest tests is really waiting for the dream. that time in between when you’ve had the dream, you’re excited about the dream, you’re building towards the dream, and the dream falls apart – waiting, waiting, waiting…

before we talk about joseph waiting for the dream in genesis 39, we’re skipping a chapter.

genesis 38 is a soap opera chapter of the bible.  it’s the story of judah’s family, a son named er who was so evil before the LORD that he was killed.  he had a wife named tamar.  according to the custom of the day the second son onan was to marry this wife and he refused to do so.  he disobeyed GOD.  he died.  judah ignored tamar.  and tamar became so upset by this that she dressed up as a prostitute and she enticed judah.  she sinned.  judah sinned.  he went for her enticement.  she got pregnant with her father-in-law’s children.  this is the bible? 

two things:  first of all, amazingly judah, the son of jacob, eventually becomes the son through whom the line of david and then JESUS come.  amazing how GOD takes and uses even our sinful world and through HIS forgiveness and grace is able to be at work.  that never ceases to amaze me.  i wouldn’t have done it that way.  i would have chosen one of those other sons.  joseph would have been a good choice.  he was doing pretty well.  but GOD chose judah. 

but there’s another thing.  while all this is happening up in israel which is supposed to be the main place of GOD’s will being done, down in egypt there’s a boy named joseph and there’s a dream being molded.  when you and i look at the world around us or even what GOD’s people are doing, it doesn’t seem like what GOD wants to happen is happening in a place. but GOD’s still at work.  down in egypt he was doing something amazing as joseph was waiting on the dream.

just a thought from the front porch…

my idea or GOD’s will?…

another test that joseph faced after sharing his dream was the test of doubt.  it’s not just saying that it’s not true but saying, “i don’t know if GOD really wants this.”  

you can see in the reactions of the brothers and of the father and the family all the different expressions that doubt can take.  hatred to questions to rebuke.  you’re going to face doubt whenever you have a GOD given dream.

the next test is the worst of all.  it’s most unexpected if you’ve never heard anyone tell you this.  if you have a GOD given dream, it’s really from GOD, most likely it’s going to face the test of destruction.  it’s going to look like that dream gets totally wiped out.  there’s no way that it can come true. 

it happens to joseph.  in genesis 37, beginning at verse 12 we hear the story.  joseph was still 17.  his father sends him about 30 miles north to the fields of shechem to find out how his brothers and the flocks are doing.  the last time joseph had gone out to see how his brothers were taking care of the flock he’d brought back a bad report to the father so the relationship isn’t going too well.  and after two dreams the brothers are mad at him.  they see joseph coming from a long distance.

and as they see him coming, they say, “here’s an idea.  here’s how we can take care of this problem.  let’s kill him.  if we kill him the problem will be gone.”  then someone else says, “we can’t kill him.  he’s our brother.  let’s sell him.  then we can make money out of this.  that’s a lot better way to go.”  that family had a few problems!      

and they sell their brother as a slave and they take that multicolored coat, the richly ornamented robe that was the symbol of the fact that he was loved more than any of the others and they put blood on it and take it back to the father and they say, “jacob’s dead.  he’s gone.”  

and the family starts to disintegrate.  we’re going to see what happened to this family because of their actions.  for now, we’re going to follow through on joseph and what happened to him. 

he’s sold into slavery.  remember, he’s had a dream.  he was going to rise up above his brothers, above his father and mother.  he was going to be a ruler.  a great dream!  yet the first step in the fulfillment of this dream is he becomes a slave.  could anything be further from his GOD-given dream?  destruction.         

joseph is put in a place that seemed as far away from GOD’s dream for his life as possible.  does that make sense to you?  it makes sense to GOD.  it makes sense when you understand the life of faith. 

why do dreams face tests?  to provide answers.  when dreams face tests we find out whose dream it really is.  when dreams face tests, we find out if it’s my idea or GOD’s will.

just a thought from the front porch…