Temptation 101

So last night we started our guys' small group BIble study through the book of James. We spent time discussing in depth the first 15 verses and the thing that required the most discussion was temptation. I think far too often we misunderstand temptaton. James attempts to clarify some of our misconceptions in this first chapter of his book.
James 1:13-15 When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown gives birth to death.
He starts out in verse 13 by talking about where temptation comes from. He talks about the fact that God is perfect therefore He can have no part in temptation. Then, in verse 14 he explains how temptation becomes sin when it is a desire. When you look at something, and think about it and soon it is a desire or driving force in your life it is now a sin. When a young man looks at a young lady there is no sin involved, when he feels tempted by her beauty or if she is being provokative there is no sin there in him. But, the moment he entertains thoughts of her or thinks in depth about her it is becoming something that he desires. And once desire is conceived there is the birth of sin.
Another way we can know for sure that temptation is not a sin is the fact of JEsus. He was tempted in the desert by the devil himself. After 40 days of not eating, of fasting and prayer Satan himself appeared to Jesus and tempted Him. He tempted Him with power and possessions, he attacked Him from a few different angles. Jesus, did not for one second entertain any thought of acting on those temptations. He never desired the power and pride that Satan attacked Him with therefore no sin was present.
So remember this world is going to tempt us from every angle. We need to pray that God makes us strong to withstand those temptations. We actually need them in our lives so that we can withstand testing in our strength and faith from time to time. Each day there are temptations hurled our way, as long as we see them for what they are and dismiss them we will be just fine.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!