James 1: 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust

Greg Laurie has a book out on lies we tell ourselves. We can tell a little white lie sometimes so smoothly that we don't even realize we've done it! Often, when we are tempted to do something wrong , we don't understand that the lies we tell ourselves can lead to our sinful behavior. Here are some of those lies:

I know it's wrong.......but everyone is doing it!

I'll quite tomorrow

It's not my fault, I was raised this way or that way, or I was mistreated as a child......

I can't help it. I've been under so much stress! ( apparently my favorite since I say it all the time!)

I deserve this.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? It does to me. If we stop and think about it, everything around us, and often about us, is compromised by a world that is an enemy of God. Either you are for God, or you are against God.

What? Of course I'm not AGAINST God! That would be our immediate response, but what about our actions? It's never going to be about what we say, but always about what we do. We allow ourselves to be tempted and be led into sin because we believe a lie or we lie to ourselves. Some of these lies say we're not hurting anyone so it doesn't matter. Some say we can love God and serve Him just as easily on the golf course or fishing, or at the pool, or at home on Sunday when in reality, we need to be in church and we need to be surrounding our children and our marriages and our friendships with the things of God. Some of them say that we don't need anyone or anything. We can handle it, we've got this. Lies.

God loves us and understands us where we are. Through His word, He is teaching us that we are to move beyond the shallow religion that allows us to lie to ourselves and to look to Him in faith and in trust. We will even lie to ourselves and say that we are fine with ourselves and our lives just the way they are. If we want to move beyond taking the easy way out and beyond giving in to our sin nature, we but have to turn to Him and ask. Really ask, believing that He is there, waiting to reveal to us our sin nature so that we can seek forgiveness and move into a new life.

Do you feel that you are being tossed around in winds from every direction? That you need and want more but don't know how to get it? Don't believe a lie. I can honestly tell you that I've been there, and done that. Even today, Satan often lies to me and tells me that I will never be different, that I am just waiting to fall back into this sin or that sin. That's a lie. While I certainly fall and sin everyday, I don't have to do it and I certainly don't have to stay in it. There is so much more to life than what the world can offer. Isn't it time that we stop being afraid of what we'll give up so that we can experience all that is promised to us? Jesus is the Way, the TRUTH and the life. He understands our nature and our flesh, our lusts and the lies we buy in to. He loves us anyway. Completely, totally, without question and requirement, He loves us.

He has an incredible, full, abundant life planned for each of us who call him Lord. It is a lie to think it's too hard, no fun, not attainable, not worth it. Give it a try, it's the best thing that will ever happen to you. And that's the truth.