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Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, \u201cGod is tempting me.\u201d For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.\xa0 Don\u2019t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. (James 1:12-18)

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There are significant enemies that we face in this Christian life, namely the world, the flesh, and the devil.\xa0 We\u2019ve mentioned them before.\xa0

Each of these three enemies was a good creation of God at the start though\u2014especially our flesh with its desires and our world.\xa0 The world and the flesh have not always been our enemies, nor will they be forever.\xa0 God has set about in Jesus Christ to redeem all of creation, including our own fleshly humanity, our desires, and the culture that arises from humanity\u2019s living and working together in this, our world.\xa0

So, our desires are not inherently evil\u2014our ability to desire and the proper objects of our desire are good gifts of God.\xa0 But within a sin-broken world, these desires fall out of proper proportions and we begin to desire good things too much or too little.\xa0 Or, our desires find objects other than the ones they were intended to aim at, becoming idolatrous.

Some examples might be\u2026 A desire to succeed that keeps us from accepting God\u2019s grace in failure.\xa0 A desire to control our happiness or security that keeps us from surrendering to God.\xa0 A desire for intimacy that finds its end not in desiring the consummation of the kingdom or even in a committed marriage relationship, but in pornography or adultery instead. \xa0\xa0

Now, we\u2019ve begun this journey of redemption in Christ.\xa0 God has given us new birth into this Christian life and God will crown us with life at its end.\xa0 But between those two moments lies a lifetime of discipleship\u2014that work of following Jesus and becoming more like him each day.\xa0 \xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0

On the way, God reveals the motives of our heart which need to die in order for the new life of Christ to more fully take root.\xa0 It\u2019s a work of re-forming of our fleshly desires: re-aligning and re-aiming them to their proper ends and in proper degrees.

This is not just a journey of discipleship that we walk, but is the work of Sanctification that the Spirit works in us as we walk.\xa0 The journey of sanctification is a lifelong cure slowly administered by the Holy Spirit for all that is sin-broken in our fleshly desires.\xa0 The Spirit reveals the evil in our hearts, and together with Him, we participate in putting it to death through the power of Christ\u2019s death: finding new life again and again on the other side.\xa0

With the Bible to guide, the Spirit to empower, and the Lord\u2019s Prayer of \u201clead us not into temptation\u2026\u201d on our lips, we find this to be the daily prescription for the rest of our lives\u2014dying and rising.\xa0 Taking up our cross and following.

After giving us new birth into this Christian life, our loving Father hasn\u2019t left us on our own to fight the world without and the temptations within.\xa0 No, through the power of the Sanctifying Spirit He accomplishes it within us.

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