Introduction

Our ability to desire is basic to our humanity. God gave us this ability so that we will first desire Him and as a result find in Him the fulfillment of all our other desires. The apostle Paul said in Acts 17:26-27, “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” Unfortunately, our desires can also lead us away from God. Satan knows this. He uses our desires to deceive us so that we would be led astray. How does he deceive us?

Four “Natural Desires” turned into Four “Disordered Desires”

1. From desiring Acceptance to desiring Approval. (Romans 15:7; Matthew 6:1; John 12:42-43) – God created in us the desire to be accepted. We can experience this when we come to Him by faith in Jesus Christ. Then, He joins us into the body of Christ where we are accepted as we are. So, our need for acceptance is actually fulfilled in Christ. But Satan can deceive us into thinking that our acceptance will come from the world.
2. From desiring Sustenance to desiring Assurance. (Matthew 6:11; Philippians 4:12-13; Matthew 6:31-33) – God wants us to depend on Him for our daily needs. He has promised to sustain us by His grace. So, we can be content and not worry about our daily sustenance. But Satan wants to deceive us by causing us to worry about our lives. As a result, we become anxious and we cannot rest.
3. From desiring Significance to desiring Accomplishments. (Philippians 3:4b-9) – Our desire for significance is embedded in us by God. We don’t want our lives to be wasted. But our significance is found only in God through Christ. Everything else is actually insignificant compared to Christ. But Satan deceives us into thinking that we can be significant through our external accomplishments.
4. From desiring Abundance to desiring Accumulation. (2 Corinthians 9:8; Luke 12:15; 1 John 2:15-17) – God wants to bless us. He wants us to experience abundance so that we can be generous to others. By trusting in Him, we can experience real prosperity, not just in terms of worldly wealth, but in terms of good works. But Satan wants to deceive us by tempting us to love money and material wealth instead.

Conclusion

1. Main Idea: “Our desires can either lead us to God or to self-destruction.”
2. Examine your desires to see where they are leading you.
3. Check your decisions and activities to see what kinds of desires are operating behind them.

Discussion

1. What “natural desires” do you have that is being turned by Satan into “disordered desires” lately?
2. How can you become more aware of this deception?
3. How would you apply this?