January 25, 2009

Luke 4:1-13

   Jesus Is Tempted...Are You? 

 LUKE

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan River.  He was led by the Spirit to go out into the wilderness, where the Devil tempted him for forty days.  He ate nothing all that time and was very hungry.

Then the Devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, change this stone into a loaf of bread."

But Jesus told him, "No!  The Scriptures say, 'People need more than bread for their life.'"

Then the Devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  The Devil told him, "I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them--because they are mine to give to anyone I please.  I will give it all to you if you will bow down and worship me."

Jesus replied, "The Scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.'"

Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, "If you are the Son of God, jump off!  For the Scriptures say, 'He orders his angels to protect and guard you.  And they will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone.'"

Jesus responded, "The Scriptures also say, "Do not test the Lord your God.'"

When the Devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

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Thoughts...

Matthew (4:1-11) opens his reference differently.  Matthew says "Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil."   Luke tells us that Jesus was led out by the Holy Spirit where the Devil tempted him.  Do you see the difference?  Matthew implies Holy Spirit's purpose was for Jesus to be tempted, while Luke implies the Devil just showed up to do his thing.  Is this important?  I think so.  Some religions teach that God will tempt you..to test your strength and conviction for him.  Others believe that only Satan tempts and tests, and God pulls you 'up and out', saving you.  Both are scripturally and historically accurate in the Old and New Testaments.  I'd like to think that God knows me and trusts me and would not test me, but will save me from the temptations and deceptions of Satan and the world.  Idealistic.

Matthew completes the reference where Jesus' says people need more than bread for life by saying, "they must feed on every word of God'.   This is paramount.  How else will you  know who your Savior is, if you don't go to him and hear what he believes in, how he feels and what he has to say?  How can you follow the precepts of any religion based on God, if you don't know what they believe?  Would you walk into any lifestyle or job without knowing what is there for you, or if you can give them anything, or walk with blind faith?  Perhaps many of us do...we lead without a path, build without a foundation.   

Luke's states that the Devil 'took him up' and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and then says he will give Jesus the glory of the kingdoms and authority over them stating that he can, because they are all his to give to anyone he pleases, if Jesus would bow down and worship him.  Matthew in this paragraph states that the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory, then stated  he would give it all to Jesus, if he would kneel down and worship him.  From my perspective, I'd like to know how the Devil thought everything was his.  Both texts differ some in content.  Matthew's statement implies he would just give the nations of the world and all their glory to Jesus, and, Luke also grandizes by expressing that Jesus would receive the glory of the kingdoms, as well as authority over them.  Either way he had to bow or kneel down and worship the Devil, Satan.   All the while, he was learning by Holy Spirit that the glory of God would be his, if he worshipped God, as opposed to the glory of the kingdoms or nations.  This is understood by taking all of scripture into context. 

The Devil then states in both accounts that Jesus should jump from the highest point of the Temple indicating that the angels would protect him by holding him in their hands to keep him from striking his foot on a stone.  The angels would have, I am sure, but Jesus was smart enough to know this game and tells Satan, "Get out of here, Satan.  For the Scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God, serve only him.'"   

It goes on to say that the Devil finished tempting Jesus until the next opportunity would come according to Luke, while Matthew just says the angels came and cared for him.  Please note what Luke says...'until the next opportunity would come'.  It will...for all of us...a lot.  We are always being tested by Satan, as he attempts to make us one of his like a pawn in a chess game.  And we will need the angels to come and care for us.  We must call upon God for protection, and for knowlege, as well as wisdom...wisdom being the application of knowlege...to know how to live and live rightly, and, call on or expect the angels will be there as we 'battle', is the inference here.  Tho' angels are not an entirely new concept to me, it is one that, now that I have read this for the umpteenth time, I will pay more attention to and research more fully.  Perhaps you will, too.

Let's review what Jesus responded to all of this.  He said in the account that Matthew gives,

"No!  The Scriptures say; "People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God.'"

"The Scripures also say, 'Do not test the Lord your God.'"

"Get out of here, Satan,  For the Scriptures say; 'You must worship the Lord your God, serve only him.'"

Are you being tempted?  Let us go to the scriptures to know who God is and to learn how we are to live our lives with him...'let us feed on every word'.  Let us choose to respond to Satan, when he tempts us, the same way Jesus did...'let us not test the Lord [y]our God'.  Let us tell Satan, 'NO!' and 'Get out of here'.  We 'must worship the Lord [y]our God; serve only him'.  Let us be reminded that everything we ask for in Jesus name, if we are one of God's, he will grant us, if it is his will.     

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Let Us Pray

 'Praise the Lord I tell myself, let eveyone praise the Lord!'  Dear Heavenly Father God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit...come.  Come into my life and those around me who yearn for you, and those who do not know you, yet.  Show me how to share you ,with the love you have instilled in me, respecting their beliefs, so as to not offend or alienate.  Help me to do this by how I live.  I know you are the one true God.  Others may call you by different names, Yahweh, and more.  God, is Jesus called by other names in other religions...are we really one religion practicing under different names, or are there undeniably different religions called Christian and Judaism and Muslim, etc?  My current understanding is that we are all different, because we all have different Saviors...or no Savior.  How sad.  Help me learn and grow by learning more about what others believe in without sacrificing you.  Help me to not ever lose you from my heart and life, nor lose sight of you from my vision.  Help me accept all peoples of every faith walk and religious practice, that they may know I am kind, caring and come in peace.  That I am welcoming and embracing.  That they may know that I am yours, as I learn to whom they belong, or to what they subscribe, accept and embrace.  May we all love.  President Obama made a statement, Lord, I'd like to paraphrase, merely because I cannot recall, something about being respected by not having a closed fist, but an open heart....by not what is torn down, but by what is built up.  This goes hand in hand with the Declaration of Independence for the United States of America that is written : "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [and women] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  Lord, forgive me for emphasizing 'their' before Creator.  I know you are my creator.  I believe you are the world's creator.  But others may not know or believe this.  Because I know you are a respector of all, I too, shall respect all persons' rights to their beliefs, and embrace them in the fullness of all you have taught me about loving and giving and caring and respecting.  I shall not seek to demand, but to share, when asked by you or others, or when needed, as a crisis arises.  I shall always call upon you as my Lord and Savior and I cannot thank you enough for living and dying for me, so that I might have life and have it abundantly!  I thank you, Lord, for continuing to show me how much more I have to learn...it certainly keeps me humble.  Help me always learn and grow in and with you.  Help me always see the stumbling blocks that Satan puts in my path, that I might rebuke him, while I keep my focus on you.  And please surround me with people that know you, that love you, that I can support in their endeavors, who might support me in mine, and yet, let others come, not of you, that I might learn more, love more, share you with, and, run heartily to you.  I love you, Lord.  Amen.        

P.S., Lord.  Please be with our new President in America, Barack Obama.  Keep him and his family safe, keep him and them strong in you, and give him and them wisdom and knowlege that can only come from your Holy Spirit to guide and direct.  Be with the outgoing President, George Bush, and his family, that he and they may find peace from you within and a new path.  Thank you.  Amen.          

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Wise men...and women...still seek him.

  Give him your finest gift....your self.   

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"What can I give him, poor as I am?

If I were a Shepherd, I'd give him a lamb.

If I were a Wise Man, I'd do my part.

But what I can, I give...my heart."

    Christina Rosetti   

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Give him your heart today.

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  "Do you hear what I hear?

Said the king to the people everywhere,

"Listen to what I say!

Pray for peace, people, everywhere,

Listen to what I say!

The Child, the Child sleeping in the night

He will bring us goodness and light,

  He will bring us goodness and light." 

 

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Definition of a Christian:  Anyone who believes in God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Regardless of church name or religious affiliation.  

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to

"Go and make disciples out of all the nations

baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

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  Our Current Cause

We have a family in crisis who could desperately use your prayers and support.  The Mom, a good Christian woman, is young still...she just turned 50, and she has 3 young children under 15.  She has just been diagnosed with Stage 3 Breast Cancer.  Her husband died 3 years ago from Cancer, and her Mother, who has her own health issues, is trying to care for her and her children and help her along life's way.  They do not have enough money to meet their everyday expenses right now.  But I am confident that, with your help, we can find some balance for them.  If this touches your heart, we hope you will pray earnestly for her to be healed, and pray for her family.  And, if you would, please send any amount of money you can to help them.  Please note 'Elizabeth and kids' in your note line on your check and we will see that all funds go directly to them.  Please consider reaching out to help them.  I know they will be sincerely grateful for anything you can do to help.  

Please accept our sincerest thanks....and may God bless you.

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    One last thing....

  Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

"The Unforced Rythms of Grace"

"Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one know the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

   Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

And the people said,

"Amen."

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I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided.

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 Scriptures may be taken from the New Living Translations website. 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scriputre quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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