September 30
Red Letters: Temptation
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 @ 7:56 am by Josh Burcham
Let me start here and it might sound funny at first, but stick with me. The Bible, God’s written word to us, has some power – Hebrews 4:12, but keep in mind it’s God speaking to us. The power isn’t found in the words or the book. The power is found in God. I might be crucified for those last couple of statements, so let me prove my point. I’ve seen too many people have great habit of reading their bibles everyday, yet never see Jesus in their character. It is as if the Truth has no power in their life. Now, why is that? I credit it to a hard heart, but that is another post all in it self. When reading the Bible we need to keep in mind that Truth’s power comes from God. You can spend your entire life reading the Bible, living a good life by obeying what it says to do, but completely miss it’s power. Now slow down and really read this next part. You’ve heard it before, but think about what it means…The Bible is God written word to us. The creator of the Universe wrote Truth to you! Now that’s cool.
On to the Red Letters, Matthew 4:1-11: the temptations of Jesus:
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Jesus was lead by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. The Spirit lead him into a situation that Jesus would have to make a choice, to give into His human desires or to live the life God called Him to live. We sit in the same situation and have the same choice.
We combat satan with Truth. We make decisions out of our knowledge of Truth. Which probably mean, we need to be spending time allowing God to speak to our hearts through the Bible.
Temptations are the same today, as they were 2000+ years ago. Pride, Control, and Worship (Love) for something other than God.
What are your thoughts on these Red Letters?
