Temptation Luke 4:1-13

TEMPTATION!!!!! We all deal with it. But how do we over come it. The famous author Oscar Wild had this to say about temptation," The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it." I disagree with this quote but how do we overcome temptations when they come our way?? Lets look at our example. In this passage Jesus exposed the tactics of the enemy and revealed to us how we can overcome when we are tempted. This experience helped prepare our Lord for his present ministry as our High priest, and we may come to Him for the help we need to overcome the tempter (Heb. 4:14-16). The first Adam was tempted in a beautiful garden and failed. The Last Adam was tempted in the dessert and succeeded. We have at our disposal the same spiritual resources that Jesus used when he faced and defeated Satan: prayer (3:22) the Fathers love (3:23), the power of the Spirit (4:1) and the Word of God ("It is written"). Plus we have in heaven the interceding Saviour who has defeated the enemy completely. Temptation is Satan's weapon to defeat us, but it can become God's tool to build us (James 1:1-8, 13-17). In the first temptation, Satan suggested that there must be something wrong with the Fathers love since his holy son was hungry. This temptation Satan is asking Jesus to separate the physical from the spiritual. Whenever we label different spheres of our lives physical, material, financial, or spiritual, we are bound to leave God out of areas where He rightfully belongs. Christ must be first in everything, or He is first in nothing (MAtt. 6:33) It is better to be hungry in the will of God than satisfied out of the will of God.( That deep take a moment and think about it). When Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, He put the emphasis on the word man. As the eternal Son of God, He had power to do anything; but as the humble Son of Man, He had authority to do only that which the Father willed. As the servant, Jesus did not use His divine attributes for selfish purposes (Phil 2:5-8). Because He was man, He hungered; but He trusted the Father to meet His needs in His own time and His own way. Question do we do he same thing? Is it your timing or his?? You and I need bread for the body (Matt. 6:1) but we must not live by physical bread alone. We also need food for the inner person to satisfy our spiritual needs. This food is the Word of God. What digestion is to the body, meditation is to the soul. As we read the Word and meditate on it, we receive spiritual health and strength for inner person, and this enables us to obey the will of God. Satan questioned the Father's love when he tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread. He questioned His hope when he offered Jesus the world's kingdoms. Satan questioned the Father's faithfulness when he asked Jesus to jump from the temple and prove that the Father would keep His promise. Satan attacked three basic virtues of the Christian life-faith hope and love. I want to suggest that there are no "shortcuts" in the Christian life, and there is no easy way to spiritual victory and maturity. If the perfect Son of God had to hang on a tree before He could sit on the throne, Then His disciples should not expect an easier way of life. (See Luke 9:22-26 and Acts 24:22). Jesus came out of the dessert a victor, but Satan did not give up. He watched for other opportunities to tempt the Saviour away from the Fathers will. Author Andrew Bonar said i like this, "Let us be as watchful after the victory as before the battle." Question: When temptation comes will you be ready?

To Grow Luke 2:39, 52

Before reading this you should read Luke 2:39,52

Having Obeyed the Law in everything, Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth, which would be the Lord's home until He started Hs official ministry. One question I have always had is what was Jesus like as a teenager into adulthood? Was he picked first for dodge ball(I'm not really sure if dodge ball was invented at this time)? Did all the other teenagers in the neighborhood look up to him? Was he popular or was he a fringe kid? Luke reports that he developed physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. We know Jesus worked with Joseph in the carpenter shop (Matt 13:55 and Mark 6:3) and apparently ran the business after Joseph died. (Just a thought How awesome would it be to own furniture made by Jesus. How many people could say you see this couch yeah the son of God made it. Got to be honest it would be pretty epic). Joseph and Mary had other children during those years Matt. 13:55-56; John 7:1-10). How was Jesus as an older brother?? Luke gives us only one story from Jesus youthful years. Joseph and Mary were devout Jews who observed Passover in Jerusalem every year. Three times a year the Jewish men were required to go to Jerusalem to worship (Deut. 16:16) but not all of them could afford to do so. If they chose one feast, it was usually the passover; and they tried to take their family with them, for it was the most important feast of the Jewish calendar. People would travel to this feast in caravans, the women and children leading the way and setting the pace, and the men and young men following behind. Villages often traveled together and kept an eye on each other's children. At age 12 Jesus could have easily have gone from one group to another and not been missed.

They had gone a day's journey from Jerusalem when they discovered that Jesus was missing. It took a day to return to the city and another day for them to find him. I wonder what was running through Mary's and Joseph mind when they couldn't find Jesus? Mary's rebuke brought a respectful but astonished reply from Jesus; "Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had t be in My Fathers house?" Jesus was affirming His divine Sonship and His mission to do the will of the father. Even at the age of twelve, Jesus was moved by a divine compulsion to do the Father's will. To my teenagers that read this you are not the church of tomorrow you are the church of today!!! does your life bring glory to the fathers will.

Jesus grew in a balanced way without neglecting any part of life, and His priority was to do the will of His Father. He knew how to listen and how to ask the right questions. He learned how to work, and HE was obedient to His parents. Jesus grew up in a large family, in a despised city, nurtured by parents who were probably poor. The Jewish religion was at an all-time low, the Roman government was in control, and society was in a state of change. Yet when Jesus emerged from Nazareth, eighteen years later, the Father was able to say of Him, "Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased"(Luke 3:22). May the Father be able to say that about us!!!!!