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!!!!!

A Song of Joy Luke 1:39-56

Mary knew at this time that she was to become a mother, and that her relative Elisabeth would give birth in three months, she wanted to see Elisabeth so they could rejoice together. " Joy"is the major theme of this section as you see three persons rejoicing in the Lord.

First is the joy of Elisabeth verses 39-45. As Mary entered the house, Elisabeth heard her greeting, was filled with the Spirit and was told by the Lord why Mary was there. The one word that filled her lips was "blessed. Note that she did not say that Mary was blessed above women but among women, and certainly this is true. While we don't want to ascribe to Mary that which only belongs to God, neither do we want to minimize her place in the plan of God. What Elisabeth emphasized was Mary's faith: "Blessed is she that believed" (Verse 45). We are saved by grace through faith Ephesians 2:8-9. Because Mary believed the Word of God, she experienced the power of God.

Second, there was the joy of the unborn son. This was probably the time when he was filled with the Spirit as the angel had promised. Even before his birth, John rejoiced in Jesus Christ, just as he did during his earthy ministry. As John the Baptist, he would be the forerunner for the Messiah.

Third the Joy of Mary verses 46-56. A joy that compelled her to lift her voice in a hymn of praise. The fullness of the Spirit should lead to joyful praise in our lives Eph 5:18-20. And so should the fullness of the Word Col. 3:16-17. Mary's song contains quotations from and references to the Old Scriptures, especially the Psalms and the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Mary had God's word in her heart and turned it into a song. Her great desire was to magnify the Lord, not herself. Question of the day who do you try to magnify in your life? Do we give ourselves all the credit for what we have achieved or do we realize every good and perfect gift is from above! She used the phrase He hath eight times as she recounted what God had done for three recipients of His blessing.

1. What God Did for Mary-To begin with, God had saved her (verse 47). Which indicates that Mary was a sinner like all of us and needed to trust the Lord for her eternal salvation. Not only had He saved her, but He also had chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah. He had regarded her, which means He was mindful of her and looked with favor upon her. No doubt there were others who could have been chosen, but God chose her! Not only was God mindful of her, but He was also mighty for her, working on her behalf. Because she believed God and yielded to His will, He performed a miracle in her life and used her to bring the Saviour into the world.

2. What God did for us-In the second stanza of her song, Mary included all of God's people who fear Him from generation to generation. We have all received His mercy and experienced His help. Mary named three specific groups to whom God had been merciful: the helpless, the humble, and the hungry. The common people of that day were almost helpless when it came to justice and civil rights. They were often hungry, downtrodden and discouraged and there was no way to fight the system. Mary saw the Lord turning everything upside down: the weak dethrone the mighty, the humble scatter the proud, he nobodies are exalted, the hungry are filled, and the rich end up poor! The grace of God works contrary to the thoughts and ways of this world system

3. What God did for Israel-He shall save His people from their sins. In spite of Israel's destitute condition, the nation was still God's servant and He would help the people fulfill His purposes. God was on Israel's side! He would remember His mercy and keep His promises.

99% Obedient part 2 1 Samuel 15:15-35

Sorry for the long delay regarding this blog I had it done just didn't post it. Looking at these last 18 verses I've outlined them into two topics.

Lost Sight of what was Important 1 Samuel 15:15-23

Looking at verse 15 we imedietely see that Kings Saul blames his soldiers for his disobedience. As I thought about that do we do the same today? When we our confronted with mistakes or things we have done wrong do we pass the buck? Do we try to make excuses for our short comings or do we take ownership of what we have done regardless of how painful it will be. (Something to think about). God could do everything without us, however he chooses to use us and so wants us to trust and obey him that these things naturally flow out of hearing and obeying His world Sacrifice without obedience is hypocrisy and sickening to God! Samuel goes on to say that the sins of stubbornness (arrogance) and rebellion controlled Saul’s heart. Then condemns them as bad as witchcraft and idolatry. When we know God’s word and deliberately disobey it we are exalting ourselves above the throne of God. This is the height of idolatry!! What resulted from Saul’s disobedience of God’s word, an inability to take responsibility for his own actions?

Rejected by God 15: 24-35

Saul was sadly more concerned with his popularity than his right standing with God. Someone truly broken over their sin would sound much more like David, “I have sinned against heaven, and against you Oh God!!”It seems that problem carries on today. People are more worried about being popular than with pleasing God. Was it that Saul failed that was so terrible? No!!! It was that when confronted with the truth of that failure he lied and made excuses. Oh what a difference it makes when we own up to our failures and sin and allow God to cleanse us of our unrighteousness.

Conclusion: What can we learn from king Saul? Saul began his life so well. He became the first king of Israel through the divine appointment of God. However as he grew older he depended on God less and less, disobeyed and made excuses for his failures. God can work with anything except disobedience. God will work on you, or through you. But if you live your life in continual rejection and disobedience to His word he will ultimately do what he did to Saul, he will reject you. What should we do?

1) Always obey the word of God
2) Never make excuses for your failures (take responsibility)

Saul's attitude of optional obedience led to:

SAUL’S DISOBEDIENCE

SAUL’S DENIAL

SAUL’S DOWNFALL

99% Obedient 1 Samuel 15:1-14 (Part 1)

We are told, "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning" (Romans 15:4). Today I want to take a look at the king of Israel Saul, I want to point out some observations and hopefully we can learn from them. In 1 Samuel 15 :3 Samuel went to Saul with a command from the mouth of God and this is what he says, "Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys." The first thing we see is that this command is very specific and direct, anything that required air to breath was to be destroyed. after hearing these words Saul gathered his men and made ready his attack. He attacked and killed every man, woman, infant, and nursing child. Tens of thousands were put to the edge of the sword by Saul and his army. However there were some problems Saul spared the king of Amalek. Why? Possibly he was conforming to the culture of that time. If you conquered a nation and took alive its leader, you brought back to your palace a slave, to show your trophies off. Saul also slaughtered thousands of animals. Yet he spared the best of the sheep, oxen, fated calfs, lambs and all that was good, and gave it to his people so they could sacrifice to God. As I thought about this I'm sure Saul's army thought he was doing a good thing or even the right thing. I wonder if they thought they had a godly king who was always putting the Lord first. If you take a look at verse 11 we see God has a different take on this matter. He lamented to Samuel, "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed my commandments." Saul killed tens of thousands and spared but one. He did 99.9 percent of what was commanded of him. Most of us would look at this and see obedience in his actions, yet God saw disobedience. In fact the prophet a few verses later called it rebellion. From this we learn that partial obedience is not obedience at all in the eyes of God. 99% is not considered obedience; rather it is rebellion.

Samuel left to meet Saul, and when Samuel reached him, Saul enthusiastically greeted him, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the Lord's instructions (1 Sam 15:13) You can hear the joy and confidence in his voice. I believe Saul was sincere. He really believed he did what was commanded, yet God said he rebelled.

The Moment a person disobeys the Word of God clearly revealed to him, a veil goes over his heart, and that veil distorts and obstructs his view. It is deception. Saul was deceived in his reasoning and confident he did right when, in reality, he was wrong. His belief conflicted with God's reality, even though it might agree with human reasoning. Can we see today the consequences of disobedience? More than all the sacrifices and religious observances, God wants us to obey him. Are you obeying God in every area of your life? Remember 99% isn't good enough and it's not what God wants. Whatever he is asking you to do follow through and be obedient. Jesus said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (Joh 14:21)

Why Worship!! Rev 5.

In Revelation 5 The focus of attention shifts to a seven sealed scroll in the hand of God. The scroll could not be read because it was rolled up and sealed with seven seals. John could see writing on both sides of the scroll, which meant that nothing more could be added. What was written was completed and final. The scroll represents Christ's "Title deed" to all that the Father promised Him because of His sacrifice on the cross. He is our beloved Kinsman Redeemer who was willing to give His life to set us free from bondage and to restore our lost inheritance. No one in all the universe could be found worthy enough to break the seals. No wonder John wept, for he realized that God's glorious redemption plan for mankind could never be completed until the scroll was opened. Jesus Christ meets all of the qualifications. He became flesh, so He is our kinsman. He loves us and is willing to redeem; and He paid the price, so He is able to redeem. Now we are able to enter into the worship experience described in the remainder of Revelation 5. As we take a look at this chapter we will discover four compelling reasons why we worship Jesus Christ.

BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS (Rev 5:5-7) Three unique titles are given to our Lord to describe who He is. First He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This refers back to Genesis 49:8-10, where Jacob prophetically gave the scepter to Judah and made it the tribe of the Kings. (God never meant for Saul to establish a dynasty, because he came from the tribe of Benjamin. God used him to discipline Israel because the people asked for a king; then He gave them David from the tribe of Judah.) The image of "the lion" speaks of dignity, sovereignty, courage, and victory. Jesus Christ is the only living Jew who can prove His kingship from the genealogical records.

Son of David was a title often used when he was ministering on earth (Matt 1.) But He is also the Root of David, which means He brought David (and David's line) into existence. As far as His humanity is concerned, Jesus had His roots in David (Isa.11:1, 10) ; but as far as His deity is concerned, Jesus is the root of David. How the Messiah could both be David's Lord and David's son was a problem Jesus presented to the Pharisees, and they could not (or would not) answer Him. (Matt. 22:41-46).

When John turned to see, he saw not a lion but a lamb! Jesus is called "the Lamb" at least twenty-eight times in the book of Revelation. The theme of 'the Lamb" is an important one throughout Scripture, for it presents the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer. The Old Testament question, "Where is the Lamb?" (Gen. 22:7) was answered by John the Baptist who cried, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The choirs of heaven sing, "Worthy is the lamb!" (Rev. 5:12)

BECAUSE OF WHERE HE IS (5:6) Jesus is in heaven. He is not in the manger, in Jerusalem, on the cross, or in the tomb. He is ascended and exalted in heaven. Our savior has defeated every enemy and is now controlling events from glory! He too suffered, but God turned His suffering into glory. The Lamb is the center of all that transpires in heaven. Angles around the throne encircle the Savior and praise Him. We do not worship a babe in a manger or a corpse on a cross. We worship the living, reigning Lamb of God who is in the midst of all in heaven!!

BECAUSE HE IS WORTHY (5:8-12) When the Lamb came and took the scroll the weeping ended and the prasing began. Warren Wiersbee a famous Christian author said this about worship and I tend to agree with him. "Too many contemporary songs are "I" centered rather than "Christ" centered. They so emphasize the believer's experience that they almost ignore the Lord's glory. Certainly there is a place for that kind of song, but nothing can compare with adoring Christ in spiritual worship."(BOOM that just happened!!!!) Sometimes I feel like our worship time has turned to a request time. God I need this, I want that, gimme gimme gimme I, I , I. WE need to stand amazed shift our attention from ourselves and focus on the one who is worthy!!!! Challenge for today take time and just be amazed because our savior is worthy!!!!!!

BECAUSE OF WHAT HE HAS (5:13-14) He was born in weakness and He died in weakness; but He is the recipient of all power. He became the poorest of the poor and yet He owns all the riches of heaven and earth. Man laughed at Him and called Him a fool; yet He is the very wisdom of God. He shared in the sinless weakness of humanity as he hungered, thirsted, and became weary. Today in glory, He possesses all strength. On earth, He experienced humiliation and shame as sinners ridiculed and reviled Him. They laughed at His kingship and attired Him in a mock robe, crown and scepter. But all of this is changed now!! He has received all honor and glory and blessing!! I want to leave you with this closing question. You may believe in Christ as the creator, but have you trusted Him as your redeemer???

Worship the creator Rev 4:8-11

The book of Revelation is filled with hymns of praise. The emphasis on praise is significant when you remember that John wrote this book to encourage people who were going through suffering and persecution! The theme of this hymn is God the Creator. If the 24 elders typify people of God in heaven then we have to ask ourselves, " If the heavens are declaring the glory of God, why shouldn't God's heavenly people join the chorus? Creation bears constant witness to the power, wisdom, and glory of God. Acknowledging God the Creator is the first step towards trusting God the redeemer. "All things were created by Him "Christ" and for Him and by Him all things consist and hold together."(Colossians 1:16-17) But sinful man worships and follows the creature rather than the Creator. Sinful man has polluted and destroyed God's wonderful creation; and he will pay for it (Rev 11:18). Creation is for God's praise and pleasure, and man has no right to usurp that which rightfully belongs to God. Man drove creation into sin, so that God's good creation is today a groaning creation (Romans 8:22). But because of Christ's work on the cross, it will one day be delivered and become a glorious creation. (Romans 8:18-24). I want to leave you with this closing thought to those that our found faithful to God the creator of all things. Heaven is a place of worship, and God's people shall worship Him throughout all eternity. It would be a good idea to start practicing now!!