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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Saturday, January 14, 2023
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Get Thee Behind Me, Satan Bible Verse:Matthew 4:8-11 (NKJV) "Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him." Message:
As we mentioned yesterday, there are two valid ways to interpret the physical events of the temptation: That Satan physically flew Jesus to several places, or that the battle took place internally in Jesus' human mind.
This second idea is not “modernist” theology, which feels free to rewrite the Bible. Even the more conservative theologians agree that Christ was fully human and had a human mind, which would have been as broken down as his body after his long fast in the desert. It is this very humanity that makes him so incredible, because it allowed him to be as fully tempted as you or I.
The emphasis on Christ's internal struggle highlights the power of the Spirit within him. He is fully human but can remain sinless, can resist temptation, no matter how badly he is tortured; even if his brain is rendered “broken” — and the purpose of torture is usually to do precisely that, to break down a person's mind so that their resistance to temptation is destroyed — Christ will not give in. He is incapable of sin.
T
he third temptation is very different from the first two, for Satan did not tempt Christ to clear sinfulness, or offer Christ a reward, in the first two. In the third temptation, however, he dangles the ultimate bait: He offers to give Christ complete ownership of the world. This highlights Satan's power on earth, for one must own something to offer it as a gift. And indeed, Satan has dominion over the riches and lands of the world. Giving in to temptation and sin can bring us these very things: earthly power over other people, wealth, status, ownership.
Why did the covenant of Moses fail? God offered the Hebrews what Satan offers Christ, complete dominion over (part of) the world, if they would worship Him. But they did not — the could not — hold up their end of the bargain. They could not resist sin, could not resist Satan's relentless, powerful gift of persuasiveness.
The third temptation is a paradigm for what every one of us faces every day. Satan tries to convince us that we can better our life on earth by giving in to him. Perhaps William Jennings Bryan overstated the point when he said, “No one can earn a million dollars honestly,” but he makes the same point as today's Scripture. We might commit a small theft by omitting to include $100 cash payment on our income taxes; small sin, small reward. What might we do for $100 billion and absolute political control of the world? To have every man and woman do our bidding?
Christ will not compromise with evil for anything this world has to offer. So the practical lesson of today's Scripture is: Refuse to compromise. “Put on the helmet of salvation and grasp the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17) We will be forgiven for our sins, but we must not wink at them, pretend they do not exist. We may compromise where Christ did not, but we should not fool ourselves.
Meditation : Prayer : Lord, in utter humility I thank you and glorify you, that you might hear the prayer of one so small as myself, amidst the billions of souls among billions of stars in one of billions of galaxies in your universe. Let me go forth in your peace, keeping your Spirit always in my mind; and bless me, I pray, that I might always follow your will and live in the radiance of your blessing........Amen |
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