Wednesday, 15 March 2017

Luke 4[1] And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” We put our desires for what we think we need ahead of the word of God We are dissatisfied with God. Impatient with God. Frustrated. He sent us out into the desert and he has not fed us! Where is his provision? We don’t have enough money, health, the right job, our spouse is grieving us, our children grieving us. What is the bread that you are not getting today? We must have believer and continue to obey. Perhaps, we should fast and spend those meal times in prayer and meditation on the word. Fasting teaches us that “Man does not live on bread alone.” “but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” More important to obey, then it is to eat. God’s word is our food. Next the devil promises Jesus authority and glory over the kingdoms of the word if Jesus will worship him. Jesus responds: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” We put our desires for prestige and power and popularity ahead of obedience to God. We are motivated by career, accomplishments, acquisitions. Even for pastors lust for more people, more praise, more publicity! To pursue prestige and power is to worship the devil. We must worship God alone. Then the devil tempts Jesus to throw himself from a height and demand that God rescue him. Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” We put our desires for safety and protection ahead of obedience to God. As Americans we love safety and security. But God never said the Christian life will be safe. We are not promised protection. We must not “test” God by demanding that he protect us from dangers. By saying prove to me you are good. By doing this for me. We must trust and obey God. Jesus suffered great loss for us. He was publicly shamed and ridiculed for us. He went unprotected and undelivered for us. Jesus was obedient unto death for us. He purchased for us salvation which is greater than the food, money, health, prestige, power, safety, protection that we crave.