2007-06-01
Good Morning Cherished of God,
This morning I'm led to begin a new segment of messages on the issue of temptation. This is one of the evil one's most pervasive weapons, and we must use the armor of God [EPH 6: 1-18] to be ready for it. As a prayer warrior for my church and in my life in general, I'm delighted to say that God has never grown tired of hearing from me. He won't with anyone else who prays sincerely. Our prayers really matter. But there is still the question: in addition to prayer, what other ways can we deal with temptation? Christ in His Sermon on the Mount answers us in, MT 6: 22-23. "The eyes are like a lamp for the body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body is full of light. But if your eyes are no good, your body will be in darkness; how terribly dark it will be!"
Surprisingly, sightedness is not the issue. People with poor physical eyesight can still reflect God's light in their lives. Otherwise just about anyone over the age of forty would be considered left in darkness. Reasoning that such is the case is faulty indeed. So then, how do we uncover the real issues? The real seat of reasoning is in the condition of one's thoughts and heart-attitude. Let's look at some cases. One that comes to mind is the sad case of the rich man who encounters Christ in MT 19: 16-22. We all know that he asked the Lord, "What good thing must I do to receive eternal life?" After professing that he obeyed all the commandments, he waited for Christ's answer. It came in (21), "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then, come and follow Me." Believe me this was no simple task for one with his eyes. As this reality flooded over him, and he sadly walked away. His heart wasn't ready to put its "treasures in heaven" [MT 6: 19-21]. Christ's comment, in (24), was, "It is harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." The temptation to put material things ahead of ones that transcend the grave is not the only one.
Let's look at the case of pride found in IS 14: 13-15 in an exchange between God and Satan [referred to here as the "King of Babylon"]. God said, "You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead." The starkness of these statements is brought home to us in EZK 28: 12, 15-16 where Satan is referred to as the "king of Tyre." God was saying to Ezekiel, "I grieve for the fate that is waiting for the king of Tyre. Tell him what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: You were once an example of perfection. How wise and handsome you were!...Your conduct was perfect from the day you were created until you began to do evil. You were busy buying and selling, and this led you to violence and sin. So I forced you to leave My holy mountain, and the angel who guarded you drove you away from the sparkling gems." We should notice how this sin of pride is transmitted to mankind from Satan too in the form of the lie the serpent tells in GN 3: 4. "The serpent replied, 'That's not true; you will not die. God said that because He knows that when you eat it [the forbidden fruit], you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad.'" Indeed, Lucifer, once God's favorite angel in charge of worship in heaven, the one "who used to be honored with the music of harps" [IS 14: 11], was cast out of heaven with one third of the heavenly host [REV 12: 4]. This is hardly the profile of one who will be a winner over death from God's team, who will enjoy eternal life!
There is so much to say about different cases of temptation that I'm led by the Holy Spirit to leave us hanging this week. However, in the course of this segment of messages I expect He will let us all really come to understand what Christ means when He says, "The eyes are like a lamp for the body..." While we can't demand a miracle any more than the Pharisees and Sadducees of Christ's day could in MT 16: 4, we can see that many have been performed over mankind's history. The greatest miracle came with the release from bondage to sin and death that is Christ's Atonement and our acceptance of His invitation to repent and come to faith in Him. Does this mean we will never sin again? Of course not! But it does mean that we can stop sinning and look forward to a richly blessed eternal life of sweet fellowship with Him.
PRAYER: O Lord, the lie that is in boldface above is the worst lie ever told. We cannot be like You, because we are still imperfect sinners. But thanks to Your sacrifice of Your Son on the cross and the invitation to faith that You extend to us, we can live better lives than we did before. You have given us the equipment and the commandment to recognize the evil one's work for what it is, in the matter of temptation. Because of Your magnificent word, we can know Your will for our lives [2 TIM 3: 16-17]. EPH 3: 12 gives us such comfort. "In union with Christ and through our faith in Him we have the boldness to go into God's presence with all confidence." We do so now by acknowledging our need for Your compassionate, patient, and wise interaction in our lives. You are a just, loving, and all-knowing God, Who has had the kindness to extend Your most excellent grace to us when we surely do not deserve it. For that and so much more, we offer You our thanks and praise. The adversary seeks to separate us from You; he throws every kind of temptation our way. These are things like seeking power, having pride, placing material wealth over eternal wealth, gossiping, sexual immorality, and many other forms of disobedience to You. Dearest Father, we need You to give us the courage of our faith in You, the discernment to make wise choices, and the will to remain faithfully obedient to You. You have made us "new creations in Christ," ones whom You are constantly renewing in Your own image, so that we might be brought to a full knowledge of You [2 COR 5: 17; COL 3: 10]. We want to know You better, and You show Yourself to us in prayer, study of Your word, and through the circumstances of our lives. You have said that if we look for You, we will find You. If we seek You with all our heart, You will be there for us [JER 29: 12-13]. We seek You now and beseech You: 1) to help us recognize temptation as being the devil's work that it is and 2) to have the strength to overcome it-never giving in to it. We are Your children, and we love You. You told us in MT 5: 3, 8, that those of us who know we are spiritually poor will inherit Your Kingdom, and that those of us who are pure in heart will one day see You. We believe You, because only the truth is in You. We believe David's words in PS 17: 15, "And when I awake in heaven, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see You face to face." We adore, worship, pledge loyalty to, thank, and praise You. In Christ's mighty name, we pray. Amen.
Next week, I answer the prompting of the Holy Spirit to continue delving into what Christ means when He says, "The eyes are the lamp of the body..." I was once told that my name means "one with poor eyesight" by someone pulling my leg. Foolishly, I stewed about that for almost two years, until I couldn't stand all these negative feelings that I had. I went out and bought a book with the meaning of names. [Please understand that names are of great importance to Jewish people throughout our history]. You wouldn't believe the job the devil did on me about this! Finally, I looked up the meaning of my name. It's from the English language with the inherent meaning, "Clear Pool," and a spiritual connotation of "Holy." The Scripture associated with it is PR 9: 10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." As with every other believer, I have been given the command, "Be holy, because I am holy" [LV 11: 44-45; LV 19: 2; 1 PET 1: 16]. I don't share this story in any way to brag about anyone, except for God. To Him belongs the glory for all that is good [PS 115: 1]. Instead, it is a demonstration of how we can be tempted and tormented by the devil, if we allow him to do this. Praise to God, we are given, through Christ, the same power that the Father used to raise His Son from death to life and seat Him at His own right side in heaven. That power that we are given as believers is to do spiritual warfare to victory, in the name of Jesus Christ! [EPH 1: 18-20] The moral of this story is watch for the devil's work, recognize it for what it is, and don't give in to the evil one when tempted to do so. We have been given the power over the adversary, for "the Spirit in us is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world" [1 JN 4:4].
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn