2007-06-08
Good Morning Dear Ones,
For the sake of context, let me repeat the passage from Christ's Sermon on the Mount that is the foundation for today's message. 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. So if the light in you is darkness, how terribly dark it will be!" The first sentence in this passage leads us to the subject of dealing with temptation. The latter is always in our lives as long as we are on earth, because that is the devil's playground. What a lot of people don't realize is that with strong faith in Jesus Christ, we have been given what we need to be stronger than the devil, beating him at his game of temptation with the same power that God used to raise Christ from death to eternal life [EPH 1: 18-20]. So the real issue here is for us as believers to be convinced that we have that power and for us to have the courage to use it. Another issue arises too. When a non-believer [who is a potential believer] sees the power Christ gives believers to fend off the evil one, the Holy Spirit may cause them to come to faith. Think about it. That's a pressing reason to battle in spiritual warfare with confidence that God will bring one through it.
We should be alert to what the adversary does. Peter weighs in on this issue. 1 PET 5: 8-9, "Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings." And so does James. JAS 4: 5-7, "Do not think that there is no truth in the Scriptures [GN 3: 6; RO 7:15] that say, 'The spirit that God placed in us is filled with fierce desires.' But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the Scriptures [PR 3: 34; 1 PET 5: 5] say, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you" [MT 4: 11]. This message wouldn't be effective if I neglected to mention the example our Lord gave us while He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness [MT 4: 1-11]. When we read that account, we see Christ using real Scripture, mostly from the book of Deuteronomy, as one of his "spiritual weapons." The evil one tries to do that too, but He is no match for the Lord Jesus. Paul reminds us in GA 5: 17 that what the outer fleshly self [under the influence of the devil] wants is opposite to what the inner Spiritual self wants [which is led by God]. There is nothing simplistic in this kind of thinking. Instead, it is a truth that the Father wants us to face. He wants us to battle the devil's activity in temptation, as a normal test of our faith and as a "honing and perfecting" of our faith in preparation for one day returning to Him for a blissful eternity in heaven.
The eyes can be a path for seduction, and the devil knows this. He is cunning enough that he can find where we are vulnerable and attack that place. This is why Christ says, "The eyes are a lamp for the body." He wants us to think about this as it relates to our individual lives. Different people are tempted by different things the devil puts before us. For example, I'm not the least bit tempted to drink much alcohol, but I am severely tempted to overeat good food. This is why I've spent a large part of my own life contending with this temptation. To make matters worse, I worked in restaurant kitchens to put myself through university. And yes, I ate like crazy. It was one of reasons that I stopped decorating wedding cakes. I couldn't resist the temptation to try all that fatty icing. On the other hand, I have known people who battled the addiction to alcohol and drugs and still have to do this for the rest of their lives. Today, I must call myself a "recovering overeater," for that is the truth of what I am. God is teaching me how to make Him my First Priority and not food. However, it does tickle me to know that we will have food after our own resurrection. How do I know this? Remember the story of the resurrected Christ calling to the disciples to cast their nets on the other side of their boats to catch fish in JN 21: 4-6? I was ready to stand up and cheer when I read about Peter's vision in AC 10: 11-15, where a voice [I'm guessing it was the Father's] said, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean" three times. I was raised as a traditional Jew and was 25 years old before I ever tasted bacon, ham, or any kind of seafood. Now, as a Messianic Jew, I can enjoy eating those things, as long as I do so in moderation. My own example is used here, so that I won't betray any confidences shared with me by others. What is the lesson in all of this? It goes back to God's will that each of us should examine our own lives for the temptations that are in them. Then, using the Scriptures as our guide, we should have the discernment to see what is the devil's work in temptation and find a way to do battle with him- to the victory we can each can have in the name of Jesus Christ. Remember that Eve's downfall was that she focused her attention on the tree of knowledge of good and evil and on Satan's lies, especially the one that we can be like God. She should have focused, instead, on God [GN 2: 9b, 16-17; GN 3: 1-6]. Praise be to God and His Son, Jesus Christ! Christ's death on the cross, our Father's greatest sacrifice, gave believers the freedom to choose not to give in to temptation or any other sin.
PRAYER: O Lord, we are so very imperfect. Paul's description of the conflict that goes on between our outer fleshly selves and our inner spiritual selves is so accurate in RO 7: 15-18 "I do not understand what I do; for I do not do what I would like to do, but instead, I do what I hate. Since what I do is what I do not want to do, this shows that I agree that the Law is right. So I am not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me. I know that good does not live in me-that is in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it." Left in this state of confusion and conflict, we would feel hopelessness-the kind that non-believers in Christ feel. But You love us too much to allow such a tragedy to happen. When we are faithful and seek You out, You are there to help us [PS 46: 1]. The greatest help we have ever had was the death of Your Son on the cross for us. This was a death that would lead to Him atoning for our sins and would open the door to peace and salvation for us [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. Paul continues, in RO 7: 24-25a, "What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? Thanks be to God, Who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ!" You told us in GN 4: 7 how to handle temptation, when You were speaking to Cain, who had just slain his brother, Abel. "If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door." We all know the story of how Joseph resisted the lure into sexual immorality that Potiphar's wife presented to him, GN 39: 6-10. This story tells us that with faith in You and a willingness to allow Your leadership in our lives, we really can overcome the desires of the flesh. You have demonstrated our personal responsibility in temptation in DT 11: 16. "Do not let yourselves be led away from the Lord to worship and serve other gods." When we take daily time with Your word, You have much to teach us. We worship, adore, thank, and praise You for giving us Your word, prayer, the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and the comfort of knowing You are always there for us if we are willing to seek You. We offer You our utmost reverence and love. In Christ's mighty name, we pray. Amen.
I'm led to write more on how "the eyes are the lamp of the body" in next week's message. It's important for us to mine the richness of the lessons God has for us in the Scriptures, to learn more about how different people deal with temptations. While the devil is cunning, He can't read our minds the way God can. It's a good reason why we shouldn't voice our miseries all the time. That prompts the devil where to attack us. I think the adversary is afraid of our sincere prayers said with an understanding of God's will and a familiarity with His word. It's one of the reasons I pray for my own needs and encourage intercessory prayer so much. Just as Christ used the word of God in His duel with the devil in the wilderness, we should do that same thing in our prayers. 1 JN 4: 4, which I cite often, reminds us that "the Spirit that is in us is more powerful than the spirit in those of the world." We may have to live in the world, but we don't have to be of the world. By God's grace, we have the choice to stop sinning and allow God to take over leadership of our lives. No one said this is easy. When I'm physically hungry, I would like to do what I do when I'm spiritually hungry. In the latter case, I spend hours researching just the right Scriptures to help me through a situation. Sadly, I can't do that with food, because if I did I would put back all the 55 lbs. I've gone to so much trouble to lose. So, now when I'm in the kitchen, I'm making low calorie recipes that are tasty, in my quest to satiate my enormous appetite. Each of us can do that same thing in response to whatever tempts us. Praise be to the Lord Jesus!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn