2012-12-21
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was led to analyze MT 4: 1-11, the Lord’s temptation in the wilderness. We saw how the Lord used the Father’s words in MT 4: 4, which cite DT 8: 3, and the devil responding, MT 4: 6 with PS 91: 11-12 . When the devil used God’s words, they weren’t effective in fulfilling his evil purposes. That tells us that the word of God is only really effective when it is read or spoken by a righteous person. In the end, we see the power of the Father in that He knew exactly how long to allow the devil’s tempting to go on, how much the Son could take, and when to end it. The devil leaves, but as seen in LK 4: 13, the evil one will return to tempt our Lord Jesus again later.
As promised last week, I will begin with JAS 4: 17, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” We must remember that nothing can be hidden from God, so that one’s intent is definitely known by Him. However, there are many times when we find ourselves in trouble, because we don’t realize that something we are doing or some influence we are under is causing us to sin. That tells us that we must know the Scriptures well and have an active prayer life, so that we can avoid situations like that. Apathy in believers is the beginning of a slippery slope that leads to increased sinfulness and can even lead to spiritual death, if sinfulness becomes a lifestyle. Case and point: the direction of the media and Hollywood in today’s society, which influences many people to accept more and more of going against Biblical truth.
This leads to other important questions: Since the Lord’s knowledge and understanding are here for us, written in the Scriptures, have we thought to turn to God first for help when distressed over a loss, disappointment, illness, or other trouble? Is it our habit to pray? I remember praying for His help when big time financial stress became a part of our lives. It took 1 ½ years to sell our former home when the recession hit, and this drained many years of our savings. God came to our aid in the form of a wonderful couple who loaned us the money without interest for the down payment for our present home. We later were able to pay them back. But at the time we had no idea we would ever be able to do that. My own faith was tested and was to be tested again and again after that. It remains, which leads me to believe RO 8: 38-39 with all my heart. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”
As for the Lord Jesus, His ability to relate to our predicament when we are tempted to do evil is real. HE 4: 15, “For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one Who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” Can we imagine Christ’s frustration when in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest, He found His disciples sleeping? All His efforts to rouse them can to naught, even through He knew He needed them to be awake and warn Him when evil approached. His comment, in MK 14: 38, “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak,” is God’s wisdom for us all. The same foresight and wisdom is seen in MK 14: 41b-42, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” [MK 14: 37-42]. We all know that Christ had already known the evil deeds of Judas Iscariot even at the Last Supper. What we see in this scene is not only the weakness of mankind in the face of temptation to sin, but we see the omniscience of the Lord.
After the time of Israel’s punishment from God for her idolatry, punishment which would take the form of her loss of nationhood and dyaspora [scattering of the Jews to other lands], Isaiah prophesied that afterward her enemies would be punished for their injustice - “Their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly. The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken, its witnesses are despised, no one is respected. The land mourns and wastes away, Lebanon (for example) is ashamed and withers…” [IS 33: 7-9a]. Isaiah, in IS 33: 2-5, gives us a prayer we can all pray in the face of temptation and injustice being threatened or done to us. “O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for You. Be our strength every morning, our Salvation in time of distress. At the thunder of Your voice, the peoples flee; when You rise up, the nations scatter. Your plunder, O nations, is harvested as by young locusts, like a swarm of locusts men pounce on it. The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the Sure Foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure.” We should note the language of this prayer, because it rehearses what we should know about God’s sovereign power to do justice and goodness. It reveals for us lesson of obeying Him first by worshipping no other god and by knowing His will through His word and prayer BEFORE apathy and willingness to give in to temptation befalls us. Even if we do begin to go down the slippery slope, we can turn to Him for help, and He loves us enough to give it to us. God tells us, in IS 33: 13, “You who are faraway, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!” God knows the content of our heart-attitudes, because of HE 4: 13, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account.” If we are being righteous in our life choices, then we have nothing to concern us. If we are not, then we must carefully examine our lives and make the changes necessary to mend our covenant relationship with the Lord. Time is of essence!
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne acknowledging Your ultimate power and authority. As sinners, we know we can’t reveal and expunge our sins without Your help. So, we confess that we have sinned against You and are asking for it. For this writer, I confess pride, impatience, and avoiding facing the demons in my life in favor of a faulty peace. We can do nothing without Your help to influence the behavior and practices of our enemies. Our main task is to understand how we are sinning and have the courage and strength to stop it. There are some sins, which are subtle and hard to uncover. These are often the most painful ones to us. We appeal to You, Dearest Abba and to Your Son, Jesus Christ, to help us to have that courage and face the pain of our demons, albeit that they sometimes very subtle. We pray David’s confession now, from PS 51: 1-2, 6, 10-12, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin….Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place…Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” We beseech You for Your help in purifying us from sin and bringing us back to You in Your perfect time. We ask these things in the holy/mighty name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led to continue in this segment of “Our Covenant” which is “When We’re Tempted,” to continue discussing our state of awareness of God’s sovereignty and His power to answer prayer. In the meanwhile, we must be reminded as believers that our time on earth is meant for expunging sins in our lives and getting to know our God better. We must remember COL 3: 9-10, which helps to explain 2 COR 5: 17, “Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” God is working on us to help us to know Him better, since we are created in His image [GN 1: 27]. As for 2 COR 5: 17, if you don’t know it by heart, then reread this miracle. While God is at work helping us to know Him better, we need to continue giving Him opportunities to work on us, by spending daily time with His word and praying to Him for strength and courage, justice and right living. We mustn’t waste a drop of the blood that Christ shed for us! I will end this devotion with two verses that have helped me extraordinarily: PS 146: 5, “But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their Helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God; RO 15: 13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” To God be the glory, honor, thanks and praise!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24:15
© Lynn Johnson 2012. All Rights Reserved.
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