FROM PASTOR JOHN COLLINS:
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| Take note of how you think of GOD and Jesus. Don't be lazy in your faith. Pastor John Collins |
"And the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’”
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
And Jesus answered and 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 he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” Luke 4:3-12 (NKJV).
These are the temptations that Jesus was tempted
with. It is interesting to take note of
the temptations and
the responses that Jesus gave. Satan tempted
with scripture. The devil did to Jesus what
he had done to Eve which
is to twist things to his benefit and lure. Jesus responded
with scripture as
well and that is what I would like for you to take note of. There were three temptations and three
responses.
Since Jesus had not eaten in
40 days, he was very hungry. Satan said to turn the stones to bread, which
brought the response that man shall not live by bread alone but
by every word of God. This was a temptation for
the body’s natural desires. Hunger, shelter, passion, love, and
all of our base desires should never be given into when it compromises our relationship with God. We need
to trust that when we put God
first, He will provide what we need, maybe not what we want but what we need.
Satan then offered Jesus authority
and power over the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would worship Satan. Jesus responded by rebuking Satan and reminding him that only God is to he worshiped and served. We should
never desire power and status. We need to be careful of what is offered to us
and at what cost. That big promotion, the company car, the stock tip, the
client who is not so honest but will bring big bucks and you can fill in the
blanks on the possible exchange of status and your soul. We must make sure that
any advancement that we are given in life comes along side our worship of God.
We must put our faith first because when we choose to give
in to the desires of moving up in this world without God, we are choosing to
place our material wants along with our craving authority in our own right
above our desire for God and Jesus.
Satan then tells Jesus from the top of the temple to throw
Himself down and trust that the angels will catch Him. Jesus responds with the
truth that you shall not tempt God. Oh, this is a doozy. So many of us are
guilty of this. I believe that the apathy that society has for God has led to
more and more tempting of Him. People just don’t fear God anymore. People say
things out loud that are tempting God and they do things that are tempting Him
as well. We need to be aware of our words and our actions, that they do not tempt
God, especially His wrath because of unbelief or doubt. Every idle word will be
accounted for.
Take note of how you think of God and Jesus. Take seriously
your faith. Don’t take for granted your time here on earth and most
importantly, get your priorities straight. Get on your knees and pray with
sincerity. Take the time to become a disciple of Christ. Don’t assume anything
because you never want to get lazy in your faith.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV).
