The Temptation of Christ

Matthew 4:1-11, Psalm 91:1-12

Imagine the Son of God, working alone in a carpenter's shop in Nazareth..Jesus worked in this shop until he was 30 and then there came a day when the Lord Jesus left the carpenter shop, when he told his mother it was time for him to leave. There came a day when the public ministry of Jesus Christ began. On that day Jesus set out on a path set by God, a path for his life and that path would lead him to a tortured crucifixion even though he would never commit a single sin. That path would take him on a destiny that was planned by him and for him before the world was even made. The mission upon which eternal life or everlasting torment for the human soul depends. 

Jesus would live 3 more short years and accomplish a goal that would make him the Saviour of a countless multitude who will gather around the throne of glory in heaven. But also a mission that would make him the object of scorn, derision and hatred from the world. Nothing is more important than the life and death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is his life, beginning at these 3 years and the things he did and how he suffered and died, and his present intercession that sorts out the sheep from the goats. That is what sorts out the children of God from the children of the Devil. This whole purpose of Christ from his baptism by John and when the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, when God spoke audibly from the glory and said Matthew 3:17 ..."this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased". And then Jesus was led into the Judain wilderness to be tempted of the devil, the temptation of Christ. Let us consider the passages concerning the temptation: Matthew 4:1-2 "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered."

Job's Faith: Why So Strong?

This is a continuation of yesterday's post regarding Job, and why bad things happen to the child of God.

Job's Faith, Why So Strong

Job 2, Job 13:15, Job 19:21-26

Job was a spiritual man, a family man, a burdened man for his family, but the book of Job teaches us that there is another  unseen world, a spirit world.  A prime plane of God and angels which Satan has access to.  What happens in that spirit world affects what happens in the physical world, the two are not separate but intertwined and they affect one another.  In this spiritual world Satan gets permission from God to unleash misery and trouble upon Job's life and Job suffered terribly.  Job reacted in sadness but he worshipped God even in this terrible tragedy. Job 1:20-22 "Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."   He confesses that the LORD has a right to take away that which he has given, and he was going to love God anyway, even if God did not bless him.   The teaching is this, Job's faith overcame the troubles and woes that he was going through in his life because Job's faith was in God himself.  It was not dependant upon material blessings so therefore the material blessings could all be removed but Job's faith in God remained untouched.  Job did very well.  He lost his wealth, he lost all his children but he still kept his faith, but it wasn't over yet.

Why Do Bad Things Happen to the World and to the Child of God?

This post is further to yesterday's post entitled "Downhearted but why, and then an answer.  Lately I have read quite a few posts at Wordpress asking the question If God is a God of love, why does he allow bad things to happen?  I believe that these notes from the sermon by Paul Dowling provide the answer, why bad things happen to those in the world, and to the child of God.

Why do Bad Things Happen?

Job 1:1-12 

At some time in their life everyone has wondered,  "why do bad things happen to good people?"  Why was the missionary Amy Carmichael, who was doing her best to obey God, who did so much good work for the Lord, why was she confined to her bed in agony for the last 20 years of her life?  Why do bad things happen to good people.   Why is there so much suffering?

Some people in this world take the question further and they say "if God is the God of love why all the human misery".  Why..  For anyone who would ask that question, it is quite easy to answer although most people who ask that question do not want to know the answer.   If God is a God of love, the word if,  that is a sign of doubt and unbelief.  There is no doubt about it, the bible says that God is love, there is no "if" about it.  If there is doubt, there is no belief in the first place.  We need to remember that God is not a God of love only, love is not his only attribute. There is more to God than 1 John 4.

If you know your bibles you do know that God did not create the world the way it is now. Genesis 1:31 "And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good...."  The world is the way it is now with all its suffering and misery because of human free will.  In the garden of Eden, when there was free will that was not under bondage to sin,  Eve first, and then her husband Adam, used that free will to believe the serpent's lie and be disobedient to God's command and that is how sin entered into this world..  That caused the fall,  but God did not create the world the way it is now.  

Why are there starving people in the world?  Is it God's fault? No it's not, there are starving people in the world because of human greed.  There is more than enough food in this world to feed everybody but the problem is not in the amount of food.  Some countries are hoarding food and won't give it to those who are starving.  The problem is human greed.  It's not God's problem, it is human caused problem.

Why all the wars? That is easily answered because humans fight.  Why so much murder and killing? It's because of human aggression, this goes back to Cain murdering his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8 "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.").   It's human's fault, not Gods.  Why do so many humans die from simply cured illnesses in the poorer countries of this world. Why do thousands of poor people die? It's because they can't have operations because there are no surgeons but we can have cosmetic surgery to improve our looks. That is how arrogant many people are in the western world, so don't blame God.

Why do triple heart by-pass patients have to wait such a long time for their operation which is life-threatening, but if you pay some money you can have the surgery in a matter of weeks? Because money talks louder than human need.  You can blame God but most of the human suffering in this world is caused by human greed.  So put the blame where it belongs.

If you don't believe in God how can you blame God?   A far more important and honest question is in the bible, in the book of Job.  That is, why do God's people sometimes suffer for no apparent reason.  

Looking Unto Jesus

Looking Unto Jesus

Do you ever have this thought come into your mind - "You are not REALLY saved" or do you ever do something that you know you should not do, but you give in to the flesh and speak a word, or do an action that you know grieves the Spirit within?  Do you ever, at that time, feel very away from our heavenly Father?

Brother or sister, those are attacks of the evil one..the one who tempts you where he knows you are weakest.. the one who urges you to not be an overcomer, but to give in to his temptation.

  Looking Unto Jesus - from Morning Devotions by C.H. Spurgeon

It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within.

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all." Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus." Keep thine eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail thee.

(added)

Hebrews 1-2 "........let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.