Days to come

[rl69]

I wrote this for the folks around me but I think all can use it

A lot of good work is going on out there and as I was thinking about it the lord laid on my heart a warning

Matthew 3
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

We see in verse four Just as soon as this happened the spirit led him to the wilderness to be tested

Matthew 4
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”



It seams after a great victory the first thing that happens is satin moves in. After God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites stopped,the first thing they did was build a idol. David,he got lazy. In the days to come we need to guard ourselves against this fate. There is a old saying those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

So how do we protect ourselves? We can look to verse ten to see how and verse eleven to see the results of our faith



Matthew 4 :10-11

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.



So now more then ever we need to have our noses stuck in the word. For how can we use the word to protect us if we don't know it?

[Traffer]

Let me relate a story that happened to me. I was part of a very fast growing fundamentalist Church in Boston MA. My friends respected my Bible knowledge. One day a friend asked me to meet a friend of his that was interested in meeting me and discussing the Bible. It turned out that he was self educated from a Gideons Bible. He was a guy with several developed disciplines. One of which was a (don't know the exact name for it) thing like differing degrees of judo or karate but he was into swords. He would put on displays with two Asian Swords. He was a kind of guru of Chinese medicine and had a following of people similar to those who have followers in yoga. Interesting dude. Anyway, he wanted to interview me because he was wanting to build a whole mind-spirit health retreat type place and wanted me to be part of it. I didn't know this at the time, I just went because of the opportunity to teach God's word. Our first meeting was cordial and interesting but spiritually strange. I came home and prayed about not being able to get to a mutual viewpoint of the Bible. I prayed that God would have "Steve" tell me himself why we were not able to get on the same page so to speak. A few days later we got together again. During the visit, I told him that I didn't quite see what he meant about some of the things he was trying to relate to me. He said these exact words twice during the conversation, "I am not trying to understand the Bible, I am trying to overstand the Bible". I had never heard such an expression and wondered about it. The next day, someone had left a very good dictionary on the coffee table in the living room. (I lived with Christian room mates...not married) I just kind of opened it up and looked at it. With no real reason or desire to look up a word. My eyes fell upon the word "superstition". The etymology of this word was listed as this: Coming from Latin. 'Super'- meaning "above" or "over", and 'stare'-"to stand". So the literal translation of the word superstition was to "overstand". The exact word that Steve used to describe what he was trying to gain with the Bible. So, I prayed about it and pondered these things. Some of the thoughts that came to mind were: perhaps the word superstition has come to mean what it does from the practice of witchcraft. Where people gain power as they learn more spells and more dark meanings. They learn their things so they can wield them, or to add them to their power. It is like subjugating the knowledge to oneself for ones own power. Steve was trying to do this with the Bible. Conversely I have always sought to submit myself to the Word of God. Or to Under-Stand. Stand under its authority. And as I pondered this, applying it to reason I thought this is exactly what Jesus did. He submitted himself to the authority of God's word to the point of becoming the word made flesh. Quite a revealing study! Since then I can see that some people who truly fear God, revere his word in this way... by submitting to it's authority. I see many people who try to find the "secrets" or "mechanisms" of the Bible so they can use the Bible to make them better people or to find peace or some other self working
exercise. This study has helped me clarify the role of the Bible in our lives. I hope this is an encouragement.

[Boaz]

Ronnie you are right . Satan looks for opportunity when we are most susceptible .

[Pine Baron]

Think on this a minute. "Desperate people do desperate things."

[claude]

So now more then ever we need to have our noses stuck in the word. For how can we use the word to protect us if we don't know it?

Let me paraphrase that,

"We must spend every day in the WORD, for how can we use the WORD to protect us if we don't know HIM?"

Why do I say it as such? Because Jesus IS the living WORD.

Psa 40:7-8 KJV Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, (8) I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Heb 10:7 KJV Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

So yes indeed Ronnie, sound advice, and well worth heeding!! I could take this subject and run with it, but I have no desire to pull the spotlight off the original thought, well said sir.

[buckwheatpaul]

It is hard to not take God for granted. He is always with us, yet we feel that we can do it ourselves. As we mature I believe that most of us learn to lean more on God and quite trying to go it alone. Ronnie, Thanks for the lesson. Paul

[Hogtamer]

Good for your discerning spirit Traffer. You highlight the thing that has been the chief stumbling block in my walk with God.....the dreaded "S" word, submit! James didn't mince words in chapter 4 and submission to God and humility are still not my first reactions oftentimes....to my shame. I must ask forgiveness daily.

[USMC87]

Thanks for the reminder.

[Blackwater]

It is hard to not take God for granted. He is always with us, yet we feel that we can do it ourselves. As we mature I believe that most of us learn to lean more on God and quite trying to go it alone. Ronnie, Thanks for the lesson. Paul

Indeed it IS, Paul! God created us with an ability to think, but ONLY with regard to one, or maybe occasionally two focuses at a time. It's when our focus takes us beyond our faith that we really get in trouble. But even when we focus on something to the exclusion of our faith, we can NEVER forget what's "right and wrong," and what feels one way or the other for us. That's truly our saving grace, if we'll simply allow ourselves to use it.

We are simple creatures, and though we can think, we are still easily led astray, when Satan can bring our focus onto things and ideas that do NOT match up well with our faith. It's said that "eternal vigilance is the price of freedom." In a like manner, eternal dedication is the way to escape sin most effectively and consistently. And a lot of that comes with daily commitments and study.

Christ gave us all the best advice we could ever really want or need. All we have to do is simply learn it, and then follow it. If we do that, we're pretty close to "bulletproof" when it comes to sin. But that doesn't seem to be in many of our natures! Thus comes the "struggle" we face with sin and redemption. Christ gave us the way, and the best advice we could ever possibly have been given. All we have to do is follow it, and we have trouble doing even THAT!!! What a work is man!