Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
(Matthew 4:1 NASB)

Many do not understand what it really meant for Christ to belittle Himself and be born of human flesh and walk the dusty land for 33 years before Glorifying the Father with His victory over the devil at Calvary. Many forget that He didn’t come down to just hang with us and teach us of the ways of God, but to complete the Law and be the Perfect offering for our sins. In order to do this, He had to live as we live. To obey the Law means there must be choices laid before you; right and wrong choices.

Those choices where laid before Jesus when He was lead to the wilderness by the Spirit. There he met with Satan who tempted Him with many things and there, as He is our Perfect offering, succeeded in choosing the right choice and did not fall into temptation.

But the above verse leads one to ask, “Does God lead us to sin?” This is a question that has plagued me all my Christian life and while I know the answer, the devil still tries to use it to break my walk down. Note the verse states that the Spirit lead Jesus to the wilderness, not into sin. Further, we know by Jesus’ words Himself that the Father’s will is not to lead us into sin but to have victory over it. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, remember He said:

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.] (Matthew 6:13 NASB)

You can break the Greek down and see that it’s not a choice kind of saying but a directive. God will not lead us into sin, but deliver us from it. Now it’s not to say that what temptation we may fall into won’t effect us at all. No, we are not robots, as many non-believers may say we are. We have choice. We can choose to obey God’s Word and turn from the temptation as Christ did every time or we can choose to feed our flesh and sin. That is our choice.

So are we doomed before we start when it comes to temptation? I mean, we’re not Jesus; we’re not God himself, so how can we survive temptation? Well the great news is that no temptation before us is too great that we can not handle. I know this sounds impossible in thinking of what lays out there before us, but in hindsight, think of all the temptations you did succumb to and ask yourself, ‘How did I feel after that?’ If you’re a true believer of Jesus, you felt like crud. In the end, you know it wasn’t worth it and thus the temptation wasn’t satisfying enough to be too great for you to have walked away from. I know that probably sounds tweaky, so I’ll let the master say it Himself through Paul’s pen:

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
(1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB)

No temptation, none, can over take us! Further, we’re only going to have sin that is common to man, nothing out of the ordinary like Christ had. So we are not only not lead into temptation by God but we are given a way out from it by God! What an encouragement. I know this verse has helped me many times in time of temptation and I hope that you can hide it in your heart so that it to will help you in your time of need.

You often see them on peoples bodies or their cars or their binders at school. You know, the “Life is…” line where a favorite sport is inserted for the place of the noun. I’ve seen “Life is Hockey”, “Life is Soccer” and “Life is Football” to name a few. In my reading this morning, I came across Colossians 3:4. Just one little bit of it and it made me think. What really is a Christian? Well, Colossians says:

When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
(Colossians 3:4 NASB)

See, Christ, who is our life, is what a Christian is. Christ is our life. Or that’s what He should be, really. Everything in our life should be about Christ. Like those shirts we see, which express the persons infatuation, does our life show Christ? Do we live for Christ to the point that our life is Christ? Do people look at us and see on our heart, “Life is Christ”?

In the end, that’s what we need to be projecting. If someone says those dreaded words, “They’re just like me, but they’re Christian,” then life isn’t Christ for you. If you continue to stumble through a sin and you say to yourself all is well because you know you’re saved, is your life really Christ? If you prefer other things over, like, reading the Bible, is your life Christ? I don’t make these points to wail my plank eye to you, but only to give examples, some of which I have walked in.

I encourage you to wear a new shirt today and never take it off. Don’t worry about cleaning it, Christ already has.

Thanx to Brian for this great story about God and the suffering in this world. Thanx, dude!

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects.

“Exactly!”- affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don’t go to Him and do not look for Him. That’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world.”

While demon possession is no laughing matter, a two month course in how to rid a person of one is. I can understand the Catholic Church teaching the need to identify a person who is truly possessed as opposed to someone who has a mental illness (though that is a separate topic for later discussion) but to make it two months and to infer that you need special training is a bit comical. The Bible is full of exorcisms and it’s done in one second. There’s no special possessions, no fancy wand, not even a long winded speech. Nope, plain and simple, “In the name of Jesus Christ, be gone!” Paul did it, John and Peter did it and of course, Jesus did it. “But they were all apostles,” you say or even, “It was God Himself!” True, but the apostles where just mere men like we are. They simply walked with Jesus (save Paul) and saw Him resurrected. That is the only difference from them and us. Remember, Paul said he was the chief of sinners and Jesus even said blessed are those who have not seen Him after Thomas put his fingers into Christ’s hand. But if further proof is what you need, then I give you this verse:

John said to Him [Jesus] , “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” (Mark 9:38 NASB)

Note how John was distressed that a mere man who was not of the twelve man group was ridding people of demons. A simple man! I encourage you to read Christ’s response via the link above, but the jest of this verse is that even you can do this. You don’t need a two month course in this. You don’t need to knighted. You don’t need to be kissed on the head by the Pope. No, you simply need faith in Jesus and command the demon in HIS name to come out of the body. That’s it. Piece of cake, no? But if you feel more qualified to do this via a two month class, drop me a note and I’ll teach you for half of the price.

No, it’s not a Vanilla Ice album, but a demonstration that God can take us from one side to another in our life. It also shows that He can make us rich, use the rich, and bless the rich. So many believe rich people can’t be Christian’s, but if our will is His will, then money has nothing to do with our salvation.

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
(Philippians 4:12 NASB)

Here’s an excellent devo by Hoekstra I had to pass along to you this morning.

This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you . . . knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (Luk_22:20 and 1Pe_1:18-19)

The well-known Lord’s Supper words from Luk_22:20 remind us that the glorious riches of grace found in the new covenant are all purchased by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, as He died on the cross for us. “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” Customarily, believers in Christ think of forgiveness of sins when they hear these words. Forgiveness is certainly included in the blessings secured by the death of our Lord. Notice, however, that Jesus did not say “this cup is forgiveness in My blood.” He said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.” Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a very encouraging e-mail I got from Steve Maxwell’s mailing list. I suffer from this problem and figure others may, too. Man, I really need to step up to the plate on this one….

I couldn’t give an accurate count of the number of men, through the years, who have blamed their jobs for their not being able to have a daily time in Bible reading and prayer before work. They would say had to be to work early, stay late, or both. They had to travel, or the job took all of their mental and emotional focus. There was always some “valid” reason why they didn’t have time for their own personal Bible reading and prayer time.

It seemed like the same story was given when it came to not having time for family Bible reading and prayer in the evenings. Dad’s job seemed to be the primary “good” reason for him not leading his family in Bible reading and prayer. There appears to be a Biblical example for these types of statements.

In Genesis 3:12, when Adam was confronted with a wrong choice he said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” Here, the one God had given Adam to care for and protect, is the one on which Adam is blaming his bad decision. A job, which is not much more than a vehicle to provide for the physical needs of the family, becomes the reason why the spiritual needs of the family aren’t being met. Read the rest of this entry »

This morning I read a really great devo and thought I’d share it with you. The closing two paragraphs alone are amazing if you really think about what you’re reading.

The LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant . . . For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ . . . This cup is the new covenant in My blood. (Deu 9:11; Joh 1:17; and Luk 22:20)
In our meditations upon law and grace, we have also been considering (though not yet mentioning) the principal characteristics of the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. When the Lord wrote the message of His law upon stone tablets for Moses, He was prescribing the terms of the Old Covenant. “The LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.” When Jesus came into the world to die on the cross, the Lord was establishing a New Covenant. “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.”
These two covenants of law and grace present one of the major contrasting themes in the word of God. “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ…” Understanding the differences between these two covenants is of utmost importance for living the Christian life as God intends.

God’s law tells us that He desires holiness to characterize the way we live. Only God’s grace can provide such righteousness in our lives. God’s law tells us that He wants Christlike love to permeate our attitudes and relationships. Only God’s grace can develop such love in us. God’s law tells us that He desires the perfections of the Father to be growing in us. Only God’s grace is sufficient to carry out such a process of transformation.

The law of God is the what; the grace of God is the how. The law of God reveals sin; the grace of God forgives sin. The law of God indicates man’s problem; the grace of God provides God’s remedy. The law of God demands performance by man; the grace of God offers provision from God.

The law of God is the standard; the grace of God is the means. The law of God is the spiritual measuring rod that evaluates lives; the grace of God is the nurturing resource that produces spiritual life. The law of God tells us of the character of God; the grace of God reproduces that character in us. The law of God is the effect God wants to see; the grace of God is the cause that brings forth that effect.

I usually don’t blog about my business since it’s burned me once before bad. From time to time, I will post something, but I try to be very generally as I can. Well today I got a call that I had to blog about it.

I get a call stating the client couldn’t connect to their QuickBooks from another computer. I asked a few questions and told them I’d be there at a specific time. Based on what I was told I figured either their patch cord was bad or the NIC went out. Easy fix and I grabbed one of each on the way out the door. When I got there, I quickly noticed the place was getting remodeled. Heavy work was being done downstairs. I was shown the computer and immediately replaced the patch cord with mine. Nothing. I put their cable back and then asked where the hub was. The client took me downstairs to phone switch and there lay the switch. No light on it’s port. I swapped the cable from the switch and patch box. Nothing. I went back up to the computer and installed my USB NIC and tried with my cable plugged into and I got a power light but no connection light. Ok, had to be either the patch box upstairs or the one downstairs or the thing in-between them. That would be over four hundred feet of cable!

So here was my problem. No matter which one of those issues it was, I was unprepared for it. Read the rest of this entry »

With the slew of ants in our kitchen this morning, it started me on the wrong path. It was a test. A test I failed.

Before I became a Christian, I had a real anger problem. I was known to punch holes into the wall for trivial reasons and beat in-animate things to oblivion. Weak, I know. But as the Lord changed me, my anger has really come down to near inexistent in comparison to before. But I still have issues. I’m not completely ridden of this sin.

“Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-it leads only to evil.” Psalm 37:8 (New International Version)

Yes, so true is the mighty Word of God. I got all upset about the ants and the need to clean them up that it just started my bath of boiling. I went to get the wet-dry vacuum and there was no suction power. “Crud!” I screamed. Then I went to get the Kirby and the hose utilities. Piled deep within the walking closet. Bitterly, I grabbed things and tossed them to the side to get to the accessories. One of those items was Katelyn’s rocking dog and when it landed, the base rocking arch busted. No more rocking.

What a dunce! I let my anger get to me. I broke my child’s toy. While it knocked me out of my visions of red, I quickly fell back into it when I continued my dig. I hit my head on the shallow ceiling and couldn’t find the hose attachment. Man, I was yelling and screaming. The kids viewing and ingesting the entire sorry episode. Read the rest of this entry »