Jan 15: Insight Post by Rusty Coram
Weekly Reading: Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-13
Wednesday Reflection
Worship and Obedience to God Alone: Jesus shows that no earthly reward is worth compromising our worship of God.
Wednesday Verse
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 1 John 2:15-16 (NLT)
Wednesday Questions
What things in my life might be tempting me to prioritize something other than worshiping God, such as physical pleasure, worldly achievements, or possessions? How can I ensure that my love for the Father remains above my love for the things of this world?
Wednesday Insight Post
by Rusty Coram
Satan knew what he was doing. If he could somehow get Jesus to be willing to take a shortcut and avoid the pain and misery of His mission, Satan would win. The stereotypes we have of the devil in a red suit, long tail, and pitchfork can cause us to not take him seriously, but we need to be very careful. If he was willing to come after Jesus, then he will certainly come after us – either to prevent us from accepting Jesus or to distract us once we do. “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith.” 1 Peter 5:8–9 (NLT) This admonition is meant to keep us on our toes and aware. As we see in our reading this week, Satan tailor-makes temptations to catch us off guard like tasty cheese in a mouse trap. In Jesus’ case, Satan offered Christ dramatic ways to use His divine power to draw crowds without having to sacrifice Himself. He even cloaks his temptations by misusing the Bible, as we see in Matthew 4:6: “…and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.” The quote is from the Old Testament book of Psalms (91:11) Jesus corrects Satan’s misuse of this promise, saying that God is never to be “used” or tested and quotes Deuteronomy 6:16. Satan had hoped to entice Jesus into acting out of presumption rather than humble, simple trust and obedience. Listen, and you will hear people claim promises from God that are wrenched out of context to satisfy what they want and not put God’s interests in first place.
The way Jesus handles temptation here is a master class (no pun intended…well, maybe a little!) in how we can also deal with Satan when he comes after us. We also need to note that in this situation, the enemy is defeated, but he does not give up: “When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.” Luke 4:13 (NLT) Like Jesus, we don’t need to live in fear of Satan, just be aware and prepared to resist – just like He did!
“So, humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 (NLT)
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor