Good day dear friends. I hear the rain coming down on a cool Monday in San Marcos. I love rain except when I have to travel and so I ask your prayers for Pastor Rob, Paul Mayhew, Erwin Janek, and myself as we board a plane in a few hours to head to Chicago for a conference on church stewardship. Pray the Lord bless us with knowledge and arms us with that which we need to bring back.
Yesterday our sermon was on "Why Did God Make Me?" and we wrestled with the reality about purpose and meaning and how the suicide rate among older adults is almost twice that of adolescents. We as US citizen find meaning and purpose in what we do rather than who we are. Our kids go through the phase of finding meaning in what they have, including friends, rather than in what they will someday be for the sake of God.
We stressed that made us in love, created us to have a relationship with us, and for us to serve Him. Once we discover these simple truths we're on our way to finding fulfillment and happiness for our lives.
For today here is our study guide as we seek to get deeper in the Word:
Monday: Read Luke 4:1-13. In this passage Jesus addresses several issues about purpose and life. Jesus was, in a way, considering his own life and mission in life. He began his ministry by this period of prayer and fasting. His answers to the devil as the devil tempts Jesus address this: God provides, Purpose comes through worship of God, and trust, don’t test God! Where are you in your life’s faith journey? Are you aware of the provisions God has shared with you? Are you worshiping God 24/7 or Just 60/1? And does your walk reflect a trust or a test of God?
Here is that text in the New International Version (NIV):
Luke 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone.'{[4] Deut. 8:3}" 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours." 8 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'{[8] Deut. 6:13}" 9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: "`He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'{[11] Psalm 91:11,12}" 12 Jesus answered, "It says: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'{[12] Deut. 6:16}" 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
One of the ways we can discover God's purpose for our lives is to be in a spiritual frame of mind. Jesus knew this and allowed the Holy Spirit to lead him to a place where he could pray and fast. For forty days Jesus was in the wildnerness in that paradise relationship between himself and His Father to discover all that God wanted from him. It was after his preparation that the devil came to pay a visit. Notice how the devil hit all the key ares of one's life. He begins on the physical plane: After forty days of not eating, one is a mite hungry! What the devil is really saying, "If you really have all that power, and I know you do, turn these stones that look like bread to begin with, into real bread and eat to your heart's content!" Jesus responds with His Father's word, "Man does not live by bread alone." The reference was to an Old Testament passage on the people of God being reminded that God provided for them during the forty years in the wilderness and that most of the provision in the wilderness was spiritual to show that we need both, the physical and the spiritual.
The next area of texting was to test his loyalty. If you worship me I will give you all the kingdoms of the world, the devil says. What he was really tempting Jesus about was his loyalty. How loyal are you to God? And what has that gotten you so far? Forty days in this heat with nothing to eat? Solitude in this god-forsaken area? If you switch your loyalty to me, see what you can get! Jesus replied with the Good Answer: "Worship the Lord your God and serve him only."
The last area was of trust and faith. How much do you trust God? Are you sure you can trust a God who might not answer you immediately? Throw yourself down from here and you'll see angels come to your rescue immediately! Don't you trust God that much? Isn't your faith that strong? And you have to notice that the devil used the scripture to tempt Jesus, as some might just as easily do for us. I once saw, when at Perkins at SMU, Madelyn Murray O'Hare debate the chaplain of Bourbon Street, Bob Harrington, who upon meeting her presented her with a red Bible and the quip, "Because all Bibles should be read!" I was amazed at how much she knew about the Bible, probably more than most ministers and lay folk who haven't taken Disciple Bible! She knew her Bible to counter what we as Christians believe. We should know our Bible to rest upon what we should believe. Jesus knows the Word and was Himself the Word and he answers: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."
His answers to the devil as the devil tempts Jesus address this: God provides, Purpose comes through worship of God, and trust, don’t test God!
Where are you in your life’s faith journey? Are you aware of the provisions God has shared with you? Are you worshiping God 24/7 or Just 60/1?
And does your walk reflect a trust or a test of God?
PRAYER: Gracious God of love and purpose, speak to us right now with loving words about our lives. Let us be open to what You might share. We pray especially for those who might not yet know for what they were created. We pray that You might reveal the need for a deeper relationship with You, so that in being in a paradise relationship with you we might find meaning for our lives. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a blessed day!
e.v.
