Tag: Bible

A Ride With The Devil

Matthew 4

Have you ever wondered, why Jesus willingly tagged along with the “tempter”, after He had fasted 40 days, and was hungry? We are taught in James 4:7 to submit ourselves to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from us. Rather than resist the devil, Jesus allowed the devil to take Him along on a short journey, with hopes of tempting Him to disobey the will of God, His Father.

Jesus has always been submitted to God, so why would He freely tag along with the very one who caused man to sin in the beginning? Contrary to worldly belief, the enemy has absolutely no power to stand against the Son of God. In fact, satan has already been condemned to the pit of hell, then eventually will spend his eternity in the lake that burns with fire. I have come to believe, Jesus allowed the devil to tempt Him, in order to show the children of God how to handle themselves whenever their seasons of tempting comes. The most effective way to stand against any attack of the enemy is, utilize the word of God as your countermeasure. Every situation satan presented to Jesus, He used God’s word to shut down his wicked motives and intentions.

The body of believers will most certainly be tempted during their lifetime, but using the word of God when faced with difficult times, will prove effective to counter anything that’s intended to sway them from the truth.

Love And Kindness

Ephesians 4:32-5:2

Do you have to always be kind to mean people? Are you to consistently show love to those who hate you? Does “turning the other cheek” offer any real benefits? Well, to those who are in Christ Jesus, these behaviors are the norm. In addition, claiming to be a child of God comes with an expected way of living. When worldly folk encounter compromising situations, it’s common for them to behave unseemly. On the contrary, when a child of God is met with a challenging circumstance, they are expected to be “Christ-like” in their approach. It’s never easy doing good to those who intentionally mean to do you harm, but when a man or woman has the right Spirit, they’ll be able to maintain godly character in any situation or circumstance.

“Be kind, you can’t rewind time”.

-Ell

After The Fact

Proverbs 3:5-6

After we’ve made the mistake, then we wish we could have… would have done things differently. Hindsight really is 20/20, because we always see things more clear, after we’ve messed up. Why does it seem so difficult to make the right decision initially, in order to avoid harboring a guilty conscience? Oftentimes, we fall into temptation and error because we temporarily take our focus off pleasing God, in place of satisfying a selfish desire. On the contrary, when we acknowledge God in all our ways, or consult His opinion before making any decision, we will usually choose doing right, over wrong.

Amiss

James 4:3

Thank you Father, for your word (that I don’t read).
Thank you Father, for your grace (that I don’t appreciate).
Thank you Father, for your power (that I don’t acknowledge).
Thank you Father, for your mercy (that I don’t recognize).
Thank you Father, for your love (that I take for granted).

Oftentimes, we go through life, acting as if God owes us something. We pray just for the sake of doing it, live how we want, do whatever we want, and fail to acknowledge all the good God does for us. God gave us His word, yet we rarely study it. We are daily loaded with grace and mercy, but we fail to appreciate it. The power of the almighty God can be seen all over the world, yet we place our confidence in frail men. God is love, and He allowed His love to take on the sins of all mankind, yet men ignorantly take Him for granted. When we pray, be sure our words align with our actions. When we spew vain words to God, we pray amiss, and the Father does not hear us. Let your life and your words always be pleasing to God, so when you pray, He will hear you, and He will answer you.

Wisdom Beyond This Point!

Proverbs 4:7

How did you arrive at your point of suffering? Were your hard times the cause of someone else’s doing, or do you spend your days in regret, contemplating on the choices you should not have made? While many today endure troublesome times, some suffer more, from the works of their own hands. Life will inevitability bring us into difficult seasons, but let’s not assist in making our days unnecessarily harder, by making the wrong choices. Let’s learn to use wisdom in all our doings, in order to avoid senseless suffering.