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Here's What I Know......
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“Turning Stones Into Bread”
Our text for Sunday is the story of Jesus being led into the wilderness by the Spirit where he fasted for 40 days and is tempted by the devil. Jesus had just been baptized by John the Baptist, God the Father spoke “this is my son in whom I am well pleased” and the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus and we have a picture of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
>>>>This is the beginning of Jesus’ 3 year ministry. He is led by the Holy Spirit out into the desert where he is tempted to turn stones into bread, jump from the temple, and fall down and worship the Tempter. However, Jesus now understood whose he was and who he was and he responded with the words of God and the Tempter left him defeated.
>>>>As we look at the story regarding these “temptations” we have a tendency to reduce them to simple, carnal vices of some kind. As they use to say “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t run around with girls that do.” We sometimes associate “temptations” with those obvious sins of the flesh which we all struggle with in some form or other.
>>>>However, the devil is not tempting Jesus to misbehave. He is not tempting Jesus to steal a wallet, cheat on his taxes, or pick a fight with his neighbor. It's deeper than that.
>>>>The Tempter is tempting Jesus to ignore his baptism, to deny who he is, to forget that he is the promised Messiah and Savior of the world. The three temptations -- to turn stones into bread, to throw himself down from the top of the temple, and to worship the tempter -- are not enticements to do bad things; they are, at root, invitations to be somebody else, to live some life other than that of the beloved son of God.
That is what temptation is really all about for all of us. It comes in many forms and looks differently to different people. At the core temptation is more than the act itself but is always to deny whose we are and who we are in Christ Jesus. It is the temptation to live beneath our privilege as the children of God.
Join me Sunday as we unpack this passage and see how it applies to our lives!
>>>>Grace Peace,
>>>>Pastor Gene
Sunday’s Scripture: Matthew 4: 1 - 11
Sunday’s Message: "Turning Stones into Bread”
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
But He answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and, In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
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