Temptation

Sometimes, for whatever reason, I'll start thinking about temptation and why it even exists.  Maybe a conversation I've had or something I've seen on television.  And I wonder why there is such a battle between flesh and spirit and question whether temptation is even necessary.

I mean, is it?  If a Christ follower is trying to seek the Lord and follow His plan for their life, is temptation really necessary?  Doesn't that just serve to throw them off the track of where they should be or where they want to be?  I know the typical response that we're all sinners and because our flesh is naturally inclined to choose sin over righteousness we'll obviously be tempted to do wrong.

But those are still hard questions.  And on some level, that answer isn't really good enough for me.  Something inside of me wants to know more and wants to understand better.  I think I found my answer, at least in part.

"And Jesus...was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil."  Luke 4:1-2

What?!  I mean, I knew this passage was in the Bible, but I don't think I really knew what it was implying!

First, I'm told that Jesus was led by the Spirit.  Of course, He was in tune with what the Holy Spirit was doing in His heart and followed.  An incredible example, I must say.

But during those forty days, He was tempted.  That means the Spirit led Him into it.  That means the Spirit knew, beforehand.  That means it was always in God's plan for Jesus to be tempted.  There was purpose to it.  There was meaning behind it.  There was opportunity for God to be glorified in it.  Wow.

That means the temptation I face, the temptation you face - it has meaning and purpose and will ultimately glorify God!  That's a hard pill to swallow for me.  My weakness screams that I can't do it, the temptation is too much, why do I have to go through this because it's too hard to handle!  My heart breaks for people who give in to temptation every day, and I think it would be so much better if we didn't have to go through all of that - BUT God's purpose is bigger than that.  He has reasons I may never know.

All I know is that if Jesus trusted the Spirit to lead Him, and if Jesus trusted the Father not to tempt Him more than He could bear, and if Jesus could find a way to answer temptation with Scripture, and if Jesus could be the example for me; then I want to follow that example.

Obedience

I've always thought that, as far as Christianity goes, relying wholly on God is the hardest part.


I don't know about you, but when it comes to my life it is really easy for me to say, "It's my life!  You can't tell me what to do or not do!  I know how to run it better than You!"  Let's face it - I'm a sinner, an outright sinner, and I'm naturally inclined to be selfish and prideful and stupid when it comes to doing what God wants me to do.


That said, over the years I've almost come to grips with the fact that I must obey God.  It's not an option for me as a Christian to pick and choose what I want to obey Him on and what I want to call my own shots on.  I still think sometimes, though, that I make excuses for myself.  Maybe there's something that I know God wants me to do and I would have done it anyway, so I obey.  Other times there's something that I know I'm called to do and it makes me...


uncomfortable...


scared...


vulnerable...


...and because it makes me feel those things, I choose not to obey, using those feelings as excuses for my disobedience.  Then I get to this morning and when I start reading, I find this:


"Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God."  Jeremiah 42:6


Did you hear that?  Yeah, that was Jeremiah punching me in the face with conviction.  I mean, how obvious does God have to get before I listen to Him?


"Whether it is good or bad, we will obey..."  I am being blatantly told today that obedience to God is never an option, excuses are never good enough, and obedience doesn't even mean that it's something I want to do.  My job is not to decide what commands I will or won't obey, it's just to obey.  Without question.  Without whining.  Without delay.


The good news, though, is that God is also encouraging me today.  It's like He came up and gave me an ice pack to deal with the punch I just got.


"...that it may be well with us when we obey the Lord our God."  How awesome is that?  Even though obeying God may take me down a road that seems bad to me, it will still end well.  God will still take care of me and make sure that everything is okay in the end.  It may hurt, make me scared, make me uncomfortable, make me vulnerable, but God is still in control.  He still holds the world in His hands and He still carries me through all of it.

My Story

Yesterday after church I had pretty much decided that I should post my story on here because the sermon just convicted me to respond in that way.  This morning as I was reading I came across this verse, which altogether confirmed that I should write out my story for this post:


"And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death."  Revelation 12:11


*Sidenote - Even if the sermon hadn't been about telling my story to the people around me, I still would have loved that verse because of the ending phrase - 'for they loved not their lives even unto death' - and I would have posted about it anyway.  I would have talked about sacrifice of my own life for Christ, even if it led to death.  "I may live and I may die, either way You're glorified."


But today I want to - no, I must write my story.


My parents became Christ followers when I was two, so I basically grew up in a Christian home.  I have been in church ever since I can remember and I learned about Jesus from a very young age.  Since I found Christ at the age of seven, it is hard for me to remember what my life was like before Christ.  I wasn't old enough to get into much trouble, but I remember doing things that I knew were wrong.


When I was seven, after hearing about Jesus many times at church, I went to my parents and asked them what it was all about.  They pulled out the Bible and explained very simply that we are all sinners and that Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we wouldn't have to go to hell.  That was a simple explanation, but it was more than enough for me.  My Dad asked me if I wanted to pray with them and ask Jesus to come into my heart, but I said that I wasn't ready to do that yet.


I was ready though.  Very ready.  I only said I wasn't ready because I think I was scared of being vulnerable and admitting my sins in front of Mom and Dad.


I went back into my room and climbed into bed, but I couldn't sleep.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep unless I took care of business with God.  So, I knelt down beside my bed and started telling God every sin that I had committed that I could think of and how sorry I was for doing them.  Then I told God that I knew I needed Jesus in my heart and would He please come in and be my Lord and my Savior.


It is one of the earliest and clearest memories that I have.


About two weeks later I went down the aisle to tell the pastor that I had found Christ and a week after that I was baptized.


Now here I am, seventeen years later.  What a long way I have come!  I know that I have had my ups and downs, I have made choices that were far from correct, but I am most definitely closer to the Lord now that when I started.  God is teaching me more and more every day about what it means to rely on Him for the strength I need, how to lead my family in a Godly way, what my place is in serving His kingdom, and how best to glorify Him with my life.  There are so many verses that I keep going back to, learning something new from them every time, but two things really stand out for me over my life so far.


First is a quote from Oswald Chambers, "Grow where you are planted."  I need reminding all the time that my purpose is to do what God has called me to do, wherever He has called me to do it - no complaining!


Second is Psalm 46:10, "Cease striving and know that I am God.  I will be exalted amond the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  What a great command for me because I have trouble with sitting still.  I want to run around all the time doing stuff for the Lord, but God wants me sitting still sometimes, waiting on Him and His perfect timing.


I will never be the same.

The Gap

Sometimes when I read a verse in the Bible I don't feel like God is telling me TO do something, rather I feel like He's telling me specifically NOT to do something.

For instance, in the Ten Commandments where it says not to murder. My inclination is to think, "God's telling me not to murder because He says it's wrong." Pretty straight-forward, right?

Try this verse then:

"And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none." Ezekiel 22:30 (emphasis added)

Today is a day when I feel like God is specifically telling me not to do something. I feel like He's telling me not to let this verse be true. I feel like He's telling me not to let the verse that follows happen, which is the utter destruction of the land and its people. It's just like there's this huge neon sign pointing it out to me.

Of course, I also feel like God is telling me very specifically what to do and be about. First and foremost, God wants me glorifying Him and giving all of my life toward that end. But, especially looking at this verse, I think He's calling me to stand in the breach. When no other man will stand for Him, I must. Where none are found, I must be found. To be honest (I know, I usually am...), I think this verse is applicable to every Christian but I feel like it's specifically for the men.

It should never be that God finds no men in the breach, standing for Him, building up the wall, and protecting the land!

Men of faith, rise up! Stand firm where the Lord has called you to stand! Glorify Him with your actions and words and thoughts. Use your God-given talents to build up the church, to defend His people, to protect the land He has provided us with.

Where am I today? Where are you today? Can we be found hiding safely somewhere or are we found standing firmly in the gap?

Storage

The last few weeks have been a blur with the start of school, new developmental stages with our daughter, my sister getting engaged, writing a play and all kinds of events that have just plain kept us running. It's really easy to get so caught up in life and not come here to chronicle it. This just doesn't make the list of priorities if I'm strapped for time.

Not to say I haven't been reading (although, I do miss days). The last few days have been a little bit in the Psalms and Ezekiel, but most of my time has been spent reading about the last days in Revelation. It was exciting at first for me because I was hoping for a fresh perspective, some new lesson that I hadn't heard before, something that might help me grasp the whole book better. Let's be honest here, Revelation is hard!

I told Beth last night that I feel like I haven't really gotten anything new out of this book, and it's a little disappointing for me. She is so right-on sometimes because she reminded me about something that I had let slip my mind, (and here I'm paraphrasing)

"Just remember sometimes you're storing up for another time."

Gah! Just like Paul, she just gets to the heart of me! There will be a time when I need what I've read in Revelation, I just may not be able to see it right now. Or what if I didn't read it for me but to share with someone else? I can't always know what God has specifically in mind for each day or week or month or year in my life, but I can be faithful. I can study His Word, I can pray, I can seek to glorify Him in everything. He'll use me when it's right. He'll bring these Revelation songs back to my mind when the timing is perfect.

Isn't that just it? I don't always know how He'll do it, but He will be glorified. Amen.

**Just curious, but do any readers out there have any lessons from or tips on how to read Revelation?**