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Post by rickeyd on Apr 3, 2014 13:38:04 GMT
Hey! Hey!
The verses that stood out to me in today's reading of Matthew Chapter 4 were...
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Verse 1 is extremely interesting because if you pay close attention, you see that it says Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In this verse alone we see that it is not always the devil coming after us. Often times you hear people say "that ain't nothing but the devil", "the devil tryna attack my finances", "the devil tryna attack my health", blah blah blah. They truly believe that every bad or difficult situation originated from the devil. Don't get me wrong now, there are situations where it is solely the devil trying to attack you but we must realize that sometimes these trials and tribulations come directly from God to get our attention or to teach us something. It takes a mature christian to realize this. Although it was the devil who did the tempting, it was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus there in the first place.
Verses 3 thru 10 are paramount because we get to see how Jesus handled the temptations of the devil. In every way that the devil tried to tempt Jesus, He simply used the Word of God to combat every single temptation. Here is where we see the importance of knowing the Word of God for ourselves. When we are faced with difficult situations it is the Word of God that WILL sustain us. We don't have to know the entire bible but we need to know some of it so that we are able to remind ourselves of God's promises through His word. Knowing the Word of God can make the difference of whether or not you make it through or out of a situation before throwing in the towel.
With that being said, I challenge all of us to delve more into the Word of God and truly allow it to saturate our hearts and minds so that we are equipped and ready to go to war against temptations and difficualt life situations.
Be blessed,
Rickey Danielle
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Post by cspain03 on Apr 3, 2014 14:18:21 GMT
Great points Rickey ! I totally agree, too often we as Christains will blame every bad situation we face in the devil when sometimes it just a situation we're being led to so we can learn something or see God work though us if we but remain fauthful (and there are times when we just lead ourselves down terrible paths, lets be real lol) but again Rickey's point that we need to know the Word for ourselves to be successful with the trials we face - no matter how we got there. The devil is waiting to tempt us let's be ready to fight back with God's Word!
For me these verses stood out:
18 As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).
19 He said to them, "Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people."
20 They left their nets immediately and followed him.
21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then he called them.
22 They immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.
These men left their families, their lively hoods, everything and followed Jesus. They didn't ask questions they didn't request time to pack or say goodbye to family members - they just dropped what they were doing and followed God - what an example!!! And we won't even stop to set aside sometime with Jesus ?!?! He hasn't asked us to drop out if school, quit our jobs, leave our friends/family/significant other - He just wants good quality time with us.
This scripture also speaks to the fact that Jesus didn't interview these men, he told them to hollow him and they did - God knows what he wants and where to find it - He wants YOU ! So when He comes to you and says " follow me" then follow Him! Don't worry about those around you or the things you had planned to do or whether or not you're "qualified" just follow Him. Trust that He knows what He is doing and what he wants/had for you.
Y'all have a great day - love ya and stay encouraged
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Post by R .Parker on Apr 3, 2014 14:24:30 GMT
@rickey yes Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit... That why it's important to acknowledge our own weakness, that's the moment when the Holy Spirit can begin to work on our lives in new ways.When we throw up our hands, God's hands have room to work.
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Post by crystalc on Apr 3, 2014 16:25:12 GMT
First of all, Whats up Family. I'm glad we can gather here together. I'm proud of the work God is doing in and through us.
So anyway let's jump right into the text. Matthew 4 in its entirety spoke to my spirit. It reminded me of where I am in my Christian walk and what I need to be doing. A lot of times we feel seem so bombarded by things that come our way. Like Rickey said, quick to blame it on the devil...it's very important to know that some of the stuff we go through and experience is partly our fault/responsibility. And some of it is the Holy Spirit allowing you to go through this wilderness to assess your growth. In this passage, God opened my eyes and rebuked me some.
So let me break it down a little bit, bare with me I won't be before you long (lol)...
Four major points I saw in this passage regarding our walk with Christ:
1. We can see that the first 11 verses instruct us on temptation or being tested. Keep it simple, tests will come, will we be prepared? Have I hidden enough Scripture in my heart to stand up to the test? And sometimes, we know what triggers us but do we have a scripture to run to when confronted with that test?
2. We have the capacity to be light in a dark world. I barely watch the news but the condition of today's society is crumbling and the signs of the times are very apparent. As Christians, God has compelled us to be the salt and light of the earth. Are we taking the light to "those living in the land of the shadow of death." Just like in these scriptures:
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned."
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
3. I think this is the most important point, which Court pointed out, FOLLOW CHRIST! This ultimately means we stop what we are doing and let Him LEAD. Case in point: “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
This doesn't mean He is in his car and I'm in mine and I'm following Him on the open road but we are in the car together so that there is no place I can go and He not be with me. To me this had a lot to do with relinquishing control and submitting ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. ONE OF MY BIGGEST CHALLENGES!
4. Finally, and I'm out...we can't keep all this good news to ourselves. We have to spread the gospel. I can admit I have not done my fair share of witnessing. The bigger picture isn't just about our breakthrough and our healing; it's not always just about us. Here God is healing us and delivering us, giving us a unique testimony and we ain't got nobody saved. Well I haven't and that's real. How often are we looking for the opportunity to witness and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Needless to say, I felt some conviction about this because God is like, "Crys I'm giving it to you right here, written plain as day. Where you at with this?"
My prayer is that we are grasping His word and actually applying it to our lives.
Peace and Love
Crys
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donp
New Member
Posts: 44 
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Post by donp on Apr 4, 2014 4:10:04 GMT
So what was I got from Matthew 4 was in line with what you all mentioned … however when I re-read it to see what other things God would reveal to me, these things stood out …
We know that Satan tempted Jesus, but beforehand he challenged who He was .. He did this by starting each temptation with "if you are the Son of God" then … and I question why each time Jesus responded, it was never to prove who He was, but rather to redirect Satan efforts …
@r .Parker and I were talking about it earlier … if I was in that situation my first response would be to prove to anyone exactly who I was … thinking something like .. "I'm the Son of God, and I'll do you one better than changing these stones to bread, I'll make full course entrees and your favorite beverage" However Jesus responded with the importance of the Word to our lives … so that is so important like you guys have mentioned before … instead of using an opportunity to flex and show His power, He tells us we need the Word - like we need nourishment from food …
the next response the Jesus gave was not to tempt the Lord God … this was somewhat a warning .. like Satan you're pushing it .. but even in this Jesus shows the importance of reverencing God rather than proving the power of His hand … at this point, I'm really confused like Lord, why don't you just reveal to Him so he can't say anything .. but Jesus does not do this .. there are times where we feel like if we can just show others this or that it will prove us worthy and shut them down, but even that has to take a back seat ...
lastly, we see Satan just cut to the chase and say, well I'll give you all this if you just bow and worship me … this is when Jesus tells Satan .. get out of here, because you are only to worship the Lord your God … and that's all .. no punishment, no drastic application of His power, nothing …
from this I had to really try to understand how this fits into our daily lives and it points directly to what we're studying .. Jesus' priority was spreading the gospel … in each of His responses to Satan, He gave clues to ministry .. we have to not only be able to recognize the temptations of the enemy, but we have to be ministry-minded in that even through our situations, trials and temptations - we can still be able to share with others the gospel …
1. you need God's Word in your life
2. reverence God in your actions/lifestyle
3. worship only Him (keep Him first/Lord of your life)
all these things please the Father ..
it really came together for me that Jesus gathered His disciples after this story in the latter verses of this chapter because those are the qualities that should first be at the forefront of the disciples agenda .. if we can do those things for ourselves, we will be effective at reaching others when we share the gospel ..
lastly, I was somewhat awestruck by Matthew 4:11 … after being tempted, the angels came and ministered to Jesus .. this shows the importance of things such as this forum … there will be times when we must minister to others, but also times where we need to be ministered to and encouraged to walk in faith …
the keys are all there … after re-reading, I am challenged to really evaluate and reevaluate my actions especially those in response to daily happenings such as temptations (temptations to stand up for myself - let them know I'm don't appreciate being challenged, etc) .. we know they are going to come, but how equipped are we with the Word, our reverence and submission to God to handle these challenges?
hopefully this was clear and will be a blessing .. tried to get it out as I was getting it, but it was a lot
with love
DP
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Post by cspain03 on Apr 4, 2014 13:32:55 GMT
[/b] 3. FOLLOW CHRIST! This ultimately means we stop what we are doing and let Him LEAD. Case in point: “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
This doesn't mean He is in his car and I'm in mine and I'm following Him on the open road but we are in the car together so that there is no place I can go and He not be with me. To me this had a lot to do with relinquishing control and submitting ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. ONE OF MY BIGGEST CHALLENGES! Preach ! One of mine to and to add to this Crystal I would say that being in the same car is important but trusting God to drive - that's my challenge ! I'm good with us riding together but I still want to be in control, I have to give God the keys and not be a "back seat driver" but trust Hin fully - it ain't easy but an area I need to grow in for sure. I want The Lord to address the desires of my heart but I have to want more for my heart to be aligned with God's will and plan and trust Him and follow His lead ! God knows best as to how to get me to where I need to be, how to get us to our promise land without the woundering around in the dessert because we didn't want to listen/follow His word/ trust Him |
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Post by cspain03 on Apr 4, 2014 13:54:29 GMT
I just want to let you know how much you post encouraged me donp - I appreciate the fact that you dug in and pushed yourself to see what else God would reveal to you about the scripture reading - that's awesome ! I totally see where you're coming from and can relate to what you and Ron were talking about with regards to fighting against trying to prove who you are. That's one serious temptation, to have someone question you and in this case to have the devil question WHOSE you are - that's serious. I know I'd be the first to want to prove how awesome my God is, how great my Heavenly Father is, and to think, Jesus was able to do so the RIGHT way by going to scripture. He had the word in his heart and that's how he showed the devil who he was and whose he was. It wasn't about showing off or trying to prove a point or out shine something or belittle someone - it was and always should be about the Word of God |
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