Temptation is not a Hopeless Situation

Jesus temptation gives us hope to defeat our temptation

I always was confused at Satan's brash temptation of Jesus when he offered him all the kingdoms of the earth. Up until now I was missing one key word in that passage, "given" or "delivered" in the ESV rendering. 

The Devil was "given" authority over the kingdoms of the earth. But, "who gave him that authority?" I asked myself.

The passage in Luke reads...

"And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will." (Luke 4:5-6 ESV)

For all you 'Greek Geeks' out there, the Greek word for "delivered" in this passage is...

παραδίδωμι

Pronounced par-ad-id'-o-mee

It means to surrender, i.e yield up, intrust, transmit:--and it is translated in other contexts as betray, bring forth, cast, commit, deliver (up), give (over, up), hazard, put in prison, and recommend.

So my question still remained, "who gave Satan authority over the kingdoms of the earth? Of course the answer is, Jesus did...Jesus gave Satan that authority...Jesus is the controller and sustainer of all kingdoms and authorities.

We read in Colossians...

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:16-17 ESV)

So in the infinitely wise counsel of the Godhead, Jesus gave Satan the authority to temp Himself in the end. So Satan was duped and tricked by the eternal power, authority, and plan of the Godhead...but even still Jesus did not use this information against Satan to rebuff his temptation, for instance Jesus didn't say to Satan, "hey I gave you the authority over those kingdoms in the first place, so..." Instead Jesus used God's eternal, infinitely powerful, and helpful Word to rebuff Satan's weak and authority-less temptation. 

That is why we can call on Jesus in our temptation, because we know that He has the power and authority to overcome it! Every temptation of Satan is ultimately a temptation that is allowed by God's good hand to make us more like Jesus, and with Jesus help and authority we can rebuff the Enemy.

Hebrews describes Jesus victory over temptation and sin...

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15 ESV)

So when you are tempted today call on Jesus the great high priest, author, and perfecter of our faith! He will deliver you! Worship Him now for His deliverance.

God is NOT SLOW: My Hope in the Journey of Disability?

This last year at our annual family ritual Joni and Friends Family retreat the speaker Clint Echols asked us men to lead and share how God was giving us hope in our families journey in Disability. I did not want to share actually because the ideas were not altogether formed in my head. He challenged us to lead out, so I stayed up till late into the night, to pray, and ask God to form the Hope and Joy that was before inexpressible into some form of expression. I wanted to encourage those who face disability everyday, and especially the hope of salvation for their disabled loved ones. Here were my erratic and somewhat spontaneous thoughts...

Joni and Friends Family Retreat 8/7/2014

Clint Echols

'Hope Overflowing'

Reflecting on hope and sharing with the camp...

The hope overflowing that I have his week is...the hope against Hope for me is...

First that...

"The Lord is NOT SLOW to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (‭2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬ ESV) and so the hope that I am clinging to is...

That my cognitively two year, physically eight year old little girl, would trust Christ one day. If all she can do is call on the name of Jesus as Romans 10:13 says, "For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”" Then I am trusting that HE is enough to credit her with His righteousness just as He with does me.

Secondly I am Hoping that...

"For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy." (‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬ ESV)

"Otherwise your children are unclean...but as it, they are holy"? Do I understand how God can make my children holy through my own faith? No! Do I understand fully how God has credited me with Christ's righteousness? No! But, I do know that God is NOT SLOW to keep his promises. How does God make us righteous? How does God count our faith as righteousness? He takes that, maybe only a mustard seed sized faith, and applies the perfect record of Jesus righteousness to it, because of his own kindness, and own promises! And He is NOT SLOW to keep his promise of salvation! 

"The Lord is NOT SLOW to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (‭2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬ ESV)

Lastly I am NOT Hoping...

So I will tell you what I am NOT hoping for on our journey of disability. I am NOT hoping against hope, that my child will read one day, or that she will talk more, I am NOT hoping against hope, that she will be fully integrated, I am NOT even hoping against hope that she will NOT be made fun of in school or in the playground or wherever, because that has happened, is happening, and I believe will continue to happen. However hard that is in this life. I am NOT hoping against hope that she will be potty trained. I am content for the rest of her or my life to help her in toileting. I am not even hoping against hope that she will sleep through the night, and not wake us up at the most random of times in the middle of the night. 

But...

What I am hoping against hope in, what I am hoping in The Lord is, that He will carry out His promise to me that He does not wish any to perish, and that one day, she will trust in Jesus with whatever capacity He gives her to trust. So I'm hoping it forward, and I'm asking God to grow that mustard seed of faith until it is a full grown tree of hope and apply His perfect righteousness to that little bit of faith. I am not just hoping, but believing that God will, as the word says, "they (children) are made holy (emphasis mine)." 

In fact I believe she has a better opportunity for God to work through her and to draw her to himself. I have seen the simple faith, hope and a trust in as she calls Him "Cheesus" (Jesus). God is not going to use or work through my child 'in spite' of her disability, but BECAUSE of her disability." And He is NOT SLOW to keep His promise. Thank you Lord. I Hope! I Believe! Can a child who sings "Jesus Loves Me" be calling on the name of the Lord? That is my great Hope!

This is a video I found about a family that had a son with Down Syndrome and the Website is www.everylifeisbeautiful.com very inspiring stuff!

Fear of the Lord; The Beginning of Wisdom

 

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10 NASB)

My Awesome sister Dorothy Moore brought up a question that I have been mulling over for quite a few weeks now and here is how some of our email dialogue went.  I'm pretty impressed with her knowledge and insight about what it means to fear the Lord. Most of these are her thoughts, and my thoughts are at the end. My proverbs prof at CIU used to tell us often that fear in Hebrew has no English counterpart exactly, that it means reserving the most intense emotion for God. it's stronger than awe, according to him it's more visceral/ overwhelming. Believers have a fear of God as that which stands in the uppermost place, to which all that Wisdom will accomplish subordinates itself; that which begins wisdom; Him who is absolutely Holy. And the 'knowledge' here in the Hebrew is meant of lively, practical, operative knowledge (ie, in relationship), which subordinates itself to this All-holy God as the normative pattern. -Franz Delitzsch
And on the other hand "Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-- more than that, who was raised to life-- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us" (Romans 8:34- The only One with authority to condemn us has accepted us and called us friends. "if God justifies, this answers all. He is the judge, and the party offended, and his judgment is according to truth... We have a plea which cannot be overruled. It is by virtue of the death of Christ and our interest in Him, our relation to him, and our union with him, that we are then secured. Divine justice was satisfied by the merit of his death. He is now in heaven to answer all accusations, to put in our plea, and to prosecute it with effect... And is not this abundant matter for comfort?" -Matthew Henry) 'fear' in prov. 9:10 is the Hebrew noun 'yirah' & comes from the verb 'yarah'- "to throw" or "flow out of the gut"...

In response to the above, I agree, completely and furthering the idea Jesus Christ is the same yesterday to day and forever I do really believe that with all my heart, but Jesus coming to this earth and revealing God to us shows us something new of who God is. I came across this quote by Donald Miller in His book "Searching for God Knows What". One of the best books I have ever read by the way. I read it right before Ana was born and with tears I say to you, it has been one of the best preparations that I have ever had for having a child with special needs. It goes...
"If it weren't for Jesus, It would be difficult for me to follow God. When you read the Old Testament now, knowing exactly where the book is going, it is all very easy and simple, but it wouldn't have been around back in the Old Testament, God would have come off as more or less frightening. And I don't think I would have been able to know in my heart that it was the grandness of His nature, not the ease of his anger, that produced the fear."
The question is what produces fear? Because I think I have always understood the fear of the Lord as real fear...but what do we fear... Everything about Him the 'grandness of His nature' not the 'ease of His anger'. We fear his goodness, grace, favor, wrath, loving-kindness, power, peace, sovereignty, and all other things that also make Him God. We must fear and love it all! We cannot leave anything out of the reverent fear and awe that we have for Christ and the Father Who has given Him (Jesus) every command. I'll give you a for instance. I had never before though of Jesus as Lord of my sexuality. i.e. I did not fear him in this area. I came across Hebrews 13:4 in preparation for a marriage series that I have been doing. "Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge." I wondered what 'undefiled' meant so I looked it up in Kittle (The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament). In the general sense it means clean from sexual sins, but the word is also used in the NT for moral purity of our heavenly inheritance, and of the perfect purity of the perfect high priest Christ. Talk about awkward. If I keep my marriage bed undefiled it comes into the same category of the undefilement that our High Priest also enjoys in His Heavenly Inheritance! WOAH! This will make me fear Him as I ought, and thus fear his judgment as this passage says. Maybe we ought to bring more fear and reverent Awe into every area of our lives; maybe then Jesus could become Lord of every corner and pocket of our lives! Just saying...

 

This is the disability conference that John Knight of Desiring God and "The Works of God" blog is also hosting in Minnesota 

This is a great film from the writers of the blog "The Works of God" John Knight. Great story about their struggle.
"This Was Grace" Extended Version from Andrew Laparra on Vimeo.