Thursday... Two different responses to two different challenges.

Matthew 4 shows us two different challenges. The first one is to Jesus.

Verse 1 (NLT) says, "Then Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil." Now this was the beginning of His ministry and He started it with a time of prayer and fasting but it was also a time of testing and tempting.

Here He was having not eaten for 40 days and He was hungry and I'm sure His desires were there to eat. And that is where temptation comes in. Verse 2 says, "For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry."

Temptation comes at the point of our desires. Verse 3 says, "During that time the devil came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell theses stones to become loaves of bread." He was tempted through Jesus' humanness. And that is where we are tempted so much.

So what did Jesus do? Verse 4 say, "But Jesus told him, 'No!'" We've got to say at the first wave of temptation, we've got to say emphatically, "No!" No chance, I'm not going to eat that cake, I'm not going to look at porn, I'm not going to flirt with that person who isn't my mate, I'm not going to take that drink, I'm not going to give in to that temptation. We must emphatically say, "No!"

And then Jesus quoted Scripture. Verse 4 says, "But Jesus told him, 'No! The Scriptures say, 'People shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.' " If you're reading the Bible on a regular basis and if you are going to church and hearing your pastor preach, if you're in a small group of fellow Christians, God will bring a word from the Bible that will reinforce your "No!" It will counteract the temptation.

Now the devil come back two more times with two different temptations and Jesus responded the same way, No! and quoted a Scripture. and then verse 11 says, "Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus."

When you have a temptation that comes back on a regular basis strive to find a Scripture that will help you after your, "No!" And then say it over and over as the temptation comes to your mind. And also rehearse the emphatic, "No!"

Here is another challenge and another response. Verses 18-19 (NIRV) says, "One day Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. There he saw two brothers, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the lake, because they were fisherman. 'Come and follow me,' Jesus said, 'I will send you out to fish people.' " Jesus asked them to follow Him and He will do the same for you. He could be right now asking you to follow Him and there needs to be a response from you. It is either, "Yes! I will follow You," or "No! I'm going to live out the life that I have planned for."

Here is what these two brothers did and millions upon millions have done sense, verse 20, "At once they left their nets and followed Him."

So what will be our response to these two different challenges? And they will come. It's a very good question and our responses will make a major difference in our lives. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginnings

Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

Thursday... Yet, now this is true.

Colossians 1:22a (NLT), "Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body." Thursday... Yet, now this is true. Now Paul a prisoner in Rome is writing a letter to a church in Colossae. And in Colossians 1:21 (MSG) he says, "Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds" The NLT says "This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated by your evil thoughts and actions." And that is where so many in this world live today. They are blowing it and they don't know what to do. Yes, they are hostile in their minds and they are engaging in evil deeds but there is Good News. Now Paul in verses 19-20 sets the stage for an answer to those who don't want to live that way. He says, "For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and earth b...

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