Friday... He will return.

Luke 4:13 (NLT), "When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity."

Friday... He will return.

Over in Luke 4 he says in verse 1 (NLT), "Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry." And when he was hungry was a great time for the devil to tempt Jesus.

My Temptation

Now as you would suppose, Jesus handled the temptation. Yes he was filled with the Holy Spirit but he also was hungry, so the devil wasn't successful at this time. But verse 13 says, "When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came." In other words, he will return.

Yes, it always feels so good when we handle a temptation moment but this is important for us to see, he will return at an opportune moment. If you read on you will read about the night before Jesus was going to face Calvary he spend time in praying in great agony. It seems that he was going through a time of temptation by the devil on his human side. Satan saw this as an opportune moment.

Now Solomon over in his book of Proverbs in 11:2 (AMP) says "When pride comes [boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-importance] then comes dishonor and shame. but when the humble [the teachable who have learned to walk humbly with God] there is wisdom and soundness of mind."

Let's says we have an area that we are always fighting temptation and we know that we are weak but let's say that we have handled it by self-control. We congratulate ourselves. This pride comes boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-important and the devil steps back waiting for an opportune moment. Our pride says we've got this handled but the devil knows he still has a chance because we are handling it on our own.

Now God sees that when we have humbly learned to walk dependent on him these are teachable moments. Yes the devil will be back but our humble dependence on wisdom and soundness of mind from God knows we can't handle it alone. But we have God. We are humbly dependent on him.

Satan knows there will be more opportune moments and probable success if we in pride are handling it alone.

Verse 3 says, "The integrity and moral courage of the upright will guide them, but the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them."

Yes the devil will be back. He also knows our weakness.

Back to Luke 4. In verses 42-44 (NLT) it says, "Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave. But he replied, 'I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns too, because that is why I was sent.' So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea." The devil was tempting him to get off track but Jesus knew why God has sent him to earth. "I must... so he continued."

Yes the devil will return but we don't need to handle life alone. Let's learn to humbly walk with God and his plan for our life. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Monday... He did it by Himself

Isaiah 44:24b (AMP), "I am the Lord, Maker of all things. Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself." Monday... He did it by Himself. Many have a tendency to think very highly of themselves and what they can do. Oh we do have great ability but we are not the source. Yes it is important to have self-confidence but we are limited. The prophet Isaiah in 44:9-10 (NLT) says, "How foolish are those who manufacture idols. These prized objects are really worthless. The people who worship idols don't know this, so they are all put to shame. Who but a fool would make his own god - an idol that cannot help him one bit?" Now later in verse 24 (AMP) he writes, "For the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb says, 'I am the Lord, Maker of all things, Who alone stretches out the heavens, Who spreads out the earth by Myself.'" I love that. "By Myself." Now we do need confidence but we are foolish to ma...

Friday... We have this hope of expectancy.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT), "Listen to my voice in the morning Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Friday... We have this hope of expectancy. Now David found a great way to start his day. He says in Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT), "O LORD, hear me as I pray." And that is a great place to start. It really is. Morning sunrise He goes on, "Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for I pray to no one but you." And that is so important. We don't try to pump ourselves up by ourself. No, we pray to no one but you, God, my LORD, my King. Now this relationship with God is so, so very important. And then David says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you" And that is so great. And then he says, "and wait expectantly." Yes, we have this hope of expectancy. We are experienced. That is what a relationship with God and a moment by moment connection does. It makes a difference in our daily wa...

Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true.

Psalm 12:6 (NLT), "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true. Maybe this is what you want to say in this day in which we live. Psalm 12:1-2 (MSG) says, "Quick, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, all the friends I depend on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues." Do you ever feel that way?" Have you found that to be true? Well David the writer of this Psalm continues and says in verse 6 something to encourage us, to lift us up, to give us hope. Psalm 12:6 (NLT) says, "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." The Message Paraphrase says verses 6-8 this way, "God's words are pure words, pure silver words refined seven times in the fires of his word-kiln, pure on earth as well as in heaven, God, keep ...

Todays Beginning

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