We live in a world where our eyes, ears, emotions, and desires can cause our impulses to become strong enough to make us do things we would otherwise not do.  And if our human senses are stimulated by just the right sensory data, we can be compelled to go against even our strongest efforts to resist things that are not in our best interests.  One of the pearls of wisdom I learned when I was young was, “Everything good to you isn’t good for you!”  With that in mind, I learned in some ways to resist some of those things that I should have.  And those things I chose not to resist, often ended with me learning a very painful, but valuable lesson.

        Jesus — caught in much the same situation — was tempted by none other than Satan himself.  He came with powerful temptations — layered temptations that could have tripped up less spiritual people.  He first tempted Jesus to question who he was.  And how many of us have lost our sense of self forgetting who we were for a moment and delved into something that we thought would be good to us but ended up being our ruin.  And how many of us — like Jesus was — have been caught in a moment of weakness and offered something that we really desired.  The difference is we probably took the bait, whereas Jesus — certain of who he was and what was in his best interests, turned down an opportunity to satisfy himself and leaned into his relationship with God.  And how many of us would have the wisdom and strength to refuse power, money, the praise from other men and women — whatever the cost — if we thought we could come out on the other side unscathed.  But then — what does it profit us to gain the whole yet lose our souls in the transaction.  I ‘m certain a lot of people would jump at the chance for power, wealth, wisdom, and authority.

         Tempting temptations are designed to ruin us spiritually in the same way they tried to ruin Jesus — by creating doubt about who we believe we are as well as doubts about God’s faithfulness to us, and by attempting to make us be unfaithful to God by worshiping other false gods instead of God alone.  The only way to defeat those tempting temptations is to use the two-edged sword of God’s word.  The angels will come and minister to us, and we can steel ourselves against future attacks knowing that the tempter will return.

• In what ways have you been tempted to question your identity as a child of God ?
• What methods did you utilize to refute the tempter?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, help me to be aware of those deceptive ways in which tempting temptations are used to destroy my identity as Your child and destroy my relationship with you.

         The truth of Jesus Christ is simple for those of us who believe.  It’s not a matter of assembling a catalogue of facts, carefully and methodically gathered and presented to a council of people for review and approval.  The only approval we seek is from God.   And of course, our understanding of the truth of Jesus Christ  is fundamental to how and why we exist and govern ourselves.  Over the years, the church has gone to great lengths to state is purpose and truth with clarity.  Because of years of repetition, many of us can recite the Apostle’s Creed from memory.  Other creeds — the Nicene Creed, The Modern Creed, and others, seek in their statement of faith to reveal the truth of Jesus Christ as we’ve come to believe.  However, long before there was an Apostle’s Creed, there were the words of Paul to his brother and son in the faith, Timothy.  In his letter, he stated as succinctly as possible what many of us have come to believe the truth about Christ — he came, was found blameless, was seen by human and angelic beings, was preached as the truth throughout the world, believed on and ascended into heaven.  These are not cleverly devised myths but represent the truth about Jesus Christ by those who were eye and ear-witnesses to these events.  That only comes through faith by grace, and that by the Spirit of the living and true God who reveals that truth to us by the Holy Spirit.

• What creed from the early church best represents Jesus Christ as the truth to you?
• How do the creeds from the early church reflect your understanding of Jesus Christ as God’s truth?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, continue to protect me from false truths and myths designed to destroy my faith in Your truth, Jesus Christ the righteous, risen and ascended and promised to come again.

them — perhaps people who are entrepreneurs and owners of their own businesses — promoting yourself is an important aspect of their business success.  There’s another aspect of self-promotion when it interferes with the primary goal of a larger program unrelated to a person’s personal enterprise but related to the plans and goals of God.  Enter God, whose agenda is bigger and more important than anyone’s personal goals.  God’s plan is to save humanity.  And God’s plan is clear — the means and the methods to accomplish God’s plan are to spread the means by which God has chosen to save humanity.  To promote oneself as integral to God’s plan of salvation essentially blocks the message and the means of salvation.  To promote God’s plan of salvation is to highlight the truth of God's process which is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  Following God’s plan enables us to see the light of God’s plan in Jesus Christ.

• What truth about Christ are you dependent on that the world should be made aware of?
• How can you tell your story without making yourself the hero of Your belief and faith?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer
Loving God, humble me before You. Give me the courage to promote Jesus Christ and his grace as truth over any self-promotion I do to win Your or anyone else’s approval.