January 31, 2019
“Just One of the Pieces of Armor”
Matthew 4:1-11
For 40 days Jesus was fasting and focusing on the mission that God had sent him
to accomplish. He was tired, thirsty, weak and lonely.
Satan chose this moment to attack. (He usually attacks when we are at our
weakest.)
*He tempted Jesus to rely on himself instead of God.
*He tempted Jesus to take a shortcut instead of following God’s path.
*He tempted Jesus to doubt God’s protection.
These are the same temptations that Satan throws at us. In Ephesians 6 Paul
wrote that we are not fighting against flesh and blood, but against the powers of
this dark world. He also tells us to “put on the full armor of God so that when the
devil comes you will be able to stand your ground.”
One piece of our armor is the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. This
was Jesus’ weapon of choice. Each time that Satan unleashed another temptation,
Jesus responded by quoting scripture.
*Man does not live on bread alone…
*You must worship the Lord your God…
*You must not tempt the Lord your God…
The only way that Jesus was able to resist the devil was by preparing ahead of
time and memorizing the scriptures. “I have hid you word in my heart so that I
might not sin against thee.”
If you want to fight temptation with truth, you need to be storing up scripture.
Here’s one to begin with:
“Put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand against the devil’s
schemes.” Ephesians 6:11
January 22, 2019
“But I Deserve It!”
Matthew 1: 18-24
How do you respond when you don’t get what you feel you deserved? Do you
hide and sulk, do you complain to any listening ear, or do you seek revenge?
When you think about it, our own sense of what we deserve, often varies from
what others think we deserve.
In our text we are not told much about Joseph, but based on what we do know,
we can draw some conclusions of what we think the kind of man he might have
been.
Joseph was an ordinary carpenter from a rather small obscure little town, and
probably had little or no inclination of ever leaving. We can assume that he never sought the “spotlight” but probably preferred the simple life with family and friends, and was looking forward to marriage and quiet life with Mary.
He worked hard all his life, and so he might have felt that he deserved it.
Instead his fiancé, Mary, got pregnant and claimed that it was a miracle from God. Joseph was not sure of this until an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:24)
Joseph not only obeyed, he obeyed immediately!
You may not have been visited by an angel last night, but you likely have an area
of your life which has a higher level of obedience to God. Perhaps you have been
putting it off or fear to consequences, or perhaps you feel that your time and
energy are better spent on your own agenda. Think about it……………………………
Obedience worked out okay for Joseph! It will work out okay for you also! Give it
a try!