The Triumph of Christ

I've come to understand more and more how much of a treasure the Scriptures are. New readings of the same passages seem fresh and I am given the perception to see things I hadn't seen before. There are sadly days where I am rushed in the morning (which is my fault) and I quickly read through and as a result, I am not nourished by the Word at all that morning. Or there are the dreaded days where I am distracted and robbed of focus, or even days where I neglect to do it at all. But the Word is so sweet to me. I don't have a greater treasure in my room. I used to feel discouraged when I couldn't understand a passage, but now I feel excited! It excites me to encounter those passages where I am forced to stop and ask, “where did that come from?”; those passages where it feels like it came up out of nowhere and seemingly has nothing to do with the previous passage, or seems insignificant – which means there is something significant about it. Now I love those moments. I pray that God would help me understand His word, and the meanings of it. In my recent reading, this verse especially made me stop and think:

“And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.”

Mark 1:13

Now, this verse isn't out-of-the-blue where it was, but there was a phrase in it that grabbed my attention. It was the phrase, “and was with the wild beasts”. Really that piece of information seems unsurprising, being apart of the wilderness setting Jesus was in. However, I had to stop at this verse and ask why Mark even puts it in here. It is appropriate to the setting, but seemingly insignificant. One might think it could easily be taken out and nothing would change, so why is it there? Obviously there is a reason that that little phrase is inserted in here. Nothing else comes of it really; there is no incident where it goes on to account Christ being threatened by a wild animal. So this verse struck me.

After praying, I took notice of the temptation aspect in this account. This was the passage where Christ was being tempted by Satan. Then I saw something in this passage that I thought was really cool! And it all came from that moment where I took notice of the strange, seemingly insignificant phrase.

Other than Christ's temptation, what is the most significant temptation you can think of in the Scriptures? I am going to guess you'd say the temptation in the Garden. This is what I saw in this verse. I this verse, we get a picture of the contrast between the first Adam and the Second Adam: where the first was in the Garden of Eden, the Second was in a wilderness; where the first had a secure, plentiful supply of food, the Second fasted; where the first had a helpmeet, the Second was alone; where the first was around tame animals of no threat, the Second was with wild beasts; and where the first was tempted once and failed miserably to the death of mankind, the Second, in the very trying setting, was tempted more than once and was victorious for the life of those who are given to Him!

What an amazing contrast! I know I have not said anything new; just read Paul's writings. Jesus has done what we could not do. He suffered greatly and remained absolutely faithful. He is not a mere man, but God in the flesh. And He did not die, but conquered death, by raising Himself from the grave. It is the greatest miracle and work of God. He is living now, and coming soon. Let's be ever watchful as we eagerly wait for Him. Brothers and sisters we have a great hope we wait for! When this is all gone we will all be with Him, for eternity, in perfection. He suffered for that.

~Brenn

The Lord is on my side...what can man do to me?

“I called on the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” ~Ps. 118:5-6

Nick,

Many times in our lives we will encounter temptations, depression, stress, and trials. One of the questions most, if not all, people ask is, “If there is a God who is all-powerful, all-wise, and all-good, why is there sin in the world?” Obviously God could get rid of it because He is all-powerful. He is all-wise, however, so there must be a reason He allows it. Yet if He is all-good, why does it exist? Realize that this is not a theological paper or a heavily-researched project, merely my thoughts on the issue. I believe that God allows sin to remain in the world because: 1) That is what will bring Him the most glory; 2) To show us our dependence upon Him. Ultimately, we can’t know, or even guess at God’s plan. We are human beings who try to fit explanations in with our flawed human knowledge. However, I think these may be two reasons why. The first one is obvious: God is always seeking to glorify Himself. Not in our form of glorifying: doing great deeds or saying great things, though He does do both of these. This is the glory of the Creator of the Universe. His glory puts joy and fear in the hearts of those who love Him and horror and fear in those who hate Him. His glory is made up of holiness, majesty, perfection, wisdom, and any good thing you van think of. His glory is not composed of one or a few good or heroic deeds, but of all good things. We do not know the full extent of His glory, for if He revealed it in its fullness to us, we would be overcome. The second reason requires more explanation. We are born sinful, live sinful lives, and say sinful things. The Bible tells us that we are dependent upon the Lord, but we often leave it at that. We do not want to think more about it. As a question within a question, why does it always say in the Bible, and why do we always say, “God tested so-and-so?” Is it to find out who loves Him and who doesn’t? Of course not! Our names have been written in the Book of Life before the world was created. He knows who will go to Heaven and who will go to Hell. So why does He test us? My thought is that it is to point us to Him. God never sends us trials without giving us the strength to overcome them. But it often seems to us that we can’t defeat temptations of trials. It’s true; we can’t conquer sin on our own. But when temptations come, we are sent running to God for help. God could have kept sin out of the world from the beginning, but I think He allowed it to show His great love for us. Sin entered the world through one man and sin was conquered by one Man. God gave the ultimate gift of sacrifice and love.

I often imagine our lives as if we’re walking along a road, when we are faced with evil. When we turn to flee, we run rights into the arms of the Lord who has been keeping us from stumbling or turning aside the whole time. God does not allow sin to remain because He can’t do anything about it. On the contrary, at one word from the Almighty, the heavens quake and the earth trembles. We do not serve a weak God; We serve the Maker and Ruler of the Universe!

Your brother in Christ,

Corey

Cut off Temptation

"And have no Fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." ~Ephesians 5:11

Take a moment and do a general evaluation of you life as to whether or not it falls into one of the following categories.

"But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them." ~Ephesians 5:3-7

Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you." ~Titus 2:6-8

(There are other passages that speak of what is good and what is bad, but they are too many to mention.)

Now think on these questions:

1. Take a specific point from your life.
2. Does Scripture commend or condone it?
3. If you're unsure, ask for others' opinions
4. If this is a good habit or trait, keep and cultivate it. If it is a bad trait, immediately seek to destroy it.

Many people, including Christians, struggle with earthly things. Still more struggle with the thought that their things are "harmless". What this really means is that it is useless. Now I'm not talking about kitchen utensils. I don't think that the rich young ruler would have classified them in his wealth.

"Yes, I have 45,692 Cutco knives, 61,783 Pampered Chef serving spoons, and 101,101 Oxo cheese graters."

Other things may not necessarily be habits or traits, but they can be a temptation. For instance, our family decided to not have TV. We still watch videos, but we felt that being able to choose what went on screen was something that TV didn't have. Now some things like TIVO gave this trait. We were also watching a show in our car the other day. But after the bible study we were at was over, (which is where I got the topic) my mom asked us about the show. We decided that the show wasn't very good and actually fell into some of the "bad" categories. Many things evade our gaze for a long time. Sometimes I have thought something was okay, but then some passage or something that someone says, "Jumps Out" at me and shows me that what I thought was good, is actually the opposite. We must constantly evaluate what will encourage us to become more like Christ. If anything is a stumbling block we must get rid of it, or in Paul's words, "Cut it off." May you always be evaluating your activities and may you always know what will be profitable and what won't. God bless!

Your Brother in Christ
Corey