Read the Bible in a Year (25OCT19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, October 25’s Bible reading is Luke 4-5.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, October 26’s Bible reading is Luke 6-7. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

 

LUKE MOMENT – (25OCT19) “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” (Luke 4:1-2). After Jesus had been baptized by John the Baptist, He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The devil thought that he could appeal to the human side of Jesus and get Him to compromise His divinity by yielding to temptation, but the devil was wrong. In the devil’s first temptation, he appealed to Jesus’ appetite as he had done with Adam and Eve. Jesus’ abstaining from food was a sacrifice of Himself to honor His Father. Jesus needed food for fuel just like every other human and experienced hunger and weakness by fasting. Yet, He denied Himself in preparation for the ministry that He was about to embark upon and to show us by example that we too are to be a living sacrifice unto God. The Apostle Paul wrote: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). The devil wanted Jesus to be self-seeking in turning stones into bread for Himself, but Jesus defeated him with the Word of God.

In the devil’s next attempt to tempt Jesus, he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and offered them to Jesus if only He would bow and worship him. Now, how can one offer the Creator of the Universe what already belonged to Him? Jesus was with God in the beginning and as God, there was nothing that the devil could truly offer Him, but a temporary setting at a table that was on loan to him. The devil may be the prince of this world for now, but he is living on borrowed time and will be booted out upon Jesus’ return. The Bible says: “Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short” (Revelation 12:12). The devil was trying to find a weakness in Jesus’ Spirit of servitude to the Father, but there was none to be found.

Satan’s final temptation was trying to get Jesus to prove to him that God would save Him from death. The devil knew that it was Jesus destiny to die on the cross for mankind. Therefore, if He could place doubt in Jesus’ mind that God would deliver Him from death now, then He would have doubt in God being able to raise Him back up later. Jesus, however, did not fall for this trick and knew that there was no need to test God for there would never be any deceit in the Father and His word would never return unto Him void. The Bible says: “You must not test the Lord your God as you did when you complained at Massah. You must diligently obey the commands of the Lord your God—all the laws and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so all will go well with you….” (Deuteronomy 6:16-18a). We are to trust the Lord with all our heart, soul, and minds, but we are never to do foolish things to test Him in ways that are contrary to His word. Jesus did not fall for any of the devil’s traps and when the devil was defeated, he left being the failure that he is.

Why was it necessary for Jesus to go on this forty-day fast and be tempted? Jesus came to earth as both God and man, but as a man, He was setting the example for us and how we too can become victorious over the enemy. The Bible says: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).  The devil will continue to tempt us as long as we are on this earth, but we can have victory in Jesus. He tries to come at us with things that are our weaknesses. He knows what everyone’s struggle is, and he has had centuries to perfect his craft. Nevertheless, the Word of God is still our authority regardless of how old it is. It will never lose its power, and it shows us how to defeat the enemy. Jesus overcame the enemy with the Word and so can we. Something to ponder….

QUESTION OF THE DAY - (25OCT19) “When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way” (Luke 4:28-30). Why is it that religious people can be some of the most intolerant and angry individuals? Well, the answer to that question is that many are “religious” but fail to have a “relationship” with God. When Jesus had gone to His hometown of Nazareth, He went there to preach, teach, and do miracles in the people’s midst as a witness of the Father’s love. Unfortunately, the people were unwilling to hear and accept the message that Jesus had to give. Jesus had gone to the synagogue as was the custom on the Sabbath, and He read to them from the scroll of Isaiah. He read the section where it prophesied about His coming to proclaim the Good News to the poor, free the prisoners, heal the sick, and deliver the oppressed. After being finished with the scroll, Jesus told them that the prophecy had been fulfilled. They were puzzled by this. Jesus gave them a couple of examples of the prophets of old that could have done wonders for the people, but God only allowed for them to do a work for a select few because of their unbelief. When the people heard this, they became angry because they knew that He was speaking of them, so they tried to kill Him. Nevertheless, Jesus walked right through them and onto His next destination.

Many people miss Jesus because they are trying to adhere to religious traditions without having a relationship. Jesus could have done wonders in His hometown, but the people’s religious minds did not allow them to seek a relationship with the Father so that they could recognize the Son. Those who had a relationship with God, such as Simeon and Anna, recognized Jesus even as a baby for who He was because they had a relationship with the Father that went beyond religious rituals. Being religious causes us to only know about God through our works, but having a relationship causes us to know Him as our personal Lord and Savior. “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught’” (Isaiah 29:13). Which do you have – religion or relationship? Something to ponder….

LUKE MOMENT – (25OCT19) “…Jesus replied to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!’ And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus” (Luke 5:10b-11). Jesus chose twelve disciples to follow Him. All of them had to leave everything behind to be a disciple for Christ. They gave up their jobs, family life, homes, and luxuries to embark upon a journey where they had no clue as to where it would take them. Apart from Judas Iscariot, the rest of their lives were dedicated to serving the Lord, and their sacrifice caused the lives of countless others to be changed over the centuries. Where some of them were once fishermen for food, Jesus made them fishers of men. Where Mathew (Levi) had taken from the poor, his life would be dedicated to feeding them spiritually. Whereas Luke was a physician of the body, he became a physician for the soul. Unfortunately, Judas could have been a powerful tool for the kingdom, but he allowed the devil to enter him and betrayed the One who loved him most of all.

There are many people who have been called to leave everything behind to follow Christ. Many missionaries have left modern conveniences behind to work for God. Some physicians have left the west to work in third-world countries that are not fortunate enough to have modern medical facilities. There are many believers who have given up people, places, and things for the sake of Christ, and yet, they do it willingly. The Bible says: “Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another of the disciples said to him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead’” (Matthew 8:18-22). Jesus let the people know that there was a cost for discipleship. The same thing applies today. There is a cost to follow the Lord. For some, it has been at the expense of martyrdom. Others, not living a life of luxuries. For many believers, the day is still coming where a choice will have to be made at the expense of a job, family, friends, money, etc. Are you ready to make that choice? Are you willing to forsake all for Christ? If you had to give up the things and people who matter most to you, would you be able to do so for Christ? If you cannot say yes to these questions right now, the time to prepare to surrender all to the Lord is now. Persecution for many is at the door, and the western nations will not be excluded. The Bible says: “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony.  They shouted to the Lord and said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?’ Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters—their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred—had joined them” (Revelation 6:9-11). Something to ponder….