Matthew 3-4 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Matthew 3:1-4:25.

“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! for it is written, ” ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve” ‘ ” (Matthew 4:8-10).

Don’t miss the real temptation. Satan is not tempting Jesus with kingship, rule, and power. According to Psalm 110:1-7, Jesus was already promised all this from His Father. He was going to rule all the kingdoms of the world anyway. The temptation was that God’s way to the throne was going to be hard. He had already had to leave heaven to accomplish it. He was going to spend 3 years wandering as an itinerant teacher. He was going to be rejected, mocked, ridiculed, and eventually crucified to get to rule. Satan essentially said, “Hey, why bother with all of that? Here is an easier, softer way. Just bow down and worship me once. Just once. You don’t have to do it for the rest of your life. If you just worship me here and now, you won’t have to take up that cross.” But Jesus refused. He chose God’s way, though it included the cross. And I’m so thankful, because God’s way allowed me to be saved. Satan’s way might have given Jesus rule of the world (though I’m convinced Satan is a liar and would have yanked it out from under Jesus instead of really giving Him the rule), but it would have kept me and you from being saved.

I’m so glad to see this. First, because it lets me know I’m not alone. Satan tempts me all the time. Sometimes I begin to think I’m the only one going through this pressure. But even Jesus went through it. Second, it lets me know how to defeat the temptation. Just rely on God, His Word, and His way. God’s way always works. Third, I’m glad to read it because it helps me really identify Satan’s temptations. I often overlook temptation and sin with a dismissive, “Oh, surely God wouldn’t have a problem with that.” What I need to look for is when my choices include God’s way and the easier softer way. Satan often promises me the very same thing God does. He simply says I don’t have pick up my cross to get the promise. I need to be able to say, “Not today, Satan. I’m going God’s way. It may be harder, but it works.”

Which way are you going today? God’s way or the easier softer way?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Add your input by clicking the following link: Post a Comment.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 6:1-7:40.

“To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” (1 Corinthians 6:7).

This is definitely a hard saying.  I want to immediately ask, “Well, how much should I be willing to be defrauded?” I mean it is one thing to be defrauded out of $10 or maybe even $100. But what if it is out $1000? What if it is out of $10,000? What if I was business partners with the brother and he defrauded me out of $100,000? I want to know how far this goes.

I want to know who this really applies to. Does it apply only to members of my congregation? What about members of congregations that I don’t think teach the truth on some issues, that I might even say are unfaithful?

What do I do if the person won’t surrender to the judgment of wise people within the congregation as this text also says they are supposed to do?

I’ll be the first to say I don’t know all the ins and outs of all the questions that might come out of this passage. I do know this though. My first response to being wronged and defrauded is to want to get justice out of people. I don’t want to except what members of the church say about it because they may not judge in my favor. But Paul points out sometimes it is better to simply let it go. It is better to be the one who has been wronged than to be the one who is imposing wrong on others. No one has ever been lost for being taken advantage of. I need to think eternally and not momentarily.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Peter 3:1-4:19.

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Peter 4:19).

Usually, when I suffer, I think God is picking on me. Why has He singled me out for this suffering, I wonder. The fact is God let’s me suffer because suffering helps me grow. Through suffering I can become more like Jesus who also suffered.

Instead of turning my back on God when I suffer, I instead need to turn into God. I need to entrust my soul to Him. He will care for me. He will work it all out for my good. I can trust Him. I can be like Jesus who while suffering on the cross said, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Today, no matter what I suffer, I will commit my spirit into the Father’s hands. I will not put my life in my own hands. That only leads to failure and, ultimately, more suffering. God will take care of me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Acts 13:1-14:28.

“…strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

Paul didn’t say tribulations come with the kingdom of God. He didn’t say tribulations happen to coincide with entering the kingdom of God. He actually said we enter the kingdom of God through tribulations. In other words, if there are no tribulations we won’t get into the kingdom of God.

Too often, I have the mindset that since I’m entering the kingdom, I shouldn’t have tribulations. Why isn’t God taking better care of me? Then I read this and learn that God actually knows better. In some way, the tribulations prepare me for the kingdom and usher me into it. If God took my tribulations away, then I wouldn’t enter the kingdom.

This is what Paul says in Romans 5:3-5. Suffering produces endurance. Endurance produces character. Character produces hope. Hope doesn’t put us to shame. But without suffering and tribulation, there is no endurance, no character, no hope.

Thank you, God, for not giving me everything I want, but instead giving me what I need.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 4:1-5:21.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 really struck me. Sometimes I like to go into pity party mode about how awful I have it. Maybe people aren’t being nice to me. Maybe someone has hurt me. Maybe I’m sick (like this past weekend). These verses remind me that I don’t have it so bad. Further, they remind that when I really do have it bad, God is still with me.

Paul said, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecute, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

Paul is specifically speaking about the suffering he endured because he was a minister of the gospel. As he looked at his hardships, he didn’t complain that God allowed the hardships, he took comfort that God did not allow the hardships to become overwhelming. Yes, they were afflicted, but God did not allow them to be crushed. Sure, God let them be persecuted, but He never forsook them.

Sin entered the world through Adam, because of that suffering also entered the world. But God has been gracious to me. Sure, I was sick this past weekend, but it didn’t kill me. Of course, if it had, I would then be saying, “Sure, God let me die, but He preserved my soul from eternal torment.” God has not promised us a rose garden. He promised to stick with us wherever we went, as long as we kept walking with Him.

***Question: What do you do to make sure you’re walking with God today?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Hebrews 5:1-6:20.

I live in America, land of the free, home of the brave. But more importantly land of fast food, constant entertainment, amazing medical advances, opportunities galore. The fact is my life has been pretty easy. Suffering is not something I have had to do very often. It’s not something many of us have had to do very often. Because that is the case, we often have a very skewed view of suffering. We feel like something is wrong with the world if we have to suffer at all. If we can’t just go take a pill for it, we think God has somehow let us down.

However, notice Hebrews 5:8, talking about Jesus, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.”

Jesus, the Son of God, suffered. When He did, He didn’t turn His back on the Father. He didn’t think something was broken in the world. Rather, He simply learned from it and grew in His devotion to the Father. Wow! That is absolutely amazing.

Maybe what we need to do is realize suffering is part of life. Instead of thinking the world is broken when we suffer, we need to see the world as normal when we do. However, we need to ask, “What can we learn from this?” Then we’ll draw closer to the Father, improve the world, and make ourselves better. Through this means, we can reach the time when we will no longer suffer.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is I Peter 5:1-II Peter 1:21.

We live in a gilded age, especially in America. If we have a sickness, doctors have a cure. If we have a hunger, chefs have a food. If we have a need, technology has a solution. We have machines that wash our clothes. We have hot water pumped to our bathrooms. We have waste pumped away from them. We have air conditioners for the summer and heaters for the winter. We have cars for travel. Everything we could possibly want is at our fingertips.

Therefore, we have a really hard time coming to grips with suffering. If we are suffering at all, we think something must be wrong. Something about life must be broken. We especially think that as Christians sometimes. Because not only do we live in a gilded age, but we love God. Surely, since He loves us suffering is the last possible thing we will endure.

However, I Peter 5:10 says, “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” Let’s face it, that passage says Christians will suffer. Certainly, that was written within a specific context of the historical persecutions the Christians were facing. It is not a blanket statement that we will all suffer. But it does demonstrate that Christians suffer. If that happens to us, instead of thinking life is broken, we must instead take comfort that our suffering will, in the big scheme of things, be for a short while. In the end, God will restore us, confirm us, strengthen us, and establish us. We may be suffering right now, but God has not lost us in some heavenly red tape. He knows those who are His and we will be lifted up to comfort. We must simply be patient and trust in the Lord.

Don’t turn on God when you suffer. What good will it do for you to have hard times here and then turn your back on the One who can give you good times in the hereafter?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Acts 13:1-14:28.

I’ve read Acts 14:22 dozens of times. In the past, I always thought Paul simply meant that on the road to entering the kingdom, we will happen to encounter many tribulations. However, after a recent study of Romans 5:3-5, I think Paul may have been making a different point. 

Instead of simply saying tribulations litter the path to the kingdom. I think he is pointing out that tribulation is the path. Look at Romans 5:3-5.

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that the suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been give to us.”

Suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope. Our hope doesn’t put us to shame because it is not just wishful thinking but an earnest expectation and we know God will do what He has promised. But what happens if we remove suffering from this path? Where is the endurance? If there is no endurance, where is the character? If there is no character, where is the hope? Do you see the point? Without suffering we have no hope.

Tribulations are not merely something we happen along as we walk God’s path to the kingdom, they are the path to the kingdom. I’m not saying we have to be beaten to go to heaven. I’m not saying we have to go to prison to enter the kingdom. There are definitely degrees of tribulation and suffering. Further, I don’t think the suffering has to necessarily be strictly persecution for being a Christian. Maybe the suffering is an illness or a layoff. 

In any event, it is the sufferings and tribulations we go through that discipline us to have the character of Christ which offers us hope of eternity with Christ. Do not wish to be set free from tribulations. If that request is granted, then you will be set from from the kingdom of heaven. Rather, pray for the strength to endure the tribulation that you may have proven character and hope. This hope will not put you to shame.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. If you would like to read/hear the lesson I presented on Romans 5:3-5 that prompted this understanding, go to the following link: A Three Step Plan to Rejoice While Suffering

P.P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?