Tempted To Deny My Life In Christ

October 2, 2014

Tempted To Deny My Life In Christ

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.

Matthew 4:1

When Jesus was in the wilderness, he experienced the same temptations, in the same sequence, as did the people of Israel when they entered into the wilderness after escaping from Egypt. Jesus was tempted regarding hunger, testing God and false worship. Unlike Israel, Jesus was faithful. (See Exodus 16, 17 and 19-32)

The Apostle John tells us, “for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16 NRSV). From the devil’s original temptation of humankind, “you will be like God,” the devil attacks the desires of our flesh (Genesis 3:5). However, the temptations are subtle. The devil didn’t tell Adam and Eve they would be better than God; rather, “you will be like God.” In the wilderness, the devil appealed to Jesus to avoid the long road of suffering, and to take a short cut to gathering a following. Many of the people in Israel were hungry. If Jesus turned the stones into bread, he could feed a multitude and win the loyalty of the people. If Jesus leaped from the tower and was not injured, he would thus prove his divine nature. However, “it is impossible to please God without faith,” and faith is choosing to believe in God in the absence of proof (Hebrews 11:6). Perhaps the greatest temptation we all face is the lie that our needs for love, acceptance and a sense of self-worth are to be found in the riches of the world. Like Jesus, we are called to reject the notion that our value is in the kingdoms of this world and “worship the Lord your God and serve only him” (Matthew 4:10).

We are called to be a part of God’s people, to do God’s work in the world. Thus we will face the same temptations, as did Israel and Jesus when they were in the wilderness.  At their core, these temptations are not about things I really want to do, but know I should not. They are temptations to be someone other than the person God calls me to be. These are temptations to deny I am a child of God.

I want to live my life by trusting in Jesus, who loved me and gave himself for me. Every day I am tempted to deny my life in Christ and trust in something else to meet my needs. Like Jesus, I can turn to scripture and affirm that I am a child of God. So can you.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.