Just say “No” to Temptation with the Scripture

The best way to defend against the tempter’s lie is to know God’s truth. Jesus answered Satan’s temptations with specific scripture.

To know your opponent’s modus operandi is essential in any field, but particularly for an NFL quarterback. Sportswriter Pete Prisco explains it best,

“Watching film, or tape to be precise, is key to the success of any quarterback no matter the level of play. But in the NFL, it’s even more so with all the complicated defenses and looks now thrown at quarterbacks, who must decipher it all in split-second decisions or risk throwing an interception that will show up on all the highlight shows.

They’d better know their stuff, and know it well.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is legendary in his film study. He has a film room in his basement. Manning loves studying tape, almost needs it like a drug. Others don’t put in the time and end up in quarterback bust-land.” 1

When you read Jesus’ temptation account (Matt. 4. Luke 4) it’s easy to see that Jesus understood his opponent. As Satan tempts through deception, Jesus answers with God’s Word of truth. His remarkable ability to recall the right Scripture for the specific situation is the pattern we should emulate.

If you could watch tape on your opponent you would see that his regular method of temptation is to deceive. He returns to it again and again. But what Satan lacks in originality he makes up for in thoroughness. He is mercilessly meticulous. He understands the desires of the human heart, and the best way to lure and entice us to sin (James 1:19-20).

Yet, because Satan often returns to deception as his means of temptation, you and I can game – plan for his attack. Jesus did. He knew the right verse for each situation. A part of my game plan has to been to memorize the Scripture in conjunction with Satan’s lies.

Satan, as the deceiver, often brings his temptations in the same way (1 John 2:16). Sometime ago it occurred to me that if I could memorize the lie that Satan brought, and the corresponding truth from God’s Word I would be more prepared for the temptations I faced.

This was the kind of reliance Jesus had upon the Scripture (Matt. 4, Luke 4). He has the right verse for each specific situation.

Developing a select set of verses to answer temptation is essential in the life of any believer. We have developed a verse memory pack that contain 33 of the tempter’s lies and God’s Word of truth as a defense against the temptation. You can download them for free at our church’s website. http://aboutfbc.org/downloads/scripture-memory-verse-cards.pdf

For additional resources on this subject including notes, audio, video, and a really cool sword fight please visit: http://aboutfbc.org/using-the-scriptures-like-jesus-part-2

1 http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/13350572/private-showing-ryans-road-to-qb-stardom-paved-with-tape

Following Jesus means leaving somethings behind

In 21st -centuryAmerica with all of its amenities, finding Christians living out their relationship with Christ at the highest level is not an easy thing. As we go back in history though, it is not as difficult to find these individuals.

C.T. Studd was born into a wealthy family, was reportedly handsome, and was an international legend as a sports hero in England. However, when his brother George fell deathly ill he writes that “honor and riches and pleasures had become as nothing to my brother. He only cared about the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ; and God taught me the same lesson.”

C.T. Studd left it all – the fame and the fortunes for the foreign mission field. First in China with the Cambridge Seven. Six other young men of the same affluence, who arrived inChina, put on Chinese clothes, and with pigtails and shaven heads marched into the “up-country” of China. They wrestled long and hard to master the Chinese language, and before long they began to see many come to Christ.

But the country of Chinawas not enough, and so C.T. Studd began to pursue Africa. He founded the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (WEC), and after a recruiting tour to the universities ofAmerica, he plunged into the ministry in Africa whole-heartedly. Upon his death two-thousand tribesman stood in the pouring rain for hours to attend his funeral.

 For C.T. Studd becoming a missionary meant leaving fame, wealth, and family. It meant going to a foreign country (before the days of instant E-mails). Learning their language and their culture. And all of this because he recognized that people without Jesus Christ needed to be introduced to Him. It is more than a little humbling to realize that heaven will be populated with people who have that level of commitment. Why study men and women like that? Because it introduces us to people whose love for the Lord surpasses our own, and it challenges us to live differently as a result

God dwelt among us

Reading through the book of Exodus recently I marveled again at the story. After the Israelites were released from Egypt, and crossed the Red Sea they began to travel in the wilderness. God speaks to Moses and a tabernacle is set up for Him. After the tabernacle is anointed, Moses steps back and God steps in.

That’s what I kept marveling at: God dwelling there in their midst. All the tribes were camped around the tabernacle, and God was there in the middle of it all. Donkeys braying. Children crying. People living, eating and dying, going about their daily business. In the middle of it God dwelt.

During the day they saw a cloud, and at night they saw the fire. When it was time to move; the cloud would lift, the Israelites would pack up, and follow wherever God would lead. The part of the story that I kept trying to imagine was God dwelling among them.

Years later a disciple would write describing Jesus Christ, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Did you catch that phrase dwelt among us? One translator says, “God moved into our neighborhood.” I love that! Jesus came and dwelt among us. For thirty plus years He lived in and among people. Donkeys braying, children crying. People living, eating and dying, going about their daily business. And in the middle of it all Jesus walked. It’s a remarkable thought – God wants to dwell among us.

When Jesus returned to heaven, the writers of Scripture were even more specific – “Christ in you, your hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27). Imagine! For the believer, God not only dwells among us, now He dwells in us. Now there’s a thought worth pondering…

Jesus was right on time

I nearly missed the birth of our 4th child. Before you are too critical, please know that the supervising nurse had advised me to slip out and get some lunch – she thought it would be a long time. It wasn’t.  The fast-food service wasn’t all that fast, but my wife’s labor was, fortunately I got back just in time. Typically parents don’t have a lot to say about the day their child arrives.

I’m sure it was inconvenient for Joseph to head to Bethlehem in the final trimester of Mary’s pregnancy. But God had a specific time for the birth of Jesus. Paul recorded this truth for us in his letter to the Galatians,

3Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Galatians 4:3-5).

The word fullness is used elsewhere to describe the 12 baskets that were left over at the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:43). They were full baskets – they weren’t half empty. When describing time it means the “end of an appointed time.” That night in Bethlehem it was long enough and Jesus came. The word communicates that even in the timing God was in complete control.

Why was the sending forth of the Son so important? Because we were in bondage to the world (4:3). The Greek grammar communicates that our bondage was ongoing, thorough and complete. It further reveals that it is something that happened to us. One translator used the word “kidnapped.” We had been kidnapped by the world. So at “just the right time” Jesus came to buy us out of our bondage and to set us free.

So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered (Luke 2:6).

So glad I didn’t miss the birth of my son.

Praying this season you don’t miss the reason for the birth of His (John 3:16-17).

God and Waiting…

Several years back our family vacation to Maine provided one of those unique opportunities to learn the fine art of waiting. With young kids we figured we could make the trip from Jersey to Maine in several days. Here is what we pictured: Arriving leisurely at the hotel in the afternoon, swimming with the kids, and a casual breakfast the next morning. Here is what we didn’t picture: Stop and go traffic on I-95 the entire length of the Eastern Seaboard, arriving at our hotel at 10:00 PM, and several very tired kids. You guessed it: The first picture was a fairy-tale, the second one reality!

Our first night’s stop was at Plymouth. The next day we met seasoned actors who portrayed for us the first pilgrims. I was stuck again by their peacefulness. Here I had just traveled more land miles in one day, than most of them would travel in a lifetime. Yet the early pilgrims were satisfied to put in a full-days work, get a good night’s rest, fear God, and read their Scriptures. (It caused me to wonder how I was doing on those last two items in our two-day scramble to Maine). It also caused me to think about vacations for all of us. Sometimes we are in such a hurry: We don’t want to miss one moment in the mountains, or one-second in the surf.

Have we given adequate time to renew our soul in the Scriptures, or sufficient time to let our heart dwell upon fearing God?  Could that be the reason the pilgrims seemed to live peaceful lives, and we struggle to even have a peaceful vacation?

Isaiah said: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31). So this season learn a lesson from the pilgrims: fear God, and spend some time in the Scriptures, it might even make your waiting worth your while.

God is not in a hurry…

Have you ever noticed that God is not in a hurry? Admittedly, often we are. Getting kids ready for school, rush hour traffic, and spilled coffee often have us scrambling to make up lost time. But not God. Simply put, He may take 40 days or 40 years. In God’s timetable there are no rush orders.

Take Moses for instance. Few Old Testament saints measure up to this man. He scores well in  character, leadership, and humility. In a very real way, God and he were on a first name basis. And yet, even Moses didn’t get there overnight. 

Early in his life he tried to free the Hebrews in a hurry.  He killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. He was looking to speed up God’s timetable of alleviating the persecution of the Jews. He was a born leader and anxious to get to it. But God wasn’t in a hurry. In fact he had him spend the next 40 years of his life in the desert leading sheep. At the end of that time, God felt he was ready to lead the  Jews.

God took time with Moses, and He will take time with us. He needed to remove the arrogant leadership style that Moses had picked up in  Pharaoh’s household. So for forty years Moses served as a shepherd.

During that time he learned the ways of the desert. He would spend another forty years of his life there, but leading people not sheep. Two million to be exact! So God took time  to teach him the ways of the desert.

But God also taught him the ways of humility. To go from growing up in Pharaoh’s household to the nomadic lifestyle of a shepherd didn’t look like a brilliant career move! But God needed Moses’ humility more than He needed his ability. God was more interested in Moses’ development than in his immediate  accomplishment.

Which brings to mind an interesting thought: Perhaps the reason God isn’t in a hurry is because we are. And character traits like humility will always take time to develop.

Courage in the Face of Storms

There is a simple prayer uttered by the early disciples of Christ in Acts chapter 4.  In the face of threats from the religious bureaucracy of the day they prayed to the Lord for courage. In their words, “grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word” (Acts 4:29). Remarkably, in spite of the persecution that ensued, God honored that request.  What you discover is a group of men who preached the gospel about Jesus Christ in spite of the outcome.

While at the temple they were found to be preaching the message of salvation through Jesus and they were thrown in prison (Acts 5:17).

 Unbeknownst to the jealous religious leaders, and the jail-keepers that night an angel let them out of prison. The next morning when the leaders went to the prison to bring them to trial, they opened the door and found they weren’t there! But these prisoners didn’t simply evaporate. While the high priest wandered how he could find them, a messenger brought him word that they were back telling the truth about Jesus in the temple (Acts 5:25) – the very place where they had been arrested the first time. When confronted and asked to stop preaching the message about Jesus, Peter responded, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

 This time before their release they were beaten (Acts 5:40). That would seem to be a fairly effective deterrent for most of us. If when we proclaimed a message we were beaten for it, we might have a tendency to speak with greater political correctness the next time around. However, this group had a different perspective. Know where they went upon their release? Right back to the temple, and there they “didn’t cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42). What a great example these disciples provide us with.  The Gospel of Jesus was something worth being courageous about.

Unanswered Prayer

Few things can frustrate the Christian like unanswered prayer.When God doesn’t appear to answer our requests we may find that doubt is not far behind.  We may doubt the reality of our relationship with Him. We may doubt His ability to hear us. We may doubt His ability to do anything about our requests.

We must remember when God doesn’t appear to answer our prayers it need not cause such doubting.  The Bible reminds us that sometimes are prayers are not answered because we ask with the wrong intentions. James, the brother of Jesus, has written, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

We must also remember God’s answer may not come in the way we expect or they way we desire. Evangelist Billy Graham has written, “God is true to His Word and   answers   all   sincere prayers offered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. His answer may be yes, or it may be no, or it may be ‘Wait.’ If it is no or ‘Wait,’ we cannot say that God has not answered our prayer. It simply means that the answer is different than what we expected.”

Although God’s answers may not be what we expected we generally can see God’s purpose when we look in hindsight .I know I have personally given God thanks that He has not answered some of my prayers in the way I had wished. C.S. Lewis once said, “If God had granted all the silly prayers I’ve made in my life, where would I be now?”

However, we must never doubt God’s goodness when we don’t find the answers to our prayers we expected. It is as one writer has put it, “When He grants our prayers, it is because He loves us. When He does not, it is also because He loves us.” Well said. God’s love is revealed both through His “yes” and His “no.”

Hiding or Confessing Sin?

There is a word that is small, but in spite of its size it has left a significant impact. It has disrupted nations, families, marriages, and one’s relationship with God. It is discussed in nearly every form of religion, but in no other sacred book is the word treated as thoroughly as it is in the Bible. The word? Sin. Just three little letters, but its impact has touched every human being’s life. It means to violate a law of God, and that violation was so horrific that it caused the death of Christ to restore us to God. Remarkably people have always responded to sin the same way, which is to cover or hide it. The Biblical record shows this. Upon committing the first sin, Adam and Eve hid themselves from God even though they didn’t know why they were doing it  (Gen. 3:8). Upon taking spoil from a battle that he wasn’t supposed to Achan hid the gold and silver under his tent. Having committed adultery with his neighbor’s wife King David devised an elaborate scheme that included the killing of her husband in an attempt to keep his sin hidden. Yet, in every one of these attempts to cover a sin, God revealed it.

David understood that when he recorded in Psalm 32, “when I kept silent my bones grew old.” In fact David only thought he had hidden his sin. God revealed it to the entire nation. That is where David learned a vital lesson about sin. When we cover it God reveals it, but when we reveal it God covers it. He opens Psalm 32 this way, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Remarkably, when David confessed his sin to the Lord he found forgiveness! God wishes for us to deal with our sin through humility and confession. But often our pride is what stubbornly refuses to admit our guilt, and instead attempts to hide the sin. If that has been the pattern of your life please know God longs to bring forgiveness. And He is so serious about that that He may reveal your sin, just so that you would admit your need.

Facing Your Giants

There are a hosts of  Old Testament characters that we would do well to get to know. Caleb is one of them.  His story is told in Numbers 14 and Joshua 14. In the first account you find him with the 12 Israelite spies checking out the promised land.  You may remember that all 12 spies agreed the land was beautiful, but 10 the spies said the present occupants of the land were too big. Only Joshua and Caleb thought that they should take the land, and their reason was significant. They acknowledged that the Anakim people were giants, but they felt that their God was more powerful than the Anakim people. God had promised them that land. That’s why we call it the promised land. Therefore, God must want them to proceed.  God did want them to proceed, but the fear in the hearts of the 10 spies was passed on to the Israelites in their Promised land report, and the people refused to go.  To which God said, “Because of your lack of faith, the adult generation will die in the wilderness, except Joshua and Caleb, because they believed.” For 40 years the Israelites wondered in the wilderness while Moses did their funerals.

Finally, with only Joshua and Caleb as the senior partners, the Israelite’s entered the Promised Land. As was promised by the spies 40 years earlier, the people were big. But as was promised by the two believing spies — their God was bigger! Rivers stopped flowing for them to pass, walls fell down when they marched around them. God’s strategies proved victorious again and again.

And when they completed the taking of the land, and they begin to divide the land, guess whose name appears again? That’s right, Caleb. This time the passage is Joshua 14. As an 85 year old man, he wants the  land where the Anakim dwell! 

Time had not erased his desire to believe God’s promises, and actively place his faith in them.