Are you overcoming temptations through the Spirit’s leading?
24 Mar 26
Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One
Readings:
Joshua 11
Joshua 12
Joshua 13
Luke 4:1-32
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (Romans 8:14).
Are you overcoming temptations through the Spirit’s leading?
Every New Testament passage referring to the leading of the Holy Spirit appears in the context of struggling with sin. Jesus is “led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (Luke 4:1) and overcomes Satan’s three temptations using Scripture (Luke 4:1-13). Paul writes the following in Romans 8:13: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Then Paul gives the reason for the victory, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Similarly, Paul writes, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). He makes this statement after showing the battle between the flesh and Spirit (Galatians 5:17).
Employment Point: Follow the Spirit of God for victorious living.
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Reflections
If you remember what I wrote yesterday, today’s passage flows directly into it. The wilderness. In this case Jesus has to pass through these tests of temptations and walked through the wilderness for 40 days before being led out by the Holy Spirit.
The enemy chooses three ways of attack in which our Lord was or anyone in Christ can be tempted:
- An appeal to “the lust of the flesh”
- An appeal to “the lust of the eyes”
- An appeal to “the pride of life”
This happened many years ago but why are we reading about this that happened to Jesus? Because we are His disciples. If He has to be tested for those temptations, we too will not be able to run away from it. These three temptations kept repeating in my head when I heard the sermon last Sunday on the topic “Do not Covet”.
Sharing with you the link if you wish to listen to it: https://youtu.be/Htpbx-zmUno?si=HuGN8Q_fmbikbHnC
“The Israelites carried off for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but all the people they put to the sword until they completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone that breathed. As the Lord commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses.”
Joshua 11:14-15 NIV
- This was a command that was given to Moses by the Lord and from Moses to Joshua. We saw how the Lord is with Joshua as much as He was with Moses and everything that He promised was given into his hands.
- This is a reminder to us all that when we received the Lord’s call to service or to do any tasks, we ought to do it with love, as well as joy in our hearts. It is an honour and also a privilege to be serving the Lord.
- anything that is allocated by the Lord to us, we should follow and obey His commands. He is already victorious and we are to learn what it is to be living a victorious life.
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He Increases, I Decrease
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
March 24
He must become greater; I must become less. — John 3:30
As a disciple of Jesus Christ, your great responsibility is to be a friend of the bridegroom, following the example set by John the Baptist: “The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him” (John 3:29). The bridegroom’s friend never takes the central role away from Jesus or becomes a necessity to another person’s soul. If you find, in your relationships with others, that you have stolen the spotlight away from Christ, then you know that you are out of God’s established order for his disciples. You’ll know your influence over others has taken the right direction when you see their souls gripped by the claims of Jesus Christ.
Never interfere when another person’s soul has been gripped by Christ. However painful it may appear to you from the outside, pray that the pain grows ten times stronger, until there is no power on earth or in hell that can keep that soul away from the Lord. You may often see Jesus Christ wreck a life before he saves it. Never mind what havoc the bridegroom causes, what crumblings of health and wealth. Rejoice with divine hilarity when his voice is heard.
Over and over again, we turn ourselves into amateur providences, trying to prevent suffering by stopping God. In the end, our sympathy costs other people dearly. One day, they’ll accuse us of being thieves, of stealing their affections away from their bridegroom and causing them to lose their vision of him. We must beware of rejoicing with a soul in the wrong thing, but we must make sure to rejoice in the right thing. The bridegroom’s friend “is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:29–30). John the Baptist is describing the absolute effacement of the disciple; he will never be thought of again. But he acknowledges this with joy, not sadness.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
We must keep ourselves in touch, not with theories, but with people, and never get out of touch with human beings, if we are going to use the word of God skilfully amongst them.
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Reflections
Have you ever been in a position where people tell you something like this? “Thank you so much for being our leader. You are the one we look up to and we appreciate you for leading us.” Or something like “Why do you want to leave? Then what will happen to us?” Or something even more drastic. “Where are you going? We will follow you!”
You would probably have heard such comments before, even coming from believers. What causes them to say such things? Firstly, the person in question is no doubt a great leader. However, the person whom we should look up to is not a human person but of our Lord Jesus Christ.
There will be people who struggle with this concept and they will be people who kind of refused to be “left behind” and wanted to go wherever the leader is going. And if the leader is also someone who is a believer, that is great danger. The danger that the leader becomes our idol and we are following him instead of our Lord.
We too need to realise that we are not the saviour. Like what Oswald says, it is times of refinement and we are not meant to meddle in His affairs. Who do we think we are, that can “save” someone from the Lord. We need to let Him and still continue to pray. For Him to have grace and mercy and don’t let it too hard to handle for whoever we are praying for. Praying that there will be people for pray that for us as well. 🙏🏻
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Lent devotion Day 35/53
taken from YouVersion, Lent for Everyone
Lent for Everyone is a devotional created and written by N.T. (Tom) Wright. For each day of Lent, there is a reading chosen from the Gospel of Matthew, plus a reflection by Wright. These readings have grown out of a project encouraging Lent reading in Northern England. This is the second in a three-volume series based on the Revised Common Lectionary of the Church of England.
Today’s reading:
Matthew 24:45-51
WEEK 5: TUESDAY
I vividly remember my first experience of working on a building site. I was a student, earning some money during the vacation. The work was physically hard — or rather, it would have been if we had kept it up all day. There was an unwritten law that you went at your tasks as slowly as you could, pausing regularly for a rest or a 'smoke break', except when the boss showed up. Then, of course, everyone would look brisk and get on as fast as they could. The play-acting would have been comic if the deceit hadn't been so distasteful.
Clearly, from Jesus' comments about the slaves doing their jobs while the master is away, this culture of working only when someone is watching is hardly a modern invention. Jesus is addressing his close followers, warning them of a coming time when they will have to get on with their work, staying faithful to him in his absence. They will have to look after his 'household' whether they think he'll be coming back the next minute or not.
The challenge to wait, and behave appropriately, during a long time of 'delay' (verse 48) was not a new one in Jesus' day. The Jews of the previous centuries had spoken of it constantly. They encouraged one another to stay faithful to their God, and to his covenant with them expressed in the Mosaic law, while they waited for God to act, to return to them in power, to rescue them from their enemies and set up his kingdom.
Jesus has taken this well-known theme and transformed it so that it applies more directly and vividly to his own followers after his approaching death. He knows that there will come a time of vindication. But nobody except God knows when that will be (verse 36). But he also knows that those who wait patiently, and get on with their tasks of looking after God's people, will be rewarded — and that those who don't will be punished.
This is a severe warning for all Christian leaders and teachers. Sometimes people seem to suppose that it doesn't really matter how you behave, that we can keep the wheels of the church turning all right without paying too much attention to the teaching of Jesus himself or the doctrine and lifestyle taught by his first followers. That attitude is then held in place by a sneering rejection of all talk of a future judgment. Such talk, it seems, fell out of fashion some time ago, and we can keep it that way (people seem to think) by telling horror- stories about old fire-and-brimstone preachers trying to scare people into good behaviour, or even into heaven. But just because people have overstated things in one direction, that doesn't mean there isn't a danger of overstatement in the other direction. If Lent is a time of reflection, penitence and discipline for all Christians, perhaps it is especially so for those who dare to think of themselves as slaves in charge of part of Jesus' household.
TODAY
Lord, as you have called us to your service, make us mindful and worthy of our calling.
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Let’s pray:
Father help us all to be mindful servants of Your calling, being faithful stewards even when nobody else may seem to notice. You know that Lord, how much we labour and how our hearts go out to Your people. We do not need to seek acknowledgements from men but only from You O LORD. Help us all to be prepared for the day of Your return, always ready and never turning back.
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