The Twisting of Temptation

[i]

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare about the Lord:  He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.

If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.  For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.  They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.  You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!       The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.  I will protect those who trust in my name.  When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.  I will rescue and honor them.  I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”  Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16(NLT)

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off!  For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you.  And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”  Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”  Matthew 4:5-7(NLT)

Unless you grew up in a Catholic faith tradition, or one of a handful of Protestant denominations that celebrates the season of Lent, it’s probably not even on your radar.  (Except, perhaps for those crazy people walking around yesterday with dirt on their foreheads).

But let’s just say you did go to church yesterday, had the thumbprint of ashes imposed between your eyes, and made a vow to reflect on this season of 40 days preparation for Easter.  Did you also, as a matter of self-discipline and identification with the suffering of Jesus Christ, include in your vow abstaining from something meaningful?  And, if so, considering its already Day #2, are you still hanging-in there, or did Lucifer win…. again?

It seems so often we make resolutions that are supposed to be game-changers, life-changers, and we cave as surely as the sun comes up in the morning.  It gets to be a habit, as the broken well-intentioned promises pile-up through the years.  We learn to shrug, make a mental note to do better next year, and move on.

But, wait just a moment.  Was that vow just a desire to lose weight, or eat healthier, something you wanted to do anyway?  Was it a disposable religious ceremony that just kind of fit-in with your schedule?  Or was it really a vow to the Most High God in Whom you take your refuge?

The temptation Jesus faced was more than a game-changer; it was not even close to a game, this plan for our redemption enacted in Heaven before the foundation of the earth.  God knew He would square-off against Satan on this issue of human free will, despised before the dirt on Adam’s birthday suit was smoothed onto his frame.  God knew precisely about protecting his holy child from the temptation that held our eternity as the prize.  When the Psalmist wrote that God would protect all of that, it was not just taking a box of chocolates off the table.

So Lent is serious business.  That’s why Lucifer went to the Temptation Bowl in the desert, and why he pulled out all the stops, even using Scripture (which he always quotes quite accurately, by the way) to goad Jesus into the foolishness of tempting the Father. 

But, here’s the point at which temptation always fall apart:  Lucifer twists Scripture to fit his agenda; he never invites Scripture to create his agenda.  And therein is the lesson on how to please self – twist Scripture until it isn’t recognizable enough to have any effect on your life and it will leave you to do what you want!  People who prefer their sins to God’s life have no refuge that will last.  But those who take God at his (un-twisted) Word have a shelter in the storms of life, and a genuine refuge for the day of trouble.

For You Today

Lenten journey is on!  It’s not about the absence of chocolate; it’s all about the presence of truth from the Most High God.  You can trust Him in the wilderness.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

Go to VIDEO

---

[i] Title Image:   via Wikimedia.com

Emptying the Church - Part 2

[1]

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.  And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.  This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—speaking of these things in all of his letters.  Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.  You already know these things, dear friends.  So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing.  Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  2 Peter 3:14-18 ^(NLT)

Peter, a fisherman by trade, turned Apostle by Jesus, was quick to say it is hard to understand some things his brother Apostle, Paul wrote.  And, truthfully, some of Paul’s writings do spill into the gray area when seen against the backdrop of 21^st century culture.  Two thousand years makes for a huge communication gap.

So, it seems like every time someone has a new thought about Scripture, Scripture gets a new interpretation.  That is particularly true when we sin, and try to rationalize our rebelliousness towards God.  For validation of this human trait we don’t need to plow through the whole Bible; simply check out the Garden of Eden.  When Adam and Eve sinned by taking forbidden fruit they were embarrassed and made clothes to hide their nakedness.  That showed a sense of shame.  But when God came looking for his rebellious children one cool summer’s eve, they also hid from him; they inherently understood their sinfulness and wanted no part of a face-to-face with their Creator.  And when the accounting finally came, Adam shifted the blame to Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent.  The fact at hand is, we humans never want to acknowledge our sins.

Peter also pointed to the fact that part of the distorting smoke screen we try to raise to cover our sin-tracks is to twist Scripture’s meaning to give us some wiggle-room.  The current culture’s controversy over homosexuality is a vivid image of this posturing and attempts (by the unstable and ignorant) to redefine moral behavior.  Proponents of throwing the door wide-open in this area do so by twisting Scripture to fit what they want, rather than obey what God has said!

A simple illustration is a common argument I’ve been handed as a pastor.  The question is posed:  Pastor…it’s not really clear…do I tithe on my gross salary, or the net?  Now, while that sounds like a pretty serious Christian who just wants to get it right, it’s more like Adam and Eve hiding from their sin while God is calling; it’s more a delaying tactic than an honest question.  If we can claim just the slightest bit of ambiguity about Scripture we’ve got a foothold to stand our ground to do nothing at all.  We can just be praying about the whole thing until God reveals it all.  But, can we talk?  How much clearer does the Bible have to be than the tithe is holy unto the LORD?[2]  And the real problem, as Peter wrote about the destructive path of twisting scripture, is that we are not really providing a foothold upon which we can stand and buy time while we find another reason to do (or not do) something about our rebellion; what we’ve really done is given a foothold to the enemy – a wedge Satan can use to destroy our relationship with holy God.

So, while Paul may be hard to understand sometimes, it makes little sense to let our questions make sin seem affordable.  In many ways this is what is happening to the church in today’s culture.  Doubt, questioning, and half-hearted living of the Christian life provide a sorry witness for those both on the inside or outside of the church.  It leads to destruction.

For You Today

God is all about accountability with His creation.  Sooner or later He is going to come walking (and looking for us) in the cool of the evening, just like He came looking for the first couple.  The question is will he find an empty church, while we’re all out sewing fig leaves to cover our tracks?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day. 

Go to VIDEO

---

[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

[2] See Leviticus 27 and Malachi 3