Matthew 4:5-8 (ESV)
Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple [6] and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,'
and
" 'On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.' "
[7] Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.' " [8] Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
How often we want to put God to the test. Don’t we? How many times to we start our prayers Lord if you… I will….? Perhaps were not always careless with our lives. But when bad things happen we are often quick to blame him. God is not to be tested. That is the sign of a wicked generation. God gives us plenty of reason to believe in him and trust in his mercy. And yet we so often think, Lord if you truly loved me…
Well he does, but he doesn’t bend to your every whim. He knows what is best for you, and it isn’t anything this world has to offer. This world is a place to be suffered, as Christ suffered it. Suffered for one purpose and that is that others may hear of Christ, yes even in your own life time.
Not that it all has to be painful. This life is to be enjoyed too. It is a gift. There is so much to enjoy in this life, and about life. I don’t have patience for the people, who in the name of Christ, refuse to have a good time and celebrate life. Married people can enjoy sex even when they aren’t wanting to procreate. It’s not the end of the world to have a drink or two. Smiling isn’t against the law. Admiring the beauty of God’s creation whether it be looking out over Bryce canyon, or admiring a specimen of the opposite sex (so long as you do this without lust) is sort of what God had in mind creating us. And perhaps you can’t do any of that without sin, but neither can you be miserable for life without sin. This is actually why God had to die for our sins, so that we can be forgiven for all of our lives.
But this world, well it will give you plenty to suffer no matter how much one enjoys life. Putting God to the test isn’t going to make it better. Leave your “Prayer of Jabez” on the book shelf.
2 comments:
I think that is where the enemy finds us most vulnerable--to question the Lord's goodness when life is difficult or trials come our way.
I wrote you a while back about our church's lack of elders due to the new form of church government. Well, the most amazing thing happened. Our church is currently without a pastor AGAIN, and members approached the board of servant leaders about their concern of having no spiritual shepherds in the form of elders. Apparently the board of servant leaders are more of a deacon oriented leadership. I had not spoken to anyone about my concerns in this regard, so this encouraged me that others felt the same way. Our church has suffered from lack of leadership and shepherding for years. The Lutheran Church is not a strong presence in the South. The Baptists and offshoots of non-demoninational Bible churches reign in this region as the Mormons do in Utah and Idaho. People are attracted to coffee house, entertainment style worship. I have much hope in the new leadership under Matthew Harrison. Our church has a school which flourished for many years with waiting lists for enrollment. The enrollment has dwindled with the instability of leadership--pastors who have come in and spent $ tearing down and moving walls, and then left after 4 or 5 years--feeding us with watered down sermons peppered with Beth Moore illustrations--Would my husband EVER go to a Beth Moore Bible study--and every Baptist church in town offers her studies???!!! Oh, and our DCE and school principal have both resigned in December. We have had second career pastors who seem to view the ministry as a CEO position, firing everyone on staff so they can bring in their "own staff", firing them in emails with a date to have their office cleaned out, alienating faithful members. I just don't get it. I do understand that the ministry is NOT the same as a business--that faithful pastors who stay and a build a ministry; it often takes a commitment of years and that is why the Lutheran Church is weak in the South. My daughter was fed up and her family is going to join a conservative PCA church where the pastor has been there 20 years and the congregation is stable and has flourished under his leadership. I do not feel released to leave the Lutheran church, but it is tempting at times. Our church has good people who need a true shepherd. Our last young vicar was the finest I've seen in a long time--it encouraged me greatly to see someone of his caliber. The Lutheran High School next door to our church closed last year due to financial mismanagement by leadership. The wonderful facility is now rented out to a public charter school--it is disheartening. Hope you will pray for us that God will send His servant to guide us.Sorry to ramble on so-- Guess I just needed to vent.
Sorry Anon,
I'd call the vicar though.
It's tough when pastors are coming and going so quickly. And constantly changing things up like that.
I have an aversion to reformed doctrine. Sorry I just could not ever do PCA. I could never commune their in good conscience. Even if I can get along with them over a scotch.
But I do hope you get a pastor who is faithful and stays around awhile. And doesn't pepper his sermons with Beth Moor, that is just awful. Seriously hate that tendency in pastors to lift all that reformed crap and regurgitate it.
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