Dear Friends,
Sometimes your heart is heavy from the weight of the world. It can be from choices made that do not affect you directly, but ones that you know will hold a long-term detrimental effect on the choice maker. Many times, a person will think they need to blaze their own path, make their own decisions, and do things their way. They often use the excuse, “It’s my life, so what does it matter?”
Let me tell you if it goes against God’s word, it matters.
The decisions we make today will likely stick with us through our whole life. Shame, regret, or even just the eventual consequences can not be erased. The deed lasts but a moment, but the repercussions last much longer. Broken trust then casts doubt on your future decisions. You lose the blessing of being known as a truth teller. Instead, every decision you make will be evaluated in the light of past choices.
So how do we lead and guide those in our care, mainly our children, to follow the Lord in all their decisions. I remind myself that nobody is a ‘grandfathered’ Christian. They have to make the choice for themselves to believe. When they only know what we tell them, they are still on the milk. One of my children recently remarked, “I only know that is wrong because you told me.” This child has been spoon fed, nursed along, as we hope and pray they will start to grow in God’s word. Then they will desire the meat of his word.
1 Corinthians 3:2 “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.”
The mistakes we make come down to three simple thoughts taken from scripture when the devil was tempting Christ in the wilderness.
Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do 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 splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
The devil offered Christ physical nourishment – The Lust of the Flesh – This could be food, sex, or any other physical addicting things in our lives.
Next in verse 5, he offered Christ the opportunity to show his importance – The Lust of Significance - You will often hear a braggart saying how important he is or see people making themselves out to be more than they are. They are desiring to be significant.
Finally, in verse in verse 8, the devil offers Christ the opportunity to control all the kingdoms of the world – The Lust of Eyes or Covetousness – Christ already owns all of this, but the devil has been given a brief time to be the ruler of it. He was offering for Christ to acknowledge his superiority and then he would hand over his time of ruling.
Christ knew truth. He did not need the devil’s watered-down version of scripture. He knows the meat of the word and so he commanded satan to flee.
Ephesians 6:10-11 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
I hope as you fight your battles today that you can stand firm on the word. Have you opened your bible today? This week? This year? Ever? You will never stand firm if you rely of the milk…
Blessings sweet friends…
｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
I still believe in Millie’s Miracle
｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ Hebrews 11:1 ｡･:*:･ﾟ☆
︵‿︵‿୨☆୧‿︵‿︵
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