Do You Believe Jesus Was Tempted? (concluded)

To be tempted in all points as we are, with every temptation known to man and not give in to a single one is simply amazing.  The scriptures tell us that he was without sin.  To endure two major battles at the same time in a forty-day span is just too difficult to wrap one’s mind around without completely being mesmerized by the details.  First, the earthly battle between his spirit and his flesh and then the spiritual battle between his spirit and the devil, in which he was victorious in both.  Now, how impressed are you with the awesomeness of our high priest, Jesus Christ?  We have discovered that the level of awesomeness totally depends on whom or what a person believes Jesus to be.  While many claim to believe in Jesus, the controversy surrounding his identity has made it more and more difficult to separate the fact from the fiction.  And while we understand that you may know Jesus, bear with us as we share with everyone else some of the descriptions we found for the one every claims to know.

We found some who believe him to be God himself.  Some who believe him to be part of the three-in-one trilogy called the Trinity.  Some believe him to be only a man.  Some say he was just a myth, that he never existed.  Some believe him to be some combination of God and man, both one-hundred percent God and one-hundred percent man; or fifty percent God and fifty percent man; or some in between combination.  Some say he has no beginning because he always existed.  Others say he has always existed because he created the universe and all that we see while some say he helped the Father with creation.  Some say he has a beginning but he was, at some point created before the universe.  Still some say he has a beginning but not until he was brought forth, created in the womb of Mary.

Do You Believe Jesus Was Tempted? (continued)

So how awesome does this make our high priest, Jesus Christ?  To know that he was tempted with every temptation common to man and yet he was without sin is simply amazing.  Let us continue our examination into the temptations of our high priest.

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of (tested by) the devil.  And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered (was hungry).  And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said unto him, All this power (authority) will I give thee, and the glory of them:  for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.  If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.   And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.  And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:  for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:  and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.  And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt (test) the Lord thy God.  And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season (Luke 4:1-13).

Do You Believe Jesus Was Tempted?

Here is some food for you to digest.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

Did you know that we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities?  No, we do not.  What we do have is a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities and one who was tempted in one point as we are.

Did we say one point?  We are terribly sorry.  We meant to say is that we do have a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities and one who was tempted in two points as we are.

Wait a minute, what did we say?  Two points?  Again, we are so sorry, but we think we got it this time.  We do have a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities and one who was tempted in several points as we are.

It Is All In The Tense – Post 3

In life, there is but one divided highway, with two directions on which you can travel.  One direction is on the path where you choose to listen to the voice of the Lord and do all that he has commanded.  For simplicity sakes, let us call this direction north.  The other direction is on the path where one chooses not to listen to the voice of the Lord and not do all that he has commanded.  Let us call this direction south.  Along this divided highway, there be many median crossings that allow you to change directions any time you choose.

Now to understand the concept of something coming upon you and overtaking you, image yourself traveling north on this highway.  You look in the rear-view mirror and see this tractor-trailer coming up the highway.  As you drive further up the highway, you notice that this tractor-trailer has now come upon you and is about to overtake you.  As the tractor-trailer overtakes you, the rear doors of the trailer open up and all of these blessings begin to pour out upon you.  And as long as you drive on this road in this direction, these blessings will continue to pour out upon you.  You see the only way for this tractor-trailer, these blessings, to come upon you and overtake you is for you to be going in the same direction as it is going.  If you are going in the other direction, this particular tractor-trailer will never come upon you and overtake you.

Please understand that you can cut through the median and change directions any time that you choose.  This is totally up to you.  God allows you to make that decision, that choice.  But keep this in mind that once you start traveling south on this highway, the only tractor-trailer that can come upon you now is the one that that is traveling in that direction, which is the one that contains the curses and you know what happens when it overtakes you.  As long as you drive on this road in this direction, the curses will continue to pour out upon you.  The direction that you go will always be yours to choose and yours alone.  Now that you have this knowledge, we pray that you will choose your direction wisely.

It Is All In The Tense – Post 2

And while we have never been one to suggest or advocate changing anything that is written in the Bible, there are a few terms we want to introduce to you that just may change your mind, as it did ours when we discovered them.  However, we would like to caution you and give you fair warning that every word of God has been established as truth, therefore, do not add to or make any additions to his word, for you will be rebuked and found to be a liar (Proverbs 30:5-6).  And definitely do not take anything away from his word.

The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times (Psalm 12:16).

But here is the thing, if you be one who believes that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, then you may want to stop reading here.  What we are about to share with you will go against all that you believe the Bible to be and our intent is not to offend but to inform.  However, if you believe differently, then please continue.

The first thing you need to do is to determine what is the word of God.  Then, you will need to be able to tell the difference between the words of God and the words of others.  And by the words of others, we are referring to the original writers of The Scriptures.  We would also like to include all of the interpreters, all of the scholars, all of the translators, and anyone else, who has had a hand in putting together the words of old in the format that we use today called the Bible.  While the Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God (II Timothy 3:16), it does not mean that every word in the Bible is that of God.  God inspired men to write all that is recorded but not every word recorded is that of God.  And while we believe that God would not allow his words to be misrepresented, this does not mean that the men who were given the task of interpreting and translating those inspired words did not interject, at times, some of their beliefs, some of the things that they were taught, or their own interpretations of what they were translating.  We believe this is why God tells us to study to show ourselves approve unto him, that we may righty divide the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15).  With that being said, let us move forward.

It Is All In The Tense – Post 1

There are many people who have been taught and lead to believe that God is responsible for all the tragedy in the world.  They believe he is responsible for the earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, and all the other natural disasters that take place.  Most often in those situations where such disasters occur, you will quite often hear the phrase, an act of God associated with them.  In legal terms, the phrase, an act of God is defined as any extraordinary interruption caused solely by the effect of nature or natural causes that no one can reasonably foresee or prevent; it is a natural catastrophe caused without any interference by humans whatsoever.

Then there are those who believe God is responsible for the daily struggles that so many go through every day, such as depression, fear, worry, anxiety, confusion, doubt, discouragement, low self-esteem, poverty, sickness, and death.  They have been taught and truly believe that everyone suffers these things because this is the will of God.  That old cliché, God will not put more on you than you can bear, appears to fall in line with the old teachings that God is responsible for the things that happen to us.  They also believe that God uses these things so that he can chasten his children.  They are convinced that there is some type of life lesson that God wants his children to learn through these experiences.

NAIVETY

Naivety is and will always be a part of life, but at some point, you have to grow.  And the only way to grow is to seek.  You have to seek knowledge.  Knowledge is power, misinformation destruction.  Think of it as if you were planting a sapling.  You would dig a hole and plant the sapling in the soil.  Once planted in the soil, the sapling would be surrounded by minerals, nutrients, and water that would enable it to grow.  But it is the sapling that must take up root in the soil so that it can start to grow.  It must reach out with these roots so that it can have an opportunity to grow.

And once these roots are extended, they will serve as support for the sapling, drawing in minerals, nutrients, and water from the surrounding soil.  And as the root system of the tree develops, the tree grows from one stage to the next; for example from the infancy stage to a youth stage.  And with each stage of growth, it is the roots that have to continue to seek more and more minerals, more and more nutrients, and more and more water from the soil, if the tree is to continue to grow.  As the roots seek more and more the tree will grow more and more.

It is the same way with you.  When you come to God, God plants you in the soil.  Yes, that is right.  God digs a hole and plants you in the soil of his word.  Once planted in the soil, you are surrounded by knowledge, wisdom, and discernment – all the things that will enable you to grow.  God has provided for you knowledge through his word, wisdom through understanding, and discernment through perception to encourage you to grow.