Matthew 4
In the book of Matthew 4:1-11 we see that Jesus cannot be overcome by Satan and his evil schemes, his deceit nor his lies. He declares that He alone is God and He alone is to be worshiped and praised.
Verses 1-4:
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Three times the devil tempted Jesus. Three times Jesus overcame him. Jesus told him the second time, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” and later the third time He said, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
The culture in which we live today tell us to “find our own truth.” Be whoever you want to be and be proud of that, whatever or whoever that may be. I am not at all opposed to encouraging others to “be true to themselves,” but in efforts to push this agenda, we in fact have gone so far backwards that we are now encouraging people to believe a lie so long as it suits them and makes them feel better. To be true to oneself is to find contentment and confidence in exactly who God has made you to be.
Further, in our faith culture, we have begun to shy away from professing that Jesus is the one true living God, the one and only bridge to God as ransom and salvation for our sins. We say, “Find your God,” when we know indeed Scripture is very clear there is only ONE God and He came in the Trinity – the person of Jesus Christ who is the Son of the living God, who gave us the Holy Spirit as a helper to live in us to guide us until we meet with Him again in glory for all eternity.
Will we follow culture as so to not offend others by saying, “Follow the God you find to be true,” or will we stand firm and profess the ONE and ONLY true living God?”
My paraphrase from verses 12-17 tell us that Jesus, hearing that John had been put in prison, withdrew to Galilee. He went and lived in Capernaum, in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali – to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: that the people living in darkness have seen a great light and a light has dawned in the land of the shadow of death. From then on Jesus preached, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”
The Bible tells us that no one knows the day or the hour that Jesus will return but the Father. That leads me to live counter-cultural -to live urgently professing that my Jesus is the living God – to ensure that I do everything in my power with the days I have breath in my lungs, to make sure my friends know my Jesus and come to the saving grace of a relationship with our Heavenly Father.
We live so carelessly, do we not? We have wonderful lives filled with wonderful things to do with our families and friends – and I am not saying that we should stop enjoying life as such. But, I do believe we need to take a more proactive stance if we are true believers. If we truly believe in the God we say we believe in, why then do our lives not look different? Why then are we so complacent?
An underground pastor called “Pastor X” in an interview with Jennie Allen said it best, and it has rattled me to my core since the day I heard his words.
He said, “The Western culture of Christianity is walking in a satanic lullaby.”
That hit me to my core. I love this life and I love going to my home church and meeting in my small group with my Christian friends to lift each other up and pray for each other – but I believe we have come far too comfortable, far too distracted, and way too far complacent. We hold the key to life eternal and we sit on it out of fear we may offend someone. We are so selfish and self-seeking, spending all our time and money on upgrading our homes, cars, wardrobes and anything you can think of rather than meeting the needs of this world and bringing the light of Jesus to our communities and to the world. I am speaking equally to myself here.
We must wake up, for Jesus said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”
In verses 18-22 Jesus called His first disciples. He called to two fishermen who were brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” Get this next part! Verse 20: “At once they left their nets and followed him.” AT ONCE. I love this. The presence of the Savior draws immediate obedience, an immediate call to action. Next in verses 21-22 Jesus saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They also were fishermen. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Immediately - they left everything, career, family - all to follow Jesus.
In verses 23-25 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom, and healing all diseases and sicknesses among the people. As news spread all over Syria, people brought to him all who were ill, demon-possessed, seizing, the paralyzed; and He healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Large crowds followed him. He is inviting you, "Come, Follow Me!" Will you answer the call to follow Jesus, whether you already know Him and accepted Him as Lord over your life, will you answer the call to let Him lead as you follow Him in making disciples of all nations? And if you don't know Him, perhaps today is the day you answer His call, "Come, my son, my daughter, my beloved. Come and follow me."
Friends, I urge you, if you know Jesus – What are you doing with Him? Are you in a local church? When was the last time you invited someone to church, or invited someone to Jesus?
If you want more information on sharing the love of Jesus and inviting people to Him, please join me in my Share Jesus Without Fear group to ask questions, attend a discipleship event, and be a part of the Great Commission in Matthew 28 that He has called us all to. Click here to join me!
And friends who don’t know my Jesus – Who do you say Jesus is? Do you know where you will spend eternity?
If you want more information on who this Jesus is I speak of, join me in discussing who He is and how you can come to know him! I would love to hear your story and get to know you. Join me here!
Be blessed brothers and sisters,
Your beloved sister in Christ,
~Mandy
Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
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