8/24/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 2. 5-6)

“Then 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….” (Matthew 4.1-3a)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

What shall we believe then? Shall we shoot straight at or strait with one another? Or have we been given a “double-barrel” weapon with which to confront the Enemy of God and humanity? Let me place a caveat here with that last statement for all who are mighty ones of God and those who are yet to consider the call to join this community of faith in Jesus as the Christ who is the “only” way, truth and life which gains the Kingdom of God on earth as it will be in Heaven. Satan, in all his manifestations, desires to be the Enemy of God in order to magnify and glorify himself before God and all creation, above God and all creation and beyond God and all creation. What Satan desires is the overthrow of the throne of God and to take his place upon it. Of course, what Satan desires and what Satan will receive will be nothing of the sort. He wants all eyes, ears, hearts, mind, body and soul to be turned in his direction as “God of all.” He would be most satisfied for God to capitulate to his strategic plan and bow down to him. If not that, then he would most certainly prepare a place for Him to dwell for all eternity. But, the tool which Satan has used, i.e. sin, is not so centristic as that. Sin demands the focus to become self. Satan serves his need and consumes the life of others in doing so. However, the consumption happens only as souls are surrendered by those who sole purpose is to consume the lives of others to serve their own need. In the end, if there ever will be an end to that cycle of dying, they will consume each other- Satan and those who are citizens of his dark kingdom. We know that God will not surrender. Nor can God who is in, above and beyond all creation be overcome. He is invincible, undefeatable and infatigable.

So, while Satan has set himself against God and claimed the role of “Enemy of the Kingdom of God,” it is only in his dreams that he does so. It is a prophesied fate he cannot escape. From the first volley of rebellion fired on earth as it was in Heaven, God responded definitively with “…the heel of the offspring of Eve will crush the serpent’s head.” It is because of that declaration which is a divine promise, that we must embrace truth for us, too. You see, while Satan has set himself as an enemy against us also (whether we are believers or not), He also cannot be victorious if we are believers. He is victorious among non-believers and unbelievers alike only in that they have not accepted God as the Only True God of the Universe. While they are living, there is still hope for their eternal survival among the orchards of the fruit of the Spirit. We have to be able to take hope in this truth and the reality of it as God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth, His only begotten Son, who is the Christ the Messiah of God. Try as the enemy might, we are made more than conquerors in this world. We are endowed upon our profession of faith, witnessed to by our submission to be baptized and confirmed by our desire to be disciples of Jesus the Christ- VICTORY before the war has even ended. It is Satan who is overcome and overthrown and sent to a place prepared for him before the ages began. In that place there will be no light, no hope and no life as we have come to know by faith. Even the echoes of God’s mercy and grace will not be able to penetrate the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth for those who are eternally imprisoned. They are captives of their own desire to be served by all. In that place, no one will find satisfactdion because no one serves another- not one. There will be no family, friends or fellowship of kindred spirit as the Spirit was abandoned by their choice to be blasphemers. They will suffer the penalty and consequences of the “unforgivable sin.”

That was a long caveat, I confess, and beg your indulgent forgiveness. But, it does cut “straight” to the heart of the introduction. That “double-barrel” weapon, which is the Word of God incarnate, reveals the vitality of the world to speak to both Jew and Gentile. Yesterday, I reflected upon the message given by Luke as a witness of the gospel to the Gentiles. Their confession of faith and profession of Jesus as the Christ which led them to be baptized represents the urgency to “walk in the light.” New believers are filled with the relief of their spiritual freedom coming to know they are no longer in bondage to sin and its penalty of eternal dying called death. They are faithful Don Quixotes ready to tilt with the windmills of adversity, tragedy and vile effects found in a world that is sin-fected. The reality is that without a grounded support system around those new disciples, when the initial euphoria of spiritual freedom and joy ebbs so does the desire and energy to maintain the walk of faith. When maintenance wanes the desire to walk by sight waxes. To be energized by sight blinds one to the trust in God who is the “Great Unseen” that is critical to the life of righteousness. A dependence on works is substituted for works that are outpourings of gratitude. Instead of doing good in thanksgiving, works are pursued to support and earn the life of faith and grace. So, in Luke’s reflection of the transition of “living by sight” in the world to “living by faith” in the Kingdom, Jesus immediately and straightway moves out to confront the enemy who is ready to confront Him. Once defeating the enemy, then Jesus remains in the wilderness to reflect in an uninterrupted landscape about what is yet to come. The world, the people on earth, remains at risk. Satan may not face off again, at least for a time, with Jesus. Rather, Satan will attack Jesus in the same manner he attacks God- through people and systems. It is a wearying ordeal and leaves our bodies, and thus our minds, hungry for sustenance in order to press forward and accomplish all that, or as much as possible, which God has purposed us to do. That work satisfies and frees. It empowers and encourages. It bears witness and inspires others. It builds community and together they meet the needs of one another.

So, what is the double-barrel I spoke of? Well, it is introduced in Matthew’s recollection of the gospel of Jesus found at the beginning of chapter 4. I will reflect on that tomorrow. I encourage you to read it for yourself in light of these last two days look at Luke. What do you see and how do you apply that knowledge to your own walk of faith with Jesus as “the way, the truth and the life.” Until then, shalom!

TODAY’S PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, You have revealed to us best in Jesus the Christ. By Him and Him alone shall we gain the eternal life and our place in eternal rest, living for You always. Show us more and by Your Holy Spirit instruct us in the way we should go, the truth we should reveal and the life we shall live with you forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.