Honest Reflections

Two-minute read.

“Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 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,’”

Matthew 4:5

Snatch and force.

Unlike the first temptation, when God led Jesus into the wilderness, Satan “took him” to the holy city. The devil likes to do anything he can to take us away from God and His calling on our lives. The holy city refers to Jerusalem, the city dedicated to God, set apart from the law and separated from the world. Satan likes to appeal to the worst part of us, hoping he can con us into falling for his ploys.

Knowing Christ will respond with scripture, Satan beats him to the punch, quoting from Psalm 91:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,” and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 91:11-12

The devil knows scripture, probably better than we do. And he uses it against us, playing with our thoughts and actions. But we follow a Savior who knows all of Satan’s ploys and doesn’t fall for any of them. With eleven words, Christ defeats His enemy:

‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Matthew 4:7

One of my recent tests involved listening to the right voice. Walking to the first tee of the golf course, my leg swelled, and pain radiated up my leg. Silently praying, I asked the Lord for direction. The devil whispered in my ear, “Play golf,” but immediately, I knew that didn’t seem right. “Lord, is that You?” I asked. “Play golf,” again flew into my brain. But the Holy Spirit nudged me, and I heard the still small voice say, “Tell Ron.”  I knew which voice to listen to and immediately told Ron how my leg felt. Shoving his club into his golf bag, he said, “Let’s go.” Taking me to the hospital and saving my life. If I had listened to the devil’s whispers, I would have died. Satan leads us on the path of destruction, but God leads us on the road to eternal life with Him.

Satan whispers in our ears, trying to snatch us and force us on the path to death. But God speaks from within our hearts, His Holy Spirit guiding and directing us. We must pay attention to the voices we hear.   Asking the Lord for wisdom and discernment will help us decipher between the voices. We can avoid temptation and overcome trials by following the still, small voice from within that comes from God.

Journal Questions:

• How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
• What voices have led you astray?
• How can you discern God’s voice in your life?

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for leading us on the path of life. Forgive us for following the wrong voices, letting the devil lead us astray. Bless us with Your wisdom and discernment so that we can distinguish Your still, small voice. Help us live fully, following You on the path of righteousness, discovering the joy and peace that only You can give. In all things, we give You the glory. IJNIP. Amen

Two-minute read.

“And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 

Matthew 4:3

Fleshly desires.

When Jesus began His ministry, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to spend 40 days fasting and praying before fulfilling His mission. The Devil came, tempting Jesus. The first temptation concerned the lust of the flesh. To satisfy His hunger, Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread and satisfy His fleshly desires.

“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’“ Matthew 4:1-4

Jesus, fully human and divine, had to endure the temptations to help us understand how to face the Devil’s ploys. Spending 40 days without food meant Christ must learn absolute trust and dependence on His heavenly Father. By tempting Jesus to meet His fleshly desire, the enemy wanted Him to doubt God. Satan likes to get a foothold in our lives, where we doubt our Maker and His provision. Niggling thoughts like, “God won’t meet your needs” or “The Lord doesn’t care about your bills” causes doubt. The Devil wants nothing more than to put cracks in our faith that tear us from God.

On a recent camping weekend at OBX, Ron and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. As we approached the line, we watched a young girl, smiling broadly, emptying the grocery cart and placing items on the revolving black belt. When Mom came up a few moments later, she had no smile. Looking at the total, I realized why.

“You saved $93. Your total is $725.43,” said the cashier.

Ron and I looked at each other, amazed. As a family of two, our grocery bill doesn’t come near that amount. Immediately, I began to pray for the family and the burden of buying groceries in today’s economy. With inflation but not rising salaries, families must bear the burden of paying higher prices. At times like these, the Devil can easily make people doubt God’s provision. However, the Lord will provide in ways we often can’t imagine.

Faith means believing in what we can’t see. Where we can’t see a solution, God can. But we must trust Him for the answer, which typically means waiting for His timing. In Jesus’s case, He had 40 days of not eating; God might ask something different from us. But when we place our faith in the Lord and trust Him to meet the desires of our flesh, He will provide. God cares about every aspect of our lives. We can find victory over Satan’s ploys in Him.

Journal Questions:

• How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
• How have fleshly desires tempted you?
• What lies does the Devil whisper in your ear?

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for showing us how to overcome the lies of the tempter. Protect us from Satan getting a foothold in our lives and causing us to doubt You.  Strengthen our faith for the battle, help us overcome our doubts, and, like Jesus, have absolute trust in You.  Give us victory over the enemy’s ploys. IJNIP. Amen

Two-minute read.

“After fasting forty days and forty nights, he [Jesus] was hungry.”

Matthew 4:2

Introducing Jesus.

After Jesus declares His status as the Son of God, He enters a period of fasting before beginning His ministry.  Paralleling the Israelite’s 40 years of wandering, Jesus spends 40 days fasting in the desert, enduring the enemy’s temptations.  During this time, Christ undergoes three tests of His relationship with God.  Not taking advantage of His connection to our heavenly Father, Jesus resists the temptations by relying on Scripture from Deuteronomy 6-8.  In other words, fully human, Jesus accepted His God-given task without pulling rank, setting an example for us to follow.

Where the Israelites failed, Jesus succeeded.  The lessons the Israelites should have learned but didn’t, Christ experiences and conquers through obedience, thus creating the basis for His ministry and creating a “new Israel.”  God doesn’t tempt us, but He does test us.  We can’t learn the next lesson until we learn the current one.

In February of 2023, I had my first blood clot.  After vascular surgeons removed it, I changed my lifestyle for a few months and eventually went back to my old ways.  Exactly a year to the day later, I had a second blood clot.  When my heart wanted to know why, my prayers focused on what.  What didn’t I learn the first time God wanted me to learn?  As I lay in the dark hospital room alone in my bed, I cried out to the Lord.

“What do you think you’ve learned from the last five days?” the hospital chaplain asked me on his second visit to my room.

“Trust,” I responded after thinking for a moment.  One word came to mind as I reflected on my desperate prayers, asking for God’s salvation and more time on Earth.  God wanted me to trust Him, no matter what.  The Lord reminded me that every breath I take comes from Him; the next one not guaranteed.  Hopefully, I won’t endure that test again, and God will give me decades more to live, the lesson learned one I won’t quickly forget.

God will test us in life’s journey, as He did Jesus.  Following Christ teaches us how to pass the test and move forward.  We can succeed through obedience, trusting God’s word, and becoming sensitive to the Holy Spirit within us, like Jesus.  Our Savior started His ministry in the desert, enduring the enemy’s temptations and setting an example we can follow.  Meet Jesus, our Champion, who shows us the way to victory.

Journal Questions:

• How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
• What lesson does God want you to learn?
• Have God tested you more than once in the same area?

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for Your saving grace and long-suffering patience with our foolishness.  As we move through our day, help us learn the lessons You have for us.  Let us become more like Christ as we do what He did.  Plant scripture in our hearts to rebuke the enemy’s attacks and let us find victory in Jesus.  IJNIP. Amen

Two-minute read.

“So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah.”

1 Samuel 7:6

Poured out.

Samuel, appointed judge over Israel, calls the people together to fast and pray. Pouring out of water symbolized repentance for their sinful ways. During Samuel’s reign, he would appoint two kings, Saul and David. The wandering ark rested in Jerusalem during David’s reign. Israel’s weakness came from their idolatry, their unfaithfulness causing divine punishment, but genuine repentance reversed the situation.

Today, we can pour out our sins to the Lord and, like the Israelites, experience God’s unending grace. Everyone strays. The battlefield of the mind never ends for me. Each day that passes, I become more aware of how thoughts lead to actions, which causes me to pay more attention to what I think. And I have evil thoughts sometimes; they fill me with shame, how dark my mind can go. I constantly ask the Lord for forgiveness because of some wayward thought.

And sometimes, I don’t manage to control them. On a recent golf outing, I lost my temper with two teenagers trespassing on the course. Lounging in the sun by the bunker, my ball came within 10 feet of them. Approaching them, I lost my temper when they treated me with a complete lack of respect for my concern for their safety. Entitlement poured from them as I tried to explain the situation to them, only making me angrier. Finally, they left, but not without attitude and sassy words. And I once again confessed my anger to the Lord, mad at myself for letting them get under my skin.

God forgives and understands our sinful nature. As our Creator, the Lord knows our weaknesses and helps us turn them into strengths when we give them to Him. Humble hearts discover the Lord’s grace when they seek Him.  Just like God forgave the Israelites, He forgives me and you. Repenting and pouring out our hearts to the Lord will bring peace and allow us to try again.

Fasting helps us focus on the Lord by removing distractions and seeking Him for provision. Pouring out our hearts cleanses us. Wrestling through our sinful nature, seeking forgiveness, and accepting responsibility for our actions leads to righteous living, one day at a time. In Christ, we can find all we need to persevere on the journey, honoring and glorifying God with humble hearts and repentant attitudes.

Journal Questions:

• How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
• What do you need to seek forgiveness for today?
• How can humbling yourself before the Lord help you find healing?

Prayer:

Lord, forgive our sinful ways. Help us recognize and acknowledge the areas in our lives we must confess to You.  As we allow You to search our hearts, illuminate the dark places, and bring them into Your eternal light. Let us find strength in our weakness as we confess our sins, humble our hearts, and align our will with Yours. IJNIP. Amen

Two-minute read.

“The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.”

Jonah 3:5

Supreme God.

Jonah, a prophet of the Lord, tells Ninevah they will perish in forty days. Believing the prophet, the Ninevites dawn cloth made from goat hair, the coarsest of fabrics, typically worn by the poor, prisoners, and slaves, as a standard of fasting. Sackcloth represented mourning; prophets wore it to associate themselves with the underprivileged and partly as a sign of mourning for the people’s sins. The Ninevites wore sackcloths to symbolize their total dependence on God, understanding that without His protection, they would perish.

In one of the most famous Biblical stories, Jonah didn’t want to travel to Ninevah to share the Lord’s message because he knew what they would do. An important city with a population of at least 120,000, Jonah knew if the Ninevites repented, God would save them, and the prophet didn’t think they deserved saving. So, Jonah ended up in the belly of a whale, where he realized he couldn’t outrun God or His calling.

The Ninevites didn’t disappoint Jonah; they repented, and the Lord saved them. Jonah learned a valuable lesson in obedience and God’s sovereignty. Even the king of Ninevah left his throne, putting on sackcloth and joining his people in repentance. The supreme God heard their pleas, answered their prayers, and delivered them from impending destruction.

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” Luke 6:27-28

Praying for our enemies takes intention. Who wants those who hurt and persecute us to receive God’s blessing? I don’t blame Jonah for his unwillingness to share a message with the Ninevites with a vile reputation. Praying for someone I perceive as an enemy and asking God to bless them challenges me to the core. Instead of salvation, I want justice, but God doesn’t want anyone to perish, and neither should we.

Remembering our sinfulness helps to bring things into perspective. Each of us falls short of the mark of perfection. None of us deserve God’s grace and mercy. We may prevail in one area, but we fail in others. My sin may differ from someone else’s, but we share the same fate unless we repent and receive the supreme God’s salvation. Like Jonah, we will accept God’s sovereignty and unconditional love for all, not just those we think deserve it. Anyone who turns to the Lord humbles themselves before Him and seeks salvation will find it, no matter how badly they have sinned.

Journal Questions:

• How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
• Who do you struggle to pray for in your life?
• How can accepting God’s sovereignty help you today?

Prayer:

Lord, forgive us for not wanting our enemies to receive Your saving grace. Please help us pray for our enemies, soften our hearts, and allow us to accept Your sovereignty. As we move through our days, let us become more like Jesus, loving all, excluding no one, and supporting those who need help. As we accept Your saving grace, let us share it freely with all we meet. IJNIP. Amen

Two-minute read.

“‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.”

Isaiah 58:3-7

Pointless fasting.

Living in disobedience, the people acted like they wanted to do God’s will, using fasting to show their earnestness. Obeying God came second to continuing their rebellious lifestyle; the people thought if they went through the motions of fasting, the Lord would let them continue doing what they wanted. Isaiah exposes their hypocrisy by pointing out their fasting didn’t come from a place of spiritual motivation. Fasting out of a sense of duty doesn’t produce fruitful prayers but causes irritability. The people made their laborers work harder, taking their foul moods out on them.

Trying to manipulate God doesn’t work. As we learned with Ahab, you can’t fool the Lord with half-hearted fasts meant only to gain your desires. Our Creator knows everything about us, including the motivations behind our actions. God didn’t put us on Earth to serve ourselves and meet our fleshly desires. Earnest and sincere fasting and prayer bring the Lord’s blessings, but half-hearted attempts don’t work.

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” 2 Cor. 7:9-10

God wants repentant hearts that produce a godly grief. Repentance means “sorrow for anything done or said; the pain or grief which a person experiences in consequences of the injury or inconvenience produced by his own conduct.”[1]Recognizing and acknowledging our disobedience, then confessing it to the Lord, leads to receiving God’s saving grace and eternal life. 

Speaking to the house of Jacob, Isaiah pointed out their insincerity and why they didn’t receive an answer from the Lord.  God only listens to sincere hearts, filled with repentance, humbled before Him, that genuinely desire to align themselves with His will. When we come to the Lord with humility, He listens and answers. But foolish attempts to manipulate the Lord go unheard.

Don’t kid a kidder; don’t try to pull one over on the Lord.  God knows our hearts better than we do. Humbling ourselves before Him and seeking His will transforms our lives.

Journal Questions:

• How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
• When have you tried to fool God?
• How can you align your heart with God’s today?

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for loving us despite our sinful ways. Please help us to recognize and acknowledge our foolish behavior. Soften our hearts and let us come humbly before You, seeking Your will. Make us sensitive to the Holy Spirit within us, allowing us to align our hearts with Yours, obeying You in all we do. IJNIP. Amen

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[1]https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/Repentance#:~:text=1.,produced%20by%20his%20own%20conduct.

One-minute read.

“When we come to the end of ourselves, we come to the beginning of God.” Billy Graham

On this Sabbath, come to the end of yourself and the beginning of God. Whatever troubles plagued you in the past week, lay them at the foot of the cross. Bare your soul to the Creator, basking in reverence for Him, finding refuge in His sanctuary. Open your heart and allow the Lord to search it, revealing the areas you haven’t given Him yet. Let go of the stresses of this world and embrace the peace found only through Jesus. In Christ, we can find true rest.

Let this Sabbath refuel your spirit as you reflect on God’s sovereignty. With one hand, receive Christ’s love; with the other hand, share what you’ve found. Become more like Jesus as you pursue Him wholeheartedly, reveling in His grace and mercy. Have reverence for the great I AM. No one compares to the Lord; nothing can replace what we find in Him: unconditional love, everlasting peace, boundless grace, and unending strength.

Two-minute read.

“Where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.”

Luke 4:2

Conquered Temptation.

Jesus’s ministry begins with forty days in the desert with the enemy tempting Him.  Christ faced three temptations: lust of the flesh, pride of life, and lust of the eyes. First, the devil tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread to satisfy His hunger. Then Satan tempts Christ to take authority of the kingdoms of the world if Jesus worships him. And thirdly, the enemy tempts Jesus to test God’s promise to protect His life. Jesus responds to every temptation with scripture, resisting all the devil’s ploys.

Like Jesus, the better we know scripture, the more we can use it to overcome the enemy’s ploys. Satan roams the Earth, looking to devour Christ’s followers (1 Peter 5:8). We can stand firm in the face of temptation by relying on God’s word and the firm foundation we find in Jesus. Where Israel failed in the desert, Jesus succeeded because of His obedience to God’s commands, conquering temptation.

God doesn’t tempt people to do evil, nor will He succumb to temptation. People test the Lord with unreasonable demands, as the Israelites did in the desert. God may test people, as He did the Israelites, but He doesn’t tempt them. When we cling to the Lord, resisting the enemies’ schemes, we will experience His pleasure, as Jesus did.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” 1 Cor. 10:13

God provides a way out of the temptations we face. Jesus shows us how using scripture and obedience, He defeated the devil’s ploys. Remembering that we do have an enemy that wants to destroy us AND that we share in Christ’s victory helps us overcome the devil’s ploys. “Not today, Satan,” a common slogan on t-shirts and mugs, always makes me smile. Every time I feel an attack from the devil, I mutter those words, reminding myself of the victory I have in Jesus.

When tempted, turn to Jesus. Call the Creator for help, look for the escape route, and take it. Divine power gives divine deliverance. On our strength, we will fail, but partnered with Christ, we will experience victory. 

In Christ alone, my hope is found.
He is my light, my strength, my song.
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here, in the love of Christ, I stand.

(In Christ Alone, by Michael English)

Journal Questions:

• How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
• What temptation do you need Jesus’ help overcoming?
• How have you found victory in Jesus?

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for giving us Jesus as an example to overcome the temptations of this world. As we endure the enemy’s attacks, let him not get a foothold in our lives. Protect us from the devil’s ploys, and give us victory in Jesus. Let Satan’s ploys bounce off us, leaving no mark and causing no harm. IJNIP. Amen

Two-minute read.

“When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.”

1 Kings 21:27

Boundless mercy.

King Ahab wanted Naboth’s plot of land to plant a vegetable garden. Naboth didn’t want to part with his family’s inheritance, so he declined the king’s offer to purchase or replace the parcel. When Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, learns of the problem, she instantly begins scheming and eventually has Naboth and his sons stoned, giving the king the land. God sent His prophet Elijah to condemn the couple; they would experience a terrible death by dogs at the very place where Naboth had died.

Hearing God’s message, Ahab tore his clothes, fasting and praying, seeking God’s boundless mercy, which he received. Jezebel, a non-believer, did not, dying a gruesome death. Sincerely remorseful, Elijah’s message influenced Ahab and caused him to repent. However, no evidence exists that the king’s character changed, producing goldy repentance and genuine faith. Ahab didn’t appear to alter his idolatrous ways, yet God graciously extended boundless mercy to a thankless generation.

How often, when in crisis, do we plead with God for mercy, only to return to our old ways once we receive it? People have short memories; once the challenge disappears, so does our loyalty. True repentance comes with a character change. Our actions will reflect our hearts:

“As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” Proverbs 27:19

Living with the Holy Spirit in our hearts will change our actions. People will see the difference. We will no longer live for ourselves, instead putting God and others first. Generosity will begin to mark our actions, love will flow freely, and as we receive the Lord’s boundless mercy, we will let it flow from our hearts to those around us. 

Scrolling through Facebook, I saw an anonymous meme that said, “The best apology is changed behavior.” Truly repentant hearts change their actions, becoming more like Jesus. A favorite prayer of mine contains six words, “More of You, less of me.” My fleshly desires have a strong will, but God’s Spirit within me transforms my outward actions. Only when we submit and obey will we find actual change and exhibit Godly behavior. Without the Lord, we remain the same; with Him, we can change the world.

Journal Questions:

• How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
• What area of my life must I submit to the Lord?
• How do my actions reflect my heart?

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for giving us boundless mercy despite our wicked ways. Help us become more like You with every day that passes, denying our fleshly desires, picking up our crosses, and following You.  Transform our lives as You transform our hearts, helping us to overcome the flesh and live in the Spirit. IJNIP. Amen

Two-minute read.

“David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground.”

2 Samuel 12:16

David’s pleading.

After David slept with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, she became pregnant. Still married to another man, King David devised a way to kill him. Calling Uriah from the battlefield, the king filled him with decadent foods and fine wine, then sent him home to sleep with his wife. Uriah, a man of honor, refused to enjoy marital pleasures when his men battled valiantly. And so David sends orders with Uriah to deliver to Joab, the army commander.  David ordered Joab to place Uriah in the fiercest fighting so he would get killed.

Once Uriah dies, David marries Bathsheba. God sends a prophet to David, who informs the king that he will suffer God’s justice, the sword never leaves his house, and the unborn child will die. Desperate, David tears his clothing, puts on sackcloth, and pleads with God through prayer and fasting to spare the child. However, the Lord remained faithful to His word, the baby died, and David got the answer to his pleading.

“For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.'” 2 Samuel 12:12

What David did secretly, the Lord chastised publicly. God sees all we do and responds to our actions. The king didn’t repent until Nathan pointed out his flaws. David would have continued his deceitful path if the prophet hadn’t come. But God publicly responded to David’s secret activities, exposing the warrior’s wicked ways. When David tried to manipulate God through fasting and prayer, it didn’t work. Once his son died, David took off the sackcloth and accepted his fate.

God does love us and wants the best for us. Trying to manipulate the Lord through prayer and fasting to ignore our misdeeds and bless us anyway doesn’t work. David’s pleading did not affect God’s decision. We serve a just and holy God who tells us sin has consequences. The Lord does forgive us, but we still endure the fallout from our misguided decisions. 

When I racked up credit card debt, God forgave me, but I still had to repay the borrowed money. Yes, the Lord could have made my debt disappear, but I wouldn’t have learned the lesson if He did. And if David didn’t suffer the consequences of his actions, he wouldn’t know either. Bad decisions lead to unfavorable outcomes.

Seek God before you head down a wayward path. Let Him correct your direction before you end up in a mess like David.

Journal Questions:

• How can I apply today’s devotion to my life?
• When have you tried to manipulate God with your prayers?
• How can prayer and fasting help you stay on the path of righteousness?

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for teaching us a valuable lesson from David’s actions. Help us avoid making the same mistake, following after our desires without consulting You.  As we seek You through fasting and prayer, guide us on the path of righteousness, leading us away from temptation and helping us to find life to the fullest in You.  Let our heart’s desires align with Yours. IJNIP. Amen