Author: emmanuelpcgateshead

FRIDAY October 18^th

 

Luke 4:13

‘And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.’

 

Luke has only recorded three specific temptations, but he does say that for forty days, Jesus was being tempted by the devil. And the three recorded follow on from Luke saying, ‘And when they were ended’, that is the forty days. So, many other temptations would have taken place. And from our text today we can be sure that other temptations would have followed during the three ministry years of Jesus. But straight on from the verse today in verse 14 we read ‘And Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Spirit’.

 

Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit as he went into the wilderness experience and let’s note that he was also led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness experience, and there is no doubt that he was sustained by the Holy Spirit as he went through the wilderness experience, for he came though the other side of the experience in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

O how we need the Holy Spirit in our lives today. Temptation is all around us, and in and of ourselves we would find it very difficult to avoid falling into the temptations, but the Holy Spirit equips us with power to say no and to be victorious. And not only so, when the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray, part of the prayer he encouraged them to say was ‘and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil’, and so we can pray each day that we will not fall into temptation. And then a third factor, of which we are reminded by the Hebrew writer is that Jesus as our example, has known what it is to be tempted in all points, that is in the many ways in which we are tempted, and yet he managed to remain without sin. Therefore, he is able to help us when we are tempted to overcome the temptations and to give us the enabling strength to be victorious, Hebrews 2:18, 4:15.

 

In one of the older hymns, the story is told of the man who sat by the roadside begging, and of how Jesus came by and met him and delivered him. The chorus of the hymn continues with:

 

When Jesus comes the tempter’s power is broken,

When Jesus comes the tears are wiped away,

He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,

For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.

 

The tempters power is broken! The devil has no control over us! if you know Jesus as your Saviour, learn to recognise the power that is available for you and I for myself to overcome the temptations that the devil throws out across our pathway. The same hymn has as the final verse

 

So men today (and women) have found the Saviour able,

They could not conquer passion, lust and sin,

Their broken hearts had left them sad and lonely,

Then Jesus came and dwelt, himself within.

 

Let us all allow the One who himself when tempted, yielded not into the temptation, help us to also not give in when being tempted and to stand strong.

THURSDAY October 17^th

 

Luke 4:9-13

‘And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.’

 

We come to the third of the temptations that have been recorded by Luke in his gospel, and this time it is to do with tempting Jesus to test God, by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple to see if God would send angels to save him. Notice how the devil knew Old Testament scripture, but he didn’t compare scripture with scripture, for yes, God could have sent his angels to save Jesus, but in the first place there was another important scripture which Jesus used in response, which was ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’. The devil was quoting from Psalm 91:11 and Jesus from Deuteronomy 6:16.

 

The devil will always try to twist or misrepresent what God has said and what is written in the word of God It is exactly what he did with Eve when he asked her in the garden of Eden what it was that God had instructed them regarding the tree in the midst of the garden. And he will always try his best to misrepresent the word of God to us, he will try to distort the truth, or to dress something up to make it seem okay with the hope that we will take the bait and fall for it. As we saw a couple of days ago, we need to be careful, keeping our eye out for the traps that he will try to set up to catch us.

 

I am having a spot of bother with a mole in my garden at present, he seems to be able to avoid everything I do to try to trap him, he seems to be in a particular spot one moment, and then I discover that he is somewhere else, he is managing to evade me. We need to be like the mole and ensure that we evade the traps that the devil keeps putting up to catch us out, and following the example of Jesus we need to learn the word of God so that when Satan does tempt us, lure us and try to bring us down, we can quote the word of God, for there is an authority in the word that he will not be able to withstand.

And on another note, let us make sure that we don’t misquote or misrepresent scripture, but be faithful to a correct interpretation, ensuring we are comparing one scripture with another, to get the right balance and sound doctrine.

WEDNESDAY October 16^th

 

Luke 4:5-8

‘And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”’

 

The second of the temptations which we have recorded in Luke’s gospel that the devil sought to distract Jesus with, was all about worship.

 

Imagine the cheek of the devil to try and get the Son of God, who is the Word in the flesh, that is God as a man to worship him. I thought to myself as I prepared this, ‘How stupid the devil must have been’ for Jesus who we have already discovered was about his Father’s business, would also have known the command that his Father had given to the children of Israel way back in the time of their wilderness experience, ‘I am the Lord your God. . . You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God . . .’ (Exodus 20:2-5).

 

Now, maybe the devil is stupid, but unfortunately, he is also subtle! And he will put whatever he can in front of you and I, position things in our lives that will if we are not careful cause us to take our eyes of the true and living God who deserves our full attention, and we become stupid! We begin to (and maybe we do not realise it) worship other things instead of making the worship of God our priority. We allow other things to become more important in our lives than being and becoming the person that God longs for us to be. And one of the biggest areas is when the devil will convince us that several other things are more important on a Sunday morning rather than making our way up to the house of the Lord where we join with others to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

 

Who or what do we seek after rather than to give 100% of our lives to the Lord God? What takes up priority in our lives that means that we cannot truly say that we are committed to loving the Lord God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our might. What have we allowed to be gods or idols in our lives that have distracted or diverted our attention from the One who not only deserves but has the right to demand, my soul, my life, my all.

TUESDAY October 15^th

 

Luke 4:1-4

‘And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ”’

 

We will consider today the first of the temptations that are recorded for us that Jesus was faced with as he spent the time in the wilderness. Notice it says that the three that are recorded happened at the end of the forty days. We don’t have a record of every attack that the devil would have brought to Jesus in the forty days, for there is no doubt that from day one, the devil would have sought to distract Jesus.

 

It is Peter who reminds us that the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking out those who he can devour, (1 Peter 5:8). Adam faced the devil in the Garden of Eden, and he failed at the first hurdle (Genesis 3), but Jesus who became the second Adam, faced the devil in the wilderness and we are so grateful that he prevailed.

 

You and I are faced with the prowling devil every day, he will use his myriads to try to catch us out and to trip us up in so many different ways, it could be through our peers, it may even be through a family member, a work colleague, it could be through something we do, somewhere we go, even something we may read or watch.

 

Notice it says that Jesus was hungry, and so the temptation was to do with food. ‘Command these stones to become bread’. Whatever it is that we allow ourselves to hunger after, the devil will use it to try to tempt us, that is why we need to learn from the example of Jesus, and as he replied ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’ so we also must reply to the enemy of our soul, ‘we don’t live for the things that you have to offer me’ and then add to it the very words of Jesus himself which is that it is those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be the ones filled or satisfied.

 

Are you hungry today, and I mean spiritually hungry, don’t be tempted to be filled or satisfied with the things of the world, the carrot(s) that the devil dangles in front of you, the result will be that you will end up with a spiritual belly ache, you will be spiritually starved and end up spiritually dead. Jesus who is our example, who resisted the devil and the temptation to change the stones into bread, is himself the living bread , he is also the living water, feast on him, feast on his word and know what it is to be spiritually alive and spiritually satisfied.

MONDAY October 14^th

 

We come today to look at the second event in the life of Jesus that we need to consider before he arrived at the ‘synagogue moment’ in Luke 4 which I have been leading up to and it is found in the same chapter. Luke 4 and in verses 1-13, but we will use for today just verses 1-2.

 

‘And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.’

 

‘And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit . . . was led by the Spirit’.

 

In our previous devotion we considered that the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove and ‘rested’ upon Jesus. But here today in our text we see that the Holy Spirit was IN Jesus, for he was full of the Holy Spirit, and he was led by the Holy Spirit.

 

Now, remember that Jesus was God in the flesh, so why did he need the Holy Spirit? Well, he needed the Holy Spirit in his humanity. He had laid aside as we sing in a chorus, his majesty, he had humbled himself, to become a man, and as a man he needed the help of and the power of the Holy Spirit. In his humanity Jesus would become tired, hungry, and he was as we see about to be tempted. But he was going to enter this time of temptation equipped with the Holy Spirit’s help and power.

 

We will look at the three temptations over the next few devotions, but will skip over them for now to see what Luke continues to record in verse 18 of the same chapter, ‘And Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Spirit to Galilee . . .’

 

It was essential for Jesus to be filled with and led by the Holy Spirit to fulfil the mission he was about to embark on. We will see this when we come to the first statement Jesus makes as he stands up in the synagogue later in this same chapter, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to. . .’ And as we see later it was a requirement for the disciples as they were going to carry out the commission given them to go into all the world and to make disciples, for Jesus tells them to wait first till they had been endued or clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

As the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit has been given to us so we can also be empowered and equipped to fulfil whatever it is that God requires each of us to be involved in has we seek to live for him and serve him daily.

 

It leads me to end this devotion with my theme text for this year, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts’, Zechariah 4:6.

FRIDAY October 11^th

 

Luke 3:21-22

‘Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”’

 

The first thing that Jesus needed to do was to be baptized in the Jordan river, but I say ‘needed’ carefully, for the baptism that was taking place by the man known as John the Baptist was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. And Jesus being sinless, had no need of repentance. But what he needed to do, was to identify himself with the people. In Matthews account Jesus says to John that it was fitting for him to fulfil all righteousness. He in being presented to the people wanted to show to them that he was willing, although it wasn’t necessary for himself to fulfil that which was required by them.

 

But the part of the verses that I want to draw our attention to is what followed immediately after Jesus had been baptized by John.

 

From Luke as above, ‘. . . the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”’

 

Matthew’s record 3:16-17 says this ‘the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

 

Mark 1:10–11 reads as ‘. . . immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”’

 

If ever there are verses that help us to see the doctrine of the trinity which we considered back a week or so as we commenced these devotions it is these. The people who witnessed the baptism, would have heard the voice of God the Father, they would have seen the Holy Spirit has he descended and rested on Jesus like a dove, and they would have heard the declaration that was made, that Jesus was the ‘beloved Son’ in whom God the Father was pleased.

 

Now, God was pleased with Jesus in every way, but specifically here, can I suggest that he was pleased that his Son had willingly identified himself with those around him by submitting to the baptism.

 

Baptism is one of the two ordinances that the Protestant arm of the Church believes and practise as being important to the Church, the other being the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, communion.

 

We follow through with both ordinances in obedience to the instruction of Jesus.

Regarding water baptism, in the commission that he gave to his disciples, he told them to ‘Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’, see here is the unity of the three persons of the Godhead again, the trinitarian baptism formula.

 

Regarding communion, the instruction that Jesus gave was as noted by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, ‘to do this’ (that is break bread together and to drink of the cup together) ‘in remembrance of me’ and in doing it we are proclaiming the Lord’s death until he comes.

 

Have you in coming to faith been obedient to the ordinance of water baptism? And let’s be faithful as believers (for it is only those who have come to faith in Christ who should participate in Communion) in coming on a regular basis to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together.

THURSDAY October 10^th

 

We are going to jump today a few years from Jesus being a twelve-year-old boy in the temple, to being a man of aprox’30 years of age found in the synagogues.

 

That is 18 years later from Luke 2:41-50, and we read of this in Luke 4:14-15, ‘And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

 

Now, I have missed out some crucial verses that come before this, but we will turn to them over the next devotion or two, but we see here the words ‘a report about him went out through all the surrounding country’ it then continues ‘And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all’.

 

The One who confounded the rulers back in the temple 18 years previously had spent some time in the carpentry business, his earthly father being a carpenter, but as he worked with his hands, (imagine how special it would have been to have some of the furniture in your home that Jesus had made), he would also have grown as we saw in the previous devotion ‘in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man’ (Luke 2:52), until it came to the point where he was ready to be released into the public ministry which God by the power of the Holy Spirit had been preparing him for.

 

See, sometimes we think that as a man because Jesus was God in the flesh that he was somehow so extraordinarily special (and he was of course) that he didn’t need to learn, grow and develop, but he did, because he had to be as we read in Hebrews subject to the same limitations as we, and undergo the same temptations as we so that he having survived and overcome these things would also be able to give the succour, strength and support to us as we when we come to faith in him would need. This is what the Hebrew writer says: ‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin’ (Hebrews 4:15), but we need to also read what it continues to say ‘Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need’ (v16). Feeling powerless and helpless today as you read this devotion? Then draw near to the throne of grace, the Saviour is waiting for you.

 

 

Jesus was as real as a man as you and I are, (yet he without sin) and he lived in such a way that he has left us an incredible example to follow.

 

Now, back in the temple at 12 years of age, he amazed those who heard him, but as he spoke to his parents and told them that he must be about his Father’s business, it says that they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them (Luke 2:50).

 

But now, as we come to the verses today, they were going to see what it was all about, exactly what he meant, and not only his parents, but also those who lived in the locality. This baby born in a stable, who confounded the rulers in the temple, was about to embark on a three-year long mission which was to be like nothing else that had ever been before and has never been since. But first there was a couple of things that needed to take place and then we will return to see Jesus in a synagogue again. He needed to go through the water of baptism and then he needed to go through the wilderness experience.

 

WEDNESDAY October 9^th

 

Well, it seems as if Christmas as come early as I have been sharing these devotions around the birth of Jesus, but why shouldn’t we celebrate his first arrival all year around! But today we are going to advance just a little with some more verses from Luke 2, firstly verse 40 and then verse 52

 

‘And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favour of God was upon him.’

 

‘And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man.’

 

As much as we love to celebrate the good news that this baby had been born two-thousand years ago in the little town of Bethlehem, we also celebrate that he didn’t remain as a baby but as with all other babies he began to grow and to develop into manhood. He had come with a specific mission, that was to be the Saviour of the world, but at this point I want to add something else into the ring, he was going to become the Man who would be our representative in heaven. But to do so, he would need to move from being a baby to a man.

 

These two verses tell us that he did grow up, he did mature, he became strong, was filled with wisdom and increased in stature and the favour of God was upon him. There is something about what we read about Jesus here that should also be a picture of what should happen to each one of us as we are born again by the Spirit of God. We cannot and must not remain as babes, we need to mature, grow in spiritual stature, be filled with wisdom, become spiritually strong and we can also know the favour of God upon us.

 

Now, sandwiched in between these two verses is another verse which I want to highlight as well concerning Jesus and it is verse 49. It is linked to the account when Jesus at 12 years of age had gone to the temple with his parents, afterward they began the journey home and after a day’s journey Mary and Joseph had realised that Jesus was not with them, and after searching three days later they found him in the temple. We know the story, and after they had enquired of him as to what he was doing he answered ‘“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” I actually much prefer the KJV here (Norman cheers), ‘How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?’

 

Jesus knew that what mattered more than anything else, even as a young lad was to be doing this Father’s business, that is fulfilling the will of God. What an example Jesus is to each one of us, as we begin our Christian journey, and as we continue our Christian journey, no matter how long we have been on it, no matter what we would consider to be our level of maturity, that the priority should be to be going about our heavenly Father’s business.

TUESDAY October 8^th

 

Luke 2:38

‘And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.’

 

I have remained in Luke chapter 2, because as I have been preparing these devotions, there is a recurring them, well, two themes which I will mention.

The first is the theme of joy, which I touched on in a devotion last week.

 

The birth of Jesus brought joy! The angel had said to the shepherds, ‘I bring you good news of great joy’. Not just casual joy but GREAT joy! Imagine the joy in the stable, imagine the joy on the hillside, it was joy that led to praise and glory to God. It was joy that captured the hearts of the individuals.

 

Imagine the joy that would have suddenly erupted in the heart of Simeon when he finally saw the child Jesus. I haven’t mentioned the wise men which we read of in Matthew 2:10, but this is what it says, ‘When they saw the star they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy’ Why? Because it had led them to the One who alone could give real joy, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Did you know that the Bible also gives the account of an unborn baby leaping for joy! Yes, it was when Mary had received the news that she was going to have her baby and she went to tell her cousin Elizabeth who was also expecting a baby, and as Mary greeted Elizabeth, the baby leaped in her womb, she exclaimed, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is it granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’ She continues to say, ‘the baby in my womb leaped for joy’.

 

The same scripture, in Luke 1:46-47 continues to tell us that Mary burst into song, singing ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.’  Well, if you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy, let Jesus come into your heart. We who have come to know Jesus should be leaping for joy!

 

Then we have the lady called Anna in our verses today, it doesn’t mention the word joy, but it is evident, for the very fact that she was in the temple at the same time as Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Simeon. In fact, it says she lived in the temple day and night worshipping God with fasting. But this day was a special day, she also had seen Jesus, and it says that she thanked God and began to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Seeing Jesus had gripped her with such joy that she could not help but speak about him to others.

MONDAY October 7^th

 

Luke 2:29-32

‘“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”’

 

Imagine that you had been brought up in a Jewish home, had been instructed from the torah as God had instructed back in the time of Moses, ‘And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise’, Deuteronomy 6:6–7.

 

You would have also learnt what was contained in the Psalms and the books of the prophets, there is no doubt that you would have grown up waiting with eager anticipation for the One who had been promised, the One who was to be the Messiah.

 

Today’s verses reveal to us a man who had been such a person, but now, he was getting on in years, and like everyone else he had been patiently waiting for the consolation of Israel.

 

But he waited in a different way, because the scripture tells us that the Holy Sprit had revealed to this man, whose name was Simeon, that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ!

 

Imagine him waking up every morning and thinking to himself, ‘I wonder if today is going to be the day’, and he waited and waited, until one day as he was in the temple, maybe the door creaked as it opened, and as he looked, in walked Mary and Joseph with a child, to do for him according to the custom. And by the Spirit, Simeon immediately knew who this young child was, and immediately blessed God saying ‘Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation. . .’ He had finally seen the One who was to come, not just as the Messiah but also as the means of salvation for the world.

 

Well, for us, we are waiting for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, now, we do not know when he is coming again, but are we waiting like Simeon with eager anticipation? Maybe you are reading this devotion, and you have never accepted Jesus as your Saviour, well, allow this devotion to be a word that is to warn you that Jesus is coming again, this time not to die, but to take to himself all who have placed their faith and trust in him. Everyone else will be left behind. Make yourself ready, by coming to believe on him and to accept him.