In a Nutshell

I am shamelessly stealing from my Pastor's sermon on Sunday.  We've been blessed enough to be able to  have virtual church services on Sunday mornings and it's wonderful.  It's the next best thing to being there!

The sermon topic was Jesus in the wilderness as told in Matthew 4.  In this section we see Jesus being compelled or driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to undergo a season of testing and temptation, a refining process that will show Jesus' worthiness to be our true hero and deliverer, our Savior, Lord, and King.  Our Pastor boiled Jesus' success down to a simple plan:  Draw near to God. Depend on His Word.

Wow.  How simple are those words?  How simple is that instruction.  I love easy to remember stuff.  If I'm given a list of do and don't, lot's of words and phrases, I can't remember them.  They are good for fleshing out our Christian walk, and we need to have all that information locked away in our heads and hearts, but I need an easy catch phrase to remind me to walk the walk and not live out of my flesh.  Those two sentences give me the reminder I need to remain close to and trust in my Lord.  My prayer is that they help you too!

Lord, thank You for wise teachers.  Thank You for godly leadership.  These dear ones you put into our lives to teach, admonish, guide, grow and share are so important.  Keep our church leaders in Your loving care, keep them focused on You, strengthen and encourage them today, and everyday.  And help us to draw near, stay near, and rely on You.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen.

Draw near to God.  Depend on His Word.

Matthew 4:1-11  Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry.  3 During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”          4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say,  ‘People do not live by bread alone,  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you.  And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”  7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”  8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”  10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, 
‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”  11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.