The normal Christian life. ( 1 Peter 5 v 8 - 11 )

Now we come to the last of the wilderness temptations by the devil,on Jesus, the motive behind this temptation,is a desire by the devil to be God,pride filled his being, and he was expelled from heaven. Alas from that time on he became an enemy of God,and humanity.and of course he is called a liar, indeed the father of lies, by Jesus ( John 8 v 44 ). He promised Jesus the kingdoms of the world and their splendor, if only He would bow down and worship him.It is interesting that Satan does not use scripture in relation to this temptation,for Jesus points out that which satan already knew,that we are to only worship the Lord, and only serve Him  ( Deuteronomy 6 v 13 ).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    A  prayer.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Dear Lord,you who faced satan in all his deviousness,                                                                            help us to not be lured by his lies,in your name we ask                                                                            this.  Amen

The normal Christian life. ( Matthew 12 v 38 - 45 )

Lets continue with the temptations of  our Lord,from being tempted to turn stones into bread,to being tempted to throw Himself down from the highest point in the temple in Jerusalem.The tempter the devil challenged Him quoting scripture ,Psalm 91 v 11- 12. Which give the assurance that God would command His angles to keep Him from harm.Our Lord refuted what he said by also quoting scripture,Deuteronomy 6 v 16,which reads,''Do not put the Lord your God to the test''.Yes if Christ had done this what would it had accomplished ?,nothing of worth,also it was not in Gods will for Him to do this,that meant sticking close to why he had come,to save sinners.When Jesus did perform a miracle,He often played it down, CP Matthew 8 v 4,/ John 6 v 15. The people of Jesus day wanted signs, but the only sign He would give them was his death on a cross. W Barclay writes,''God expects us to take risks in order to be true to Him, but He does not expect us to take risks to enhance our own prestige''                                                                                                                                                                                                                  W Barclay                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ''  A gospel founded on sensation-mongering is doomed                                                                                                        to failure''                                                                                                       

The normal Christian life. ( Psalm 119 v 157 - 160 )

'It is written says Jesus', to the tempter who challenged Him to turn stones into bread,'Man does not live by bread alone,but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'.Mankind has an appetite for so much,which they feel they cannot live without,it is so strong, that nothing else matters,take sex,now of course there is nothing wrong with sex, but it is not everything, nor should it be for the Christian, sad that so many leaders even in the Christian church have not accepted this.Think about it, we were never meant to be consumed by sex,or ruled by it,it is part of our live but it is not all our lives.I mention sex because it is a major thing, but their are many other things, food,entertainment, that   can consume and control our lives.Jesus goes unto to say that the normal Christian's life involves being focused on Gods word.

The normal Christian life. ( Psalm 119 v 105 )

It was Watchman Nee who wrote a book called the ,'The normal Christian life',Barry Webb writing about Peter and companions in John 21 ,how they were exhausted- physically and emotionally, when everything had become too intense for them. They just wanted to be normal for a while. But the reality is that they,and we , are not not meant to be' normal' people, and we won't be happy trying to be so.'Yes we live a life that has much the same normality as the non- Christian,but because Christ lives in us that means that we are not to be be conformed to the ways of the non- Christian. In Matthew 4 our Lord was tempted by Satan in three ways ,to turn stones into bread, our Lord had been fasting for 40 days,don't anyone try that,yes fast but not for 40 days.He was famished,and the devil comes and tempts Him to turn stones into bread. Why not He was very , very hungry,surely it was a good reason to do this.But He didn't ,here is what He said,'It is written', meaning, in Gods word, People live lives with no reference to Gods  word. To them it is not normal,but to those who follow Jesus, it is part of the normal Christians life.(We will consider what was written tomorrow)

Lets go for a walk ( John 1 v 43 )

Most days I go for a walk, and as I walk I pray, I'm sure you have read about a man called Enoch, in Genesis 5 v 24,we  read, 'Enoch walked with God, then he was no more, because God took him away'. Next in Hebrews 11 v 5,we read,'By faith Enoch was taken from life,so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.' This mans life has much to teach us,first of all his walk,that day by day experience,it says ,he walked with God.Ah what a companion  to have God. are you walking with God?,is it  continuous, is it a 24/7 walk ?Remember what Jesus said to those early Christians,'follow Me'.in other words walk with Me. When we do walk with Him we are walking with Him who is truly God and truly man,we can be as Enoch of old,people who walk with God.

Helping. ( Luke 10 v 25 - 37 )

Not so long ago as  I was driving my car,I passed a person I knew standing at the bus stop,I  had an impulse to stop and offer him a lift,but I didn't .It was Melanie Reid  who told how she had an impulse to  give someone a lift,her husband objected,but they did.She also mentioned one time passing a young man who needed help, and she didn't,and then she  used the phrase,'The almost nearly good Samaritan '.I suppose to some extent we have all been, the almost nearly good Samaritan's,it is a challenge in life,especially if you are Christian ,to help others.The sad thing for some of us ,we never have  even an impulse,to help someone. There is always reasons to not help,because you don't think its a worthy cause,or we read in the paper about some homeless people who make a good thing out of it. Or we say why can't they find a job?or why ,and so we could go on ,and never respond, we brush away the impulse to help.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ' If I can help somebody as I pass                                                                                                               along,then my living shall not be                                                                                                                in vain.'

I wish . ( 1 Samuel 17 v 40 )

How many of us have said ,'I wish', I am sure most people have,I am not going to say to you, be careful what you wish for.Let us return to someone who is disabled, Kate Saunders,who suffers from MS,yes you do suffer when you have a disability.Here is what she wrote as regards her suffering,''it is about making  a life from the materials,to hand''. Joni Eareckson  Tada was paralysed from the shoulders down,after a diving accident,and yet had a wonderful gift of painting,how does she paint if she cannot use her hands? .Well the answer is simple, and goes back to what Kate Saunders wrote,of making a life from the materials ,to hand,she holds the paint brush in her mouth.