In Matthew 4 and Luke 4, there are parallel accounts of Jesus’ temptation. It’s a deep, rich account of the proof of Christ’s worthiness, His sinlessness. I’ve taught it several times to my kids to drive home the point that we need to know Scripture, and that God’s word is our surest defense against temptation. But I got some fresh insights this time through about how to misuse Scripture, and three subtle ways to do it, all from Satan’s tactics.

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” (Luke 4:1-4)

Tactic #1 – Don’t even bother checking.
In this first encounter, Satan entices Jesus to exercise His power to meet a legitimate physical need. In a similar way, we rely on our own assessment of a situation and decide how God should respond. When He doesn’t meet our expectations, then we fall into a despair of shaken faith. However, God reveals His character and His ways in His word. Jesus response tells us, “You expect God to operate this way, because you don’t see the real need. That’s the one He’s meeting.” Staying in His word helps us focus on God’s view of things rather than our own.

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Luke 4:5-8)

Tactic #2 – Ignore God’s timing.
This time, Satan tempts Jesus to take His place as ruler of the world. After all, God had promised that to Him. It was His. Satan had at least that much right. Jesus Christ will rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lord, but there is the issue of God’s timing. God has a plan and all these things will fall into place on His schedule. When we seize God’s promises without accounting for His timing in fulfilling them, we risk shattering our faith.

Then [Satan] brought Him to Jerusalem, 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 shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” (Luke 4:9-12)

Tactic #3 – Take Scripture out of context
Satan twists a promise of God’s care and provision into a challenge for God to prove Himself. It’s easy for us to do the same thing. God promises to bless our obedience. However, our ‘obedience’ can’t be used to manipulate God into doing what we ask. We obey God because He’s God, not for what we get out of it. We serve Him and not our own interests. Keeping Scripture in context helps us remember that.

This week, everybody in the house was battling some sort of cold except me. I reckon Florida immunized me. So to keep from ever getting sick again- I should move to the beach! (There was plenty of property for sale.) Alan finished up his baseball season. And Jon found out he’s changing jobs as of August 3rd (moving from Tech Service to Process Safety Mangement).

What am I writing? I am doing the final proof for Contingency. I love Bobbi and Chuck.  On the horizon, I got a ‘call for submissions’ email yesterday, so I’ll look at putting together something for that. And just when I thought I was set on the next project, I started getting ideas for another book I outlined.

What have I learned? Major geek-y stuff this week. My husband has a new computer, less than a month old. When he sits down at mine he says, ‘yours is slow’, which ticks me off just a little. I searched the ‘net this week for things to speed up my baby. I found some easy tweaks and some ways to speed up the boot time. There are a couple of utilities, TweakUI and BootVis, that I used also. I tried out Hoot Suite and Seesmic Desktop, but honestly, I still like TwInbox best for my Twitter app.

What am I reading? School starts too soon and I’m starting to read up for that. We begin with a poetry unit. I spent most of my reading time analyzing poetry. H’ray.

What did God teach me? I wrote a little bit earlier in the week about some verses God highlighted for me, but one concept that keeps coming back is the idea of ‘more faith’. Jon and I discussed it some. I don’t believe you can increase the ‘quantity’ of faith, like you have 1 unit when you get saved, then after the first crisis, you get 2 more, but if you doubt, you lose 1… Then when you pray, God doesn’t check to see if you have enough ‘units’ of faith before He decides to answer your prayer. (To heal Aunt Martha, you needed 67 units, and you only have 65. I’m sorry.)

Faith is faith. You get it all when you trust Jesus Christ. Jon compared it to a baby who is born with all the muscles she’s ever going  need to walk, even though it’ll be a year or so before she’s strong enough to get the hang of it. I’m either exercising my faith to make it stronger, or I’m trusting in myself and my faith in God is languishing. The strength of my faith isn’t going to wrestle God into doing the things I want. The strength of my faith makes me let go of those wants. The more I want, the weaker my faith.

Can I take just a minute and be a mommy? Thanks. Alan had his last baseball game last night, and it was a good one! He just about put one over the fence, definitely the longest hit of the year for him AND he caught a fly ball playing defense at the pitcher’s mound. (Not just any fly ball, but a fly hit by the best player on the other team- we know, he was on Alan’s team last year.) So woo hoo! Did I mention football camp is next week?

As God brings me along, driving the reality of His love and care for me deep into my heart, He highlighted a verse while I read Tuesday morning. 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” God is on the alert, looking for ways, for opportunities to intervene on behalf of those who trust Him. Now I have to remember that MY definition of showing Himself strong and God’s definition may not always line up. That’s why it appears- to me- He’s abandoned me at times. I’m looking for Him in the wrong places.

I also have to be careful not to fall into the trap of believing I wasn’t loyal ‘enough’, and that’s why God didn’t intervene. God doesn’t operate that way. All the faith we have is a gift from Him who gives us ‘every spiritual blessing’ (Eph 1:3) God is not going to hold out on me. Faith is faith. I know Jesus talked about having faith like a mustard seed and so forth, but the point of that comparison is the God who moves mountains, not the measure of my faith. Focusing on the ’size’ of my faith can lead to an unresolvable mess- can I get two mountains moved for grape-sized faith?

This verse in 2 Chronicles is not about my loyal heart, but about the God who seeks to show Himself strong, to glorify Himself by doing something only He can do. When that happens, the situations in my life become an avenue of worship, a chance for God to be seen for who He is, in His glory and power. Really, that’s the whole point.

I am back from the most unique vacation I have ever been on. I went to the beach. (My favorite place- Any beach will do as long as there is sun, sand and ocean.) But I went alone. No computer, and absolutely nothing I ‘needed’ to work on. Just me, some books I’d been wanting to read, my Bible and my notebook (and my cell phone- I can’t be totally gadget free).

Jon suggested the vacation, not just because I needed a break from my routine, but because I’m at a critical spot in my faith. God and I are wrestling through some major issues (I suppose, in truth, I’m the only one wrestling. He’s waiting for me to get it.) I feel like the father in Mark 9:24 who cries out to Jesus in desperation over his demon-possessed son, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” I know there are gaps in my faith, but I want a deep, intimate, intense relationship with God. So I went away with God.

I was ready for a Damascus Road experience with God. In fact, I walked out to the beach when I arrived and said, “God, what do You want to tell me?” He said two things. (Now when I say ‘God said’, I don’t mean I heard Him with my ears. What I got was a distinct, fresh thought in my mind.) God said, “You are worthy because I chose you.” I’ve got a lot of emotional baggage and struggle with self-worth issues. God knows this and He wants me to understand my worthiness rests with Him, and not me. Because of that, nothing I do (or don’t do) can change my worth. He imputes that worth to me just as sure as He gives righteousness and salvation.

The second thing came as I watched a mother hold her little boy’s hands, helping him jump over the incoming waves. God said, “I will not stop the waves, but I will never let go of your hand.” He knows that any time I read His word, especially in Psalms that the descriptions of waves or floods always mean some of this emotional turmoil I battle on occasion. Apparently, the battle will never end this side of heaven, but He will never abandon me, never leave me to fight for myself, never let me be swept under.

Those were two powerful statements for me. Then God didn’t speak again for six days… But I’ll save that story for another post.

Yesterday in Sunday school, my kids and I looked at Mark 4:35-41, in which Jesus calms a storm on the sea of Galilee. We had an interesting mix as the youth teacher was paged at the last minute so I had a range from 6-16, but the kids have had me for a teacher long enough that they are getting good at spotting the interesting details in a story.

While we would expect townies and landlubbers like say, Matthew or Judas, to be freaked out by a storm on the water, four of the thirteen men on the boat were experienced fishermen. They had been through storms before, but this one was enough to worry them. This was a huge storm. My son suggested it was a waterspout- a tornado on water.

Here are some of my own takeaways from the lesson-

1. Storms are going to blow up suddenly and without warning.

2. They may be the kind I’m used to dealing with, (like the fishermen were used to storms) or they may be something completely foreign (like the townies were experiencing).

3. How long do I try to handle things on my own, not wanting to ‘bother’ Jesus? Until it becomes a life-or-death situation?

4. How quick am I to accuse Jesus of not caring? (v. 38)

5. Why I am so fearful? How is it that I have no faith? (v. 40)

I have an answer to that last one. For me, the key to the whole story is the statement Jesus makes in v.35 “Let us cross over to the other side.” He didn’t say ‘let’s try’ or ‘I hope we make it’. He was completely sure of His mission, and confident that God would see Him through until the completion of it. I get fearful and lose faith because a.) I lose sight of  what I’m doing or where I’m going, SO b.) I’m not so sure God is going to bring me through it.

To help me out with some of this, my husband is giving me a fabulous gift. A week from today, I’m heading to Indy for an early Tuesday flight to a Florida beach for a vacation alone with God. Alone with God. Just me, and God and the beach. I know He’s always had the answers. I think I’m ready to hear them.