Tag Archives: endurance

Meet Jesus: Taken Matthew 4:5

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meetjesustakenMatthew 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

The fact that Jesus would allow himself to be taken anywhere by the devil astounds me.  What was going through His mind at those moments?  Here he was, led by His own Holy Spirit, to spend time with evil.   Here he was entering the beginning of His public ministry dealing with a defeatist devil.  Our present thinkers tell us to feel good and be happy and then minister.  Our present ideologies point to pleasure as the entry to ministry.  Jesus allowed himself to be taken into the presence of evil itself.  This was His entry point into public ministry.  He allowed testing.  He presented himself for inspection.  He was taken.

Pushed to the max, Jim was about to pop.  This was supposed to be his year to get the big promotion.  It began with pain.  Employees were livid with some decisions he had made.  Every emotion in him was twisted.  He had worked night and day and given himself totally on behalf of these.  They turned on him.  The year before, he had handled the torrents of accusations from a disturbed man.  The threats had been against these very employees that now turned on him.  For defending them, he now stood their accusations of being unfair and inequitable.  Was this how to start his big year?

He resigned himself to stand through the accusations.  He remembered that the name, Satan, really meant Accuser.  He remembered, Jesus had stood testing before His big year.  Surely, he could allow the Healer to live in and through him in this critical time.  “Father, forgive them”, he whispered, “They don’t know what they are doing.”

ACT! Testing is never fun.  When God has something big, He can allow life and, yes, even the devil a place to sort out our intentions and grace living.  Is there a place of testing in your life?  Is God preparing you, stabilizing you for the next big thing?  Submit to the test.  Let it prove you out.  Don’t fight.  Let God fight for you.  Take time to pray Psalm 35 and see what happens.

PRAY! Father, I am not my own defense.  When life and the enemy rise against me as a flood, You be the boat of my salvation.  Carry me away from that which is too strong for me.  Deliver me from the hand of my enemies.  Cause in me conviction to repent of those weaknesses in me that could have led to this situation.  Cause holiness to well up in me.  Cause me to crucify any flesh that needs changed.  Let these troubles be a directional that causes me to become closer to You in thought and word and deed.  Cause me to be more like You than ever before.  Then, in the next big thing, I will be able.  I will be founded.  I will be strengthened to do that to which You have called me.  I surrender myself to be taken.

Meet Jesus: The Word Matthew 4:3

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Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. :4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but meetjesusstorm2by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

As Jesus answered, He simultaneously declared His existence. Meeting Jesus means meeting the very living expression of God’s word. John tells us “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” It is not the bread of this world that meets our need, but the living bread of life, Jesus that will give us strength in the deserts of life.

Words are important to growth.  So many times how we present a word or phrase to someone else means everything in the world for the next step in our relationship.  A friend struggled with a key relationship.  There was just an accusatory bend to every conversation with a new friend.  After looking for solutions and probing for what was wrong, we were surprised.  It seems in the first meeting with the other person, this friend acted before he spoke.  The speaking was important to the other person.  They had harbored an offense from the first action wanting words to come first.  Getting through that misunderstanding was tough and touchy, but they are doing better.  It has taken words to find the problem and begin healing it.  Words count.  The word of Jesus in us can heal.

ACT! Are you dry and hungry in an area? Spend time talking to Jesus about it today. He is the bread, the word of God that brings strength.

PRAY! Father, bring the bread of life, Jesus, into my dryness, into my hunger. Apply the word of life, Jesus, to my need that I might stay strong in Your strength, not my own. 

Meet Jesus: Human Matthew 4:2

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meetjesusokMatthew 4: 2: And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

 There is a fallacy in meeting Jesus that bears great correction.   At times we approach Him as if He had some special advantage while He lived in that body born of Mary.  Jesus was fully human.  He got really hungry.  He dealt with conflicting emotions.  He lived as a human equipped with the Spirit of God even as He asks us to live.

In being human, Jesus sanctified humanity.  He made it okay to be fully human.  He made it a good thing to be all the human we could be, to live up to our human potential – with God.  Remember, while being fully human, He was fully God.  Our task is to work on being fully human, with God.

Being fully human, for us means being full of mistakes.  Being fully human, means being able to correct those mistakes.  Today I had a great opportunity to change my mistakes.  A co-worker was upset with me about my actions.  I had presumed what I did was okay with him instead of asking.  It was okay.  If I asked.  Not asking was presumptive.  It was inconsiderate.  By repenting and asking, my mistake was changed to okay.  He gave me that grace.  It was good.  Jesus helped me be human.

ACT!  Think of your most human moment this week.  Thank God for making you a human.

PRAY!  Father, thanks for making me a human like Jesus.  It must be really special to you, this human thing.  You sent Your own Son to be one, just to make it special.  Wow!  I really don’t deserve it, but I really appreciate it.  Thanks.

Meet Jesus: Led of the Spirit Matthew 4:1

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meetjesusfireMatthew 4: 1: Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Interesting that Jesus, the Son of God, would be led by His own Spirit.  A man’s spirit is an incredibly powerful guiding force.  When we meet with Jesus, we meet with His Holy Spirit.  His Spirit becomes available to us to lead us and guide us.  His Spirit communes with our spirit to build us in the right direction.

The consistency of those led of the Spirit is born of the Spirit, Himself.  So often we can encounter like-hearted men and women, who seem to be thinking the same thoughts at the same time we do.  They are.  It is a connection born of God.  He brings us to the same place to make life move forward in His plan more rapidly.

A friend asked for prayer for Godly relationships and connections.  That strengthened me.  He has been struggling to step away from those that want him to go out and party and dance like he did before he met Christ.  He wants good, God connections.  That is an easy prayer for me.  To ask God to connect us with the right people is to ask God to be God.  His Spirit yearns to connect us that way.

ACT!  God is Spirit.  The separating force in us that distinguishes us from animals is our spirit created in His image.  Think on that for a minute.  Write down five aspects of you as a human that separates you from other forms of life.  Note that they are spiritual in nature.

 PRAY!  Father, let Your Holy Spirit of Jesus instruct me in the way I should go.  You showed me in Jesus that it is Your Holy Spirit that can guide me even in the hard times.  You showed me that it is Your Holy Spirit that will even ask me to do what I am unable to do without Him.  Keep me connected.

Meet Jesus: Humility Matthew 3:13

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Matthew 3: 13: Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

 Here is the Son of God, God in the flesh, submitting Himself to the gift and calling of another.  In most of our world, this is almost unthinkable.  The Master goes to the servant to be enabled for ministry.  It is so backward to our ego mindset that it almost hurts.  When you meet with Jesus, you will be asked to find Him in others and lay down ego.

There is nothing like being misunderstood to humble us.  Reading through a memo written by another staffer, I started to get upset.  It was evident that he really did not understand the conversation the day before.  How could he so misunderstand me?  Before I did something stupid, I opened the memo that had been sent by me after the conversation.  Taking a slow and deliberate look, it was easy to see how he was interpreting as my meaning.  He was simply walking out his understanding.  Humbled, I deleted my first response and crafted one more suitable and understanding to correct the confusion.

ACT! Think of a friend who has a gift you need.  Get with them and let them pray for you.

 PRAY! Whoops!  Father sometimes I miss it and mess it.  Sometimes You have sent Jesus to me in a wrapper that I did not receive.  Sometimes the unlikely has had the incredible for my life.  Help me find the some-times and receive from the gift of others in Him.

If we can pray for you regarding anything in your life, please let us know.  Our greatest blessing is to bless others in prayer.   www.prayermetro.com   Phil

Meet Jesus: Fire Baptizer Matthew 3:11

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meetjesusfireMatthew 3:11: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

 Be ready for change when you meet Jesus.  John gets us focused in our preparation.  Meeting Jesus can make you different from the inside out.  He brings the Holy Spirit and fire to pour over you and change you.  Think of it this way.  It is like having chemical fire on the inside (the Holy Spirit) and liquid fire on the outside. However, the real you is strengthened not burned.  The stuff that is between you and Him will be cleansed.

Conflict is one of those baptizers in the Holy Spirit.  We want to avoid it, yet it is the right thing.  God used conflict to cause us to dig deeper into understanding of relationships and life.  The deeper we dig, the stronger we become.  In talking to a leader, it struck me to provoke him that leaders love resolving conflict.  They don’t love the conflict or the anger and frustration that may accompany it.  They do love the process of resolution and the end result.  Through conflict we are baptized in Holy Spirit fire.  He strengthens our resolve and our ability to move ahead.  He causes us to face hard items that need to be removed.  It is one way He baptizes us with fire.

 ACT!  Pick an item that needs to be burned away in your life.  Put it in front of Him for handling.

 PRAY!  Father, I am not afraid of being baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire.  I await continually meeting with Jesus to be continually cleansed. Let Your faithful and just character enter into my life as I confess my sin before You.  Forgive me and cleanse me from all ways that are unlike You.

If we can pray for you regarding anything in your life, please let us know.  Our greatest blessing is to bless others in prayer.   www.prayermetro.com   Phil

Meet Jesus: Fruit Inspector Matthew 3:7

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Matthew 3: 7: But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8: Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

John’s preparatory help is worth really reviewing.   Fruit inspection is worth our time.  Fruit inspection should best be done by us.  Fruit inspection should best be done on us.  John noted some tough untended stuff in these leaders because they were standing in the way of others meeting Jesus with their bad fruit.  Hopefully, we do enough personal inspection that God doesn’t have to resort to outside help to get our attention.

ACT!  Take a little time to inspect and prune.  What in your life is preventing someone from seeing the real Jesus inside of you?  Can you cut it off?

 PRAY! Father, when I meet Jesus, He is so gentle, yet so true to the point.  Help me to be honest before You inspecting my attitudes and life.  Help me be a preparer of the way to Jesus, like John instead of being a hindrance to the way like the leaders in this story.  I open myself to Your Holy Spirit for inspection and pruning to bring forth fruits meet for repentance.

Meet Jesus: Destined Matthew 1:16

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meetjesus4Matthew 1: 16: And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Born of men, born of a woman, and born to destiny was Jesus, the Christ.  Meeting Jesus means meeting a human full of humanity.  Jesus meets us in this frail human family of Joseph and Mary.  A simple husband was Joseph.  This family came from a line of prostitutes, murderers, connivers, kings, and faithful men and women.  They look just like our families.

Jesus is a family man.  While He is the Christ, the anointed, the Messiah, He is a simple family man from a flawed, fractured, but persistent family life.

ACT!  Thank God for your family line.  Don’t worry about the problems.  Praise Him that you exist at all through that family line.

PRAY! Faithful Father, You brought me to this time and place in life.  You gave me the family line.  You gave me a father and mother.  I exist.  No matter how flawed that line, I have destiny.  There is an anointing in Jesus for me through You.

Meet Jesus: Escape From Trouble Matthew 2:13

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meetjesusMatthew 2:13: And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14: When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:

 When trouble arises, Jesus is an escape artist.  He is totally able to get us to a place of escape and safety.  That’s necessary sometimes.  Sometimes facing the issue won’t help.  Sometimes trying to bring the trouble under rule won’t help.  Sometimes we need a place of escape.  Sometimes we need Jesus to take us to a place to let trouble blow over.  Then we can go back.

 ACT! Trouble comes in many forms.  Do you need escape from one form or another?  Take time to listen to God.  Where is Egypt for your trouble?  Where can you wait it out until it passes?

 PRAY! Father, troubles surround us every day.  You know all my troubles.  You know the ones I can face and conquer.  You know the ones I can give over to the  governance of Jesus.  You know the ones that need a place of escape.  Show me the difference.  Guide me.

Meet Jesus: Troubler of Souls Matthew 2:3

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meetjesusMatthew 2: 3: When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

When you encounter Jesus, expect to be troubled.  He will confront your inner fears.  He will force you to face issues you would like to forget.  The presence of Jesus will trouble your life.

Good news is that this trouble can end in peace.  He only troubles us to get us to change to the good.  Internal imbalances in our life will be troubled so they can be healed when we meet Jesus.

ACT! What troubles your soul when you meet with Jesus?  Bring it up and deal with it.  He means to bring you to a place of resolution and peace.   Let Him.

PRAY!  Father, there are days when I am troubled.  Realizing some of that is just being confronted with Jesus, I ask You to untrouble me.  Help me resolve the hard stuff in my life with Your life and Your solutions