Follow up to discussion at Mark's house on 26 Jan 2009
Read Luke 4
*. The desert experience
-. What happened just before Christ was attacked by satan in the desert?
-. What did all the questions satan asked involve?
-. The 3 compulsions we all get to deal with - see blog
>.relevant
>.spectacular
>.powerful
Christ responded to satan with the Word, so should we.
Talked about 1 Peter 5:8; satan is as relentless as gravity in his attacks (the 'rock' example). He is raging with anger towards God (see Revelations) and cannot touch Him, so he attacks God's children.
1 Pet 5:8 is true
1 John 4:4 is true
Learn to recognize the voice of the liar (satan) and the voice of God the Father.
Closed with a number of men volenteering to lead three Service Teams. Those who will be a part of one of the service teams (a one time, 8 hour committment) please read the following blog on serving, and feel free to leave comments. Serving.
It was good to have Phil with us tonight, if you want to connect for prayer or a walk, let me know.
--
Mark
Cell 360 220-4726
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Three compulsions of the world
Referring to Christ’s forty day temptation in the desert Matt 4:1-11, Henri Nouwen observes:
“Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self. Jesus himself entered into this furnace. There he was tempted with the three compulsions of the world: to be relevant, to be spectacular and to be powerful. There Christ affirmed God as the only source of his identity.”
“The Way of the Heart” p. 25
Christ is our model. As a man He had to deal with the same temptations as you and I. In this passage Christ exposes satan’s techniques and shows us how to win in these three critical areas of temptation: to be relevant, spectacular and powerful. We can also learn here three key aspects of battle; timing, attacks and response.
Timing: Satan attacks when we are weak, down, wounded, broken, …..
Attacks: Satan starts by questioning Christ’s fundamental identity – is He really the Son of God, does God really love Him? Then satan offers Christ immediate, easy satisfaction in the areas all men desire.
Response: Christ doesn’t argue with satan, He cuts no deals, makes no compromise – He returns to the Truth of Scripture and conforms His behavior to the Truth.
One last set of three’s – how do you see these three temptations as relating to the most visible areas in which we men fail: Sex, money, power?
“Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self. Jesus himself entered into this furnace. There he was tempted with the three compulsions of the world: to be relevant, to be spectacular and to be powerful. There Christ affirmed God as the only source of his identity.”
“The Way of the Heart” p. 25
Christ is our model. As a man He had to deal with the same temptations as you and I. In this passage Christ exposes satan’s techniques and shows us how to win in these three critical areas of temptation: to be relevant, spectacular and powerful. We can also learn here three key aspects of battle; timing, attacks and response.
Timing: Satan attacks when we are weak, down, wounded, broken, …..
Attacks: Satan starts by questioning Christ’s fundamental identity – is He really the Son of God, does God really love Him? Then satan offers Christ immediate, easy satisfaction in the areas all men desire.
Response: Christ doesn’t argue with satan, He cuts no deals, makes no compromise – He returns to the Truth of Scripture and conforms His behavior to the Truth.
One last set of three’s – how do you see these three temptations as relating to the most visible areas in which we men fail: Sex, money, power?
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