Psalm 104:33-34 (103:33-34 LXX)

I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing to my God as long as I exist;
May my words be pleasing to Him,
And I shall be glad in the Lord.

Personal Challenge

If I am living my life this way, singing pleasing words to Him continually, then there is no reason in my life for personal gratification and self-centeredness. If I am always focusing on me, my wants, my desires, my feelings, then I am not singing to the Lord all of my life. There is no room for both of these ways of behaving for they are mutually exclusive. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Mark 8:11-12

Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”

Personal Challenge

Am I as bad as the Pharisees? Do I keep looking for Jesus to perform signs and miracles so that I can believe in Him more? There are over 2,000 years of signs and miracles that prove who He is. There is an untold amount of times that I have seen His hand at work in my own life. And yet, I still find myself faltering in true, total faith in Him. This not due to any lack in who He is, but in lack of my own faith. Christ has trampled down death by His own death. He has opened the doors to His kingdom in this age and the age to come, by rising from the dead. He has saved me from the grip of death. Now I must choose, over and over again, to put my total and complete trust into Him and put sin to death in my own life. Glory be to God!

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.‘”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,‘

and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.‘”

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.‘”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.‘”

Encouraging Words

I don’t think there is an event in the life of Christ that shows that He was fully man more than this passage does. Jesus voluntarily went out into the wilderness after His baptism by John. He chose to fast for forty days, and He was hungry. Then in that hunger He was tempted greatly by the devil. Here He shows us what we can do and how we too can defeat temptation. He chose to rely on the bread of heaven, the teachings of God to say, “No!” to sin. This was not the “fully God” nature of Him denying to sin. It was Him as “fully man” saying, “No!” By this act, and the continued refusal to sin, that He opened the way for us to also exercise our free will and to choose not to sin. Glory be to God!

Luke 18:40-41

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

Personal Challenge

Jesus wants me to call out to Him. He wants me to stop Him in His tracks and petition Him with my needs and even my desires. He wants me to be healed of my blindness so that I can see Him and how much He loves me. His desire is that all will call out to Him in blind faith. Glory be to God!

Psalm 103:17-18 (102:17-18 LXX)

But the mercy of the Lord is from age to age upon those who fear Him,
And His righteousness upon children’s children,
To such as keep His covenant
And remember His commandments, to do them.

Personal Challenge

What commandments does God want me to remember and do? To love Him and to love my neighbor. It is so simple to boil the entire scriptures down to these two expectations of me, and yet so difficult to do them. Why is it so difficult? Because I keep getting in my own way. I do this by always trying to figure out how to put myself first, both before God, and before my neighbor. Isn’t this the true essence of sin? The wonderful thing about all of this is that if I keep trying, keep working at it, then He will cover me with His love and mercy, and not only me, but my children and their children as well. Glory be to God!

Psalm 145:8-9 (144:8-9 LXX)

Matthew 11:25

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.”

Personal Challenge

It is so easy to rely on the knowledge and wisdom gained in this world by my own work and believe that I have gained the knowledge of God. However, as Jesus informs us here, He has hidden the mysteries of God, the truths of His Wisdom, from those who rely on their amassed earthly knowledge and wisdom. I pray to my Lord that I will always approach Him and His throne as a child, a babe in Christ, with an innocent and open mind, trusting in Him fully and completely, knowing that He will reveal to me that which I am ready to receive and will use for Him. He knows my heart better than I do. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Matthew 9:36-38

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Encouraging Words

Once again, I can see the compassionate heart of our Lord for His sheep, especially those who are lost. He does not look at them as elect versus non-elect, but as all being His sheep. This is not an image of a wrathful, judgmental God. I am also urged to always be mindful of the harvest, and if I am not being active as a harvester, then I am to be active praying for the harvest, the harvesters, and the souls that are not yet in the fold. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.