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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 31

Published by V John on March 28, 2012

Day 31, Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Moses Views the Promised Land, engraving by Ge...
Moses Views the Promised Land, engraving by Gerard Jollain from the 1670 "La Saincte Bible" (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 Regarding Israel’s experience in the wilderness, there’s an interesting fact stated in the book of Deuteronomy 2:14 (NIV): “Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them” (also see Deut. 1:46).  That is 95 percent of their journey in the wilderness was spent in and around Kadesh Barnea, a place not very far from the Promised Land! Moses tells that it was only about 11 day’s journey but it took them about 38 years (see Deut. 1:2-3; 2:14). It was from Kadesh Barnea that Moses had sent out spies to explore the Promised Land (Joshua 14:7). The meaning of the name of this place is not very clear, but it’s believed that the Israelites named it so because they regarded it as a ‘holy,’ ‘sacred’ place. It also meant a ‘spring’ of judgment or ‘refreshment,’ because most of their ancestors (1.5 million people) died and were buried in this place (Numbers 14:29-35). It was a not a bad place to dwell and maybe that’s why they spent so many years in it. However, Kadesh Barnea was not the place that God had chosen for them. It was not the Promised Land into which God was leading them. But they got tired of waiting for it and wished to settle down there. God, however, remembered His promise to His people and did finally lead a remnant of people into His intended place for the Israelites—Canaan—just a few days journey from there.

 It can happen with us, too. God may be leading us into His best place, but in the wilderness journey we often get exhausted. And we often settle down for what we see around as good forgetting God’s best for us. The comfort of our today’s situation in life may become a hindrance for us to keep seeking what God ultimately has kept for us. Recall in prayer today the day when you were born again or became a follower of Christ. Recall the passion you had to grow in Him and to study and live by His Word, the desire you had to serve Him and make His name known among the nations. But, perhaps, on the way, you’ve lost that desire and seem to be happy with what you have now. However, today, God wishes you to look up to Him in earnest, and to trust Him to take your hand and lead you with Him to the place that God intends for us to be—our Promised Land. Are you willing to walk with Him all instead of remaining a long time at Kadesh Barnea (Deut.1:46; Judges 11:17)? Amen.

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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 30

Published by V John on March 27, 2012

Day 30, Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Photo credit: http://www.photosforsouls.com

 You may have heard of the popular saying, “good is often the enemy of best” and some people add, “the best is the enemy of better!” This truly is a relevant saying if we apply it in the church and even in own our spiritual lives. We need to remember that the wilderness of Sinai stood in the midst of Israelites’ slavery in Egypt and the Promised Land of Canaan. And if you read the account of their experience in the wilderness as recorded in the book of Exodus, you would realize that, all through the journey, most Israelites were looking back instead of looking ahead! They complained about food and water and the so-called “comforts” of a life of slavery in Egypt than focusing their energies and imaginings on what was to come for them in the Promised Land. They ruminated on the past that was behind them, than envisaging about a better future that awaited them in Canaan. Therefore, many were ready to settle for the “good” that they had seen in Egypt, rather than moving ahead to claim the best of everything promised to them in land flowing with milk and honey.

 Jesus Christ, in contrast, endured the suffering, hunger, loneliness, and incessant temptations of the devil, even the cruelest death on the cross, “for the joy that was set before him.” He believed that the Resurrection—the-victory-over-death-forever—was just around the corner. So, let us heed the exhortation of the writer of Hebrews: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV). You and I need to persevere in the wilderness until we reach our Promised Land and be Christ-like in our spiritual pilgrimage. There may be several things on the way that may seem good and adequate to us, but let us not be content with the mediocre Christian life. Our calling is higher and better than what most Christian seems to have settled in. Pray in the rest of these ten days of the Lenten season that God will help us keep on moving to the best and not be content with the good that we may have seen thus far. The best is yet to come! And we’ll not settle down for anything less than the best that God has in store for us. Amen.

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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 29

Published by V John on March 26, 2012

Day 29, Monday, March 26, 2012

Photo credit: http://dailyscripture.net/

We have noted earlier on in our Lenten retreating into the wilderness with Jesus that His experience is like that of the Israelites in the wilderness of Mt. Sinai. Today, I’m reminded of their response to a bump in their journey as found in Numbers 21:4-9 (NIV): “They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

This is very often our reaction when the Lord leads us into the wilderness of wants and discipline. Most of us become too impatient too quickly without taking a moment to ponder the purposes of God for us. And yet, the Lord is gracious and long-suffering with us in our rebellion. When we think we are lost and lonely in the wilderness, as the Psalter often says, “God’s steadfast love endures forever” (see Psalm 118, 136). When we become ungrateful for God’s provisions, God’s love endures forever. When we only look at the negatives—the wild beasts, desert, lack of material comfort and entertainment that we have become so used to, even for a short period—God still continues to be gracious and forgiving to us for a long time. When our attitude is reflected only in murmuring and grouchy words in spite of God providing us with daily manna in a miraculous way, God overlooks it and constantly showers us with His mercies that are new every morning. God’s mercies are unfailing, His love is steadfast, and His provisions never wanting. That’s why the Psalmist declared, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8).

What is your response today to the difficulties, pains, privations, sicknesses, not getting your own way, and so on, as you may be experiencing them now? Are you able to see beyond these things and fix your eyes on the Savior and His experience in the wilderness? That’s what Lent is for—an opportunity to look within and beyond ourselves—to focus on Christ and His passion. And move forward with a new perspective on our life on earth. May the Spirit remind you today of God’s steadfast love that endures forever! Amen.

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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 28

Published by V John on March 24, 2012

Day 28, Saturday, March 24, 2012

 One of most significant thing the wilderness experience did to Jesus was that He became consumed with just one desire, that is, to fulfill God’s will, His mission, while on earth. He completely surrendered His will and dreams

King David in Prayer
King David in Prayer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

at the altar of God, and rose from there to do His will. This reminds us of the prayer of King David, as he penned Psalm 27: 4 – “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” In our pursuit of the will of God, the Holy Spirit should bring us to a point where we surrender our will to the Father’s  will and His will become our own will. We become consumed with a longing to be with Him and everything else becomes secondary in our lives. Like King David our hearts’ one passion is to be in a close relationship with God.

 There are three features of David’s pursuit of God: 1. To dwell in the house of God which means to be constantly in the presence of God “all the days of my life.” We know that God no longer resides in temples made with human hands. Jesus has made a perpetual and anytime access to the Father possible through His sacrifice on the cross. That’s why he assured that those who have seen Him have seen the Father as they both are in each other (John 14: 8-11).

 Secondly, David prayed that while in God’s presence, he wants to just “gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.” Wow! What a prayer! He doesn’t always come to God in prayer with a long wish list of bless me and give me this or give me that. He wants to be in Gods’ presence just to behold the beauty, glory, majesty, and goodness of the Lord…to soak in the experience of just who God is without seeking what He can do for me. If and when we’re able to come to this point in our spiritual journey, our lives will be transformed. That’s an amazing thought that needs to sink in us, today. When was the last time you went into prayer just for the experience of His joyous presence and to behold His beauty, leaving behind your shopping list?

 Thirdly, David prayed to seek God in His temple. That shows a passion to strive for God and His righteousness more than anything else. Such seeking after God is what Jesus had in mind when He asked His disciples “but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). What is the intense longing of our heart as we draw near to Him in the Lenten season? Is it for more of the stuff or for the sake of just God, His presence, His glory, His beauty, and His righteousness? God is not against the “stuff” per se. He knows that we need it and promises that it shall be supplied, but are we longing with all our heart for His mission, glory, and righteousness? God bless!

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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 27

Published by V John on March 23, 2012

Day 27, Friday, March 23, 2012

Photo credit: http://www.photosforsouls.com

 Jesus lived not only in the wilderness but also throughout His life time with just one motto—doing the will of God. There are many of us today who are facing uncertainties in life with regard to their marriage, jobs, future, children, and in so many other areas. In one sense, it seems that gone are the days of certainty and security of job and a peaceful life after retirement. It is not only for younger generation, but very much so for the older generation, too. The older people worked hard and saved a lot for their peaceful retirement. However, most of that investment has been wiped away in the economic recession and the meltdown of the Wall Street. Thus, most people today live in an uncertain world of anxiety. Dear friends, we think Jesus didn’t know what it means to live in today’s environment of fretfulness and qualms, but we are wrong in thinking that way. If we read the Gospels at a slow pace, we’ll find that Jesus’s life and circumstances were not much different from ours. He had no idea where His next meal would come from. When folks asked for his address, Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58 NIV; Matthew 8:20). The Jewish and Roman authorities were always after His life from the time he was born until they succeeded in hanging Him on the Tree. They always sought to arrest Him to put Him in prison or to kill Him because He was claiming to be God or challenging their hypocritical lives (see, e.g., John 7:1; 8:58-59; 10: 30-32; 11:53-54; Luke 4:28-30; Luke 20:19-26).

 Therefore, be encouraged that Jesus fully understands and sympathizes with what you’re going through today. And His counsel to us is that, like Him, we should desire God’s perfect will. Of course, we do not know for sure what that fully means. Don’t worry, keep seeking it, and God will show it to you. It may not be what you wish. But are you ready to accept that His perfect will may require loss for greater gain? It may require you stepping outside of what is comfortable to do the extraordinary? May be it will require you make a move to a new place, a new experience, or even a new calling to serve Him? Whatever it may be, we are not sure, but this much is certain that God’s will for you is good, perfect, and if accepted, it will make you happy for life. Are you passionate about seeking His best and perfect will for your life as Jesus was (see yesterday’s devotion)? Do you trust the Lord today to lead you in the center of His will, and to grant you the strength to walk in it? God bless!

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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 24

Published by V John on March 20, 2012

Day 24, Tuesday, March 20, 2012

the lure of "saving"

 

We may never be tempted in exactly the same way as Jesus was during the days He walked on this earth. However, temptations come to us in so many subtle and deceptive ways that many a times we do not even realize that we’re being tempted to take a certain course of action. One of these temptations we face today is through advertisements in the media that influence our shopping habits. Studies show that every day, we are exposed to over 3000 advertisements in the print and digital media, through social networking sites, and other outlets. Most of these ads promise us the moon and ultimately solicit us to buy their stuff. Our emotional impulses lead us to act irrationally and we eventually end up buying the product of the company that does the best job of tempting us through their subtle and yet creative tempting ads. That’s why all big corporations have multi-million dollar budgets just of the advertisements. Many of us go about buying stuff without ever thinking that we’re actually yielding to Satan’s temptations daily. We don’t realize that we may be bordering on the idolatry when material stuff becomes the center of our lives rather than God. Slowly, under the spell of Satan, instead of consuming to live, we start living to consume. Many of us start working ourselves to death in order to pay for everything they want to own. As a result, the stuff we possess starts giving us meaning, status, and even our identity. We often forget that it was a function assigned to our faith—our belief in Christ used to give us meaning and identity, which no more matters when we fall prey to the temptations of consumerism.

Therefore, what shall we do when we live in a culture that tempts us to buy and consume more and more and essentially encourages us to live beyond our means. Please read what Prophet Haggai 1:5-6 said because it is so relevant for our situation: “Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” If you find yourself in that situation today, you need to “give careful thought to your ways” of spending money, your shopping habits, and your method of handling the resources God has entrusted with you. Are you being a good steward who has nothing to be ashamed of (2 Timothy 2:15)? We all will have to give an account to God of not only our sins and spiritual life, but also of our resources, finances, and spending habits. May God give us spiritual discernment to recognize the subtle temptations and power to overcome them today. Amen.

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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 22

Published by V John on March 17, 2012

Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness

Day 22, Saturday, March 17, 2012

We have several things to learn from the temptations of Jesus Christ. One of them is Jesus’ attitude during the temptations and the way He handled the situation. Jesus didn’t complain about being tempted, instead He showed a positive attitude. Jesus didn’t doubt His own identity, as the Son of God sent on a mission. Whenever Satan tried to raise doubts through his temptations, Jesus declined his offers by keeping His eyes fixed on His mission that was of higher good and spiritual nature than the material needs of his own or the stuff he was being offered. Therefore, when He was offered bread, power, or possessions, things that were material than spiritual in nature, Jesus thought in terms of the mission and the kingdom of God that was inaugurated by Him on earth. He evaluated the offers in light of His higher mission and the values of the Kingdom. He kept love as the supreme operating value of the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ kingdom would not be forced with power or compulsions upon people but attract them in by the force of His unceasing love.

 Satan continues to tempt His people today just as He did for all the saints in the history of humanity. However, our temptations are not unique, as Paul said In 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” Thus, whatever situation we may be in today it has already been faced by God’s people several times in the past. Jesus’ apostles, too, fought among themselves for power and positions and they often wanted Jesus to use force to defeat Satan (see Mark 9:33ff; Matthew 16:21ff; Luke 9:51-56). When we face the similar temptations in our personal and church life, Satan will try to divert our attention from our highest purpose and mission. He wishes that we forsake the kingdom values of love and take our eyes off God’s mission for petty things such as a position of authority over others. He wishes that keep ourselves busy with work, job, activities, programs, and look for ways to control others by our power and positions. Therefore, we need to adopt the positive attitude of Jesus and keep our eyes fixed upon our higher calling, our mission that God has sent us on, and practicing the most vital virtue of the kingdom of God—love. It is this attitude of love that will help us relinquish offers of power and positions and keep us focused on God, His mission, and His Kingdom on earth. Amen.

 


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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 21

Published by V John on March 15, 2012

Day 21, Friday, March 16, 2012

 Jesus calmly confronted Satan in the wilderness and was able to come triumphant out of this experience because of His dependence on God’s Word. In the last temptation, Jesus had to finally rebuke Satan and charged him to leave Him alone (see Matthew 4:10). Satan left Him, but Luke adds a very significant little detail that is not found in any other gospel. He writes: “And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). You might recall that at the beginning of this Lenten devotional we saw that Jesus’ temptations were not limited to just three mentioned here. In fact, He was tempted throughout His earthly life and yet remained sinless. There is an absorbing theological debate about the issue whether Jesus could have sinned or not or whether he was capable of sinning. We don’t want to digress into this dispute now. I would rather leave it for some other day, God willing.

 Luke 4:13 is clear that Satan only temporarily departed from Jesus in the wilderness, but just because Jesus prevailed over him does not mean that Satan threw up his hands and quit forever. Jesus encountered the devil and His tricks all through His ministry in one form or the other. Sometimes the temptations came in the form of His enemies and occasionally in the form of His own disciples. For example, do you remember what Jesus once said to Peter, when he wished that Jesus would not die? – “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16: 23 NIV). Temptation is not a sin, and in Jesus’ case God’s Spirit initiated and permitted Satan to tempt Jesus. Luke also tells us that temptation is not a once and for all event. No temptation is resisted permanently not to be tempted again by the same kinds of temptation or to fall into a similar one time and again. Luke says that Satan always looks for an opportunity to tempt us at the point when we may be in the most vulnerable situation. For example, at the point of Jesus’ most vulnerability in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked his disciples to “pray that you may not enter into temptation.” However, he went further ahead of them and prayed for the removal of the cup of suffering that he knew He had to come to drink (Luke 22: 39-44). The book of Hebrews (4:15) tells that Jesus was tempted in every area and thus He is able to help us when Satan brings before us the temptation that we thought we had resisted one and for all. May we take refuge in Jesus when we are tempted and learn from His experience? Amen.

English: Christ is tempted by Satan. The engra...

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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 19

Published by V John on March 14, 2012

Day 19, Wednesday, March 14, 2012

 Through the second temptation, the devil asked Jesus to take a leap of faith (Matthew 4: 5-7) to prove that He indeed was the Messiah. In reality, devil’s agenda was to kill Jesus before His perfect time so that he could thwart God’s mission in and through Jesus Christ. In refusing to comply with Satan’s deception, Jesus showed us that He would not put the Father to test by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple, but He would rather obey the Father by going to the cross.

Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem.
Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem

 Jesus knew that He had come to die for the salvation of humanity. He was also fully aware that the way of the cross was not an easy one. But He also trusted His Father completely in that He would not keep Him in the grave forever, but He would deliver Him through death, by raising Him from the dead. Here, Jesus was presented an opportunity to choose an easy way out, to get away from the impending life of misery, insult, rejection, capture by His own people, being led as a worst kind of criminal on the way to Golgotha, and finally to be brutally crucified by the Romans. In this temptation, once again, Satan wished Jesus to act independently of God’s will for Him, which was the way of the cross. Thank God for Jesus who chose that path of suffering and death so that you and I could be free from sin today. However, we need to remember that perhaps God’s desire for us may also be that we go through pain and suffering in our lives during our wilderness experience. Satan will certainly show us other options and easy way out of God’s will. There are many false prosperity-gospel preachers that will confidently teach that God’s will for you is to only prosper in every possible way. There are many who believe that Christianity is the easiest religion of just grace and forgiveness. But when faced with such temptations, we need to recall how Jesus acted and chose the way of the cross. And after He came out victoriously from His temptations, He warned us: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7: 13-14 NIV). May we choose to the narrow way—the Jesus’ way—and find eternal life. Amen.


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Lenten Reflections 2012: Retreating into the wilderness with Jesus, Day 16

Published by V John on March 10, 2012
Slices of French Bread
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Day 16, Saturday, March 10, 2012

 In the first temptation when the devil wanted Jesus to make bread out of stones because He was hungry, Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4: 4, Luke 4:4). Interestingly, Jesus cited Deuteronomy 8:2-3 from memory. If you recall, we saw how Jesus’ experience is very similar to the wilderness experience of the Israelites. Deut. 8:2-3 (NIV) reads,

“Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

 Jesus must have been reading the Word of God and contemplating on Israelites’ experience in the wilderness of Sinai. That’s why, in the face of hunger and temptation, he could tell Satan that there is more to our earthly life than just our physical needs. If we go deeper in the Word of God and do in our life what it says, we, too, will soon realize that the Word is life-giving. Compared to the worldly things surrounding us, the Bible says:

“‘But the word of the Lord endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet 1:25-2:2 NewKJV).

The Word of God can satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst and thus we should grow spiritually. There are millions of people today that call themselves Christian, but aren’t growing at all. God has blessed them physically, financially, and in every other way, as He did the people of Israel. But as far as the Word of God and their spiritual life is concerned, they are at the same stage today at which they were 25 years ago or so. They haven’t grown. As a result, they have grown in their dependency on the material stuff that has been accumulated around them. Therefore, in the face of testing of their faith, they will not have the spiritual resources to draw from and cannot win over the tempter. Today, let us look within and in the past. What is the source of your life? Is it the Word of God? What’s exactly the place of the Word of God in your life? Is it only to be kept under the pillow, on the bookshelf, or in the suitcase when you travel? Or, has it just become a habit that you read the Word and then forget about it? How much have you grown in the Word since you became a follower of Christ? God bless! Amen.

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