GOD WITH US
Week 2 // In The Desert Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him. {Matthew 4:1-11 CSB} Merry Christmas guys! Are you used to that yet? Last week we began our Christmas series called God WIth Us. We spoke about how God is with us specifically in the valley. As I continue speaking with people, I know that many are going through a valley season. Meaning things are tough. Maybe there’s financial hardship, or relational strife, or the loss of someone you love and care for deeply. We mentioned last week, that it’s not a matter of if but when you will go through a valley. We read that in Psalms 23:4. But even in those valley seasons, we have God’s promise that he is with us. Next week, Steven will be sharing about how God is with us on the mountaintops. Those are the seasons in life when everything is great. In fact, maybe things are trending upward. Do we even need God with us in those seasons of life? Steven will be sharing with us next week, so you definitely don’t want to miss that. As we begin our time, let me ask you a question. Have you ever been to a desert? Weird question, right? Especially if you don’t travel much, living in NYC, you don’t have any exposure to desert. But just for fun, in a show of hands, who has ever been to the desert? You may have visited a desert if you’ve ever traveled to Arizona, New Mexico, or Texas. For the rest of us, the closest we’ve ever been to the desert is that exhibit at the zoo where they paint cactus on the wall and the floors are a beige color to mimic sand. They pick up the thermostat a little to make it warmer and put up hot light bulbs around. In today’s passage, we read about Jesus finding himself led to the desert [wilderness]. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. {Matthew 4:1-2 CSB} Imagine this scenario. Before the launch of Jesus’ public ministry, he is led into the wilderness where he fasts and prays and eventually is tempted and tormented by the devil. The word translated “wilderness” is erémos which can be translated “desert, wilderness, isolated and desolate place.” This is where Jesus finds himself. And remember that the narrative of Jesus’ earthly ministry is mostly located in the middle east. So when we speak of wilderness here, we’re not talking about a rainforest. Think desert. Matthew tells us that he is in the desert for 40 days. But he’s not only experiencing the physical exhaustion of the desert. But it’s also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting for him as well. He’s in a desert season. Have you ever found yourself in one of these desert seasons? Here’s what we know about the desert. In the desert… // IT’S DRY There’s typically a lack of water in the desert. Water gives life. You can go without eating longer than you can go without water. When you’re going through a desert season in your life, you’re experiencing dryness. Perhaps you can especially relate to this on a spiritual level. You experienced the refreshing waters of God’s grace. You were overwhelmed with his love that came crashing over you like wave after wave. But now, it just feels dry. And maybe you can’t even quite put your finger on why. You can relate to the psalmist when he said, God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. {Psalm 63:1 CSB} Have you ever found yourself there? Maybe it’s a place where you’re just numb. You’re numb emotionally and spiritually. You might feel emotionally removed from your surroundings or not experiencing God how you once did. Sometimes a desert season is dry. // THERE’S SCARCITY In the desert there are not many resources at your disposal. There’s not a lot of choice for food. There’s not a lot of options around you. There’s a lot of scarcity. One of the ways the Bible speaks of scarcity is by using the word famine. For example in the Old Testament story of Joseph. The story goes that Pharaoh, who was the most powerful ruler of that day, had a dream. In this dream he sees 7 fat, healthy cows grazing. But then behind them 7 scrawny and ugly cows come and eat the fat cows. Pharaoh asks Joseph to interpret the dream. His interpretation was not good news for Pharaoh and the land of Egypt. 29 There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, 30 but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land... {Genesis 41:29-30 CSB} In other words, Joseph’s interpretation of the dream included 7 years of scarcity. There would be no food and the land would not be able to produce crops. In a desert season of your life, it may feel like this as well. Money might be particularly tight. It’s difficult to make ends meet. There’s more bills than income. The fridge and cupboards are empty and there’s cobwebs at the bottom of your pant pockets. In the desert we find scarcity. // YOU’RE ALONE The desert is usually deserted. There’s not a huge booming population of people typically in the desert. You can tend to feel isolated and alone. That was the situation of Jesus in the desert. He’s alone and isolated. In a desert season you can tend to feel this way. You can feel like you’re all alone. You feel like no one understands what you’re going through. Or no one even cares. In a desert season, you might withdraw and isolate yourself. // YOU’RE VULNERABLE In the desert, there aren’t many options for where to hide. You’re exposed and vulnerable. In the wilderness there’s predators waiting to harm you. In the desert you’re open to attack. This is where the enemy can really do some damage because you’re all alone. Like a lion who leads his pray away from the pack in order that he could attack, our spiritual enemy enjoys when we isolate ourselves because that is when we’re most vulnerable. You may be here today and you find yourself in the desert. But what do you do to get through to the other side of the desert. Let’s look at three things Jesus did to help him through his desert experience. 1: DEPEND ON THE WORD OF GOD 3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” {Matthew 4:2-3 CSB} When you find yourself in the desert, the temptation will be to look at the circumstances around you and allow that to determine your thoughts, actions, and emotions. We’re so quick to take our eyes off what we know and hold to be true in the word of God. One of the things God’s word helps us with is giving us direction. Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. {Psalm 119:105 CSB} During a desert season, it is so easy to hear all the competing voices around you telling you what is contrary to God’s word. I’ve heard many people say during a particularly difficult season of life, “I just wish God would talk to me.” Well, guess what? He already has. And it’s right here in this book. So I have to ask you the tough question. How much of a priority is the reading of God’s word in your life? Or maybe I should ask you, what are you doing to make it a priority in your life? Don’t wait for a desert experience to begin digging into your Bible. Begin now. In fact, to make it easy for you, how about we do this? There is a 6-day Bible reading plan that compliments this series. How about we commit as a church to read this devotional together. Together, let’s depend on God’s word. Let’s seek its direction. 2: PUT ALL YOUR FAITH AND TRUST IN GOD 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” {Matthew 4:5-7 CSB} Did you ever play the “trust fall” game? It’s when you position yourself in front of someone else and you’re supposed to fall back trusting that the person behind you will catch you. Here Satan is playing a proverbial game of “trust fall” with Jesus saying that if he would jump off, then God would protect him. Ultimately what Satan was attempting to get Jesus to do was to determine God’s trustworthiness based upon this test. But you see, God’s trustworthiness is not determined by whether or not he delivers you from your current state or situation. Many times, we want to put God to a similar test and we might say, “God deliver me from this issue, and then I will serve you. Then I will go to church. Then I will pray. Then I will devote my life to you.” Instead, we put our faith and trust in God simply because he is faithful and trustworthy. We don’t put our faith and trust in God so that we can simply withdraw from his celestial ATM machine. We don’t put our faith and trust in God just so that he can deliver us from our current desert situation. I like what this verse says here. It helps us see to important attributes of God… 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. {1 John 1:9 CSB} He is faithful. He is righteous. He is just. He is trustworthy. Therefore, even in our present desert experience, we will have faith and trust in him. By the way, I love the other reminder that this verse gives us and that is that he is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” God in his infinite love for us made it possible that we might stand before him blameless. We are sinful by nature and choice. This sin separates us from truly experiencing relationship with God. But God made a way for us to experience the forgiveness of sin and that was through Jesus. Jesus dwelt among us and lived a perfect and sinless life. Then on the cross he bore the weight of the sins of the world. Your sin and mine. As the only perfect sacrifice he died paying the penalty of sin for the world. Three days later he rose from the grave conquering Satan, sin, and death. In his death we experience the forgiveness of sin. In his life, we receive newness of life. The Bible tells us that all we need to do in order to experience this forgiveness of sin and newness of life is receive God’s gift of grace through faith. 3: WORSHIP YOUR WAY THROUGH IT 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” {Matthew 4:8-10 CSB} Here, the devil attempted to get Jesus to worship him in order that he might gain immediate gratification and relief from his current desert experience. Jesus is quick to remind Satan that the only One truly worthy of worship is God himself. When you’re walking through a desert season, what is your default mode? Is your initial response to seek God and worship him? Or do you try to seek out immediate gratification and relief from your temporary problems? Satan’s failed attempt was basically to get Jesus to worship comfort, success, and wealth. All the things that, if we’re honest, we spend countless energy pursuing. How do you worship God? 1: You worship God individually. This is you personally seeking after God through prayer and reading God’s word. This is your living your life in such a way that you’re in a constant red hot pursuit of Jesus. This is putting all your hope, trust and dependance off of yourself and onto God. It’s living your life devoted to him. 2: You worship God corporately with other believers in community. Perhaps the greatest resource God has given us when it comes to traveling through those desert seasons in our lives is each other. Yet so many result to going through these moments and seasons alone. 24 And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching. {Hebrews 10:24-25 CSB} In the context of community we can encourage each other. In the context of community we can pray for each other. In the context of community we can weep with one another. In the context of community we can help each other. I wish we could all see this. But yet, so often the first thing we let go of when entering a desert season is worshiping God corporately. We chose isolation over community. This is probably the biggest weapon your spiritual enemy has against you. Because if he can isolate you, he knows he can remove the support system God has placed around you. There you’re alone and vulnerable. But when we gather corporately, together we can encourage each other towards worshiping God through our current circumstances. Together we can lift the others hand, even when they don’t have the strength to. What do you do if you find yourself in the desert? Realize that God is with you. You depend on the word of God. Seek direction in God’s word. It is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. What do you do when you find yourself in the desert? You put all your faith and trust in God. Realize that he is true to his word. He is with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. What do you do when you find yourself in the desert? Do you worship your way through it? Seeking God even in the midst of your desert season. Not because of what he can do for you but simply for who he is. Simply because he is worthy of your worship and adoration. Do you worship through it corporately in the context of a community of believers there to encourage you, pray with you, and support you? Christmas time is a reminder for us that God is with us. He is with you, even in the desert. PRAY: God, thank you for the reminder that you are with us. I pray for those of us who find ourselves in a desert season right now. I pray that we would depend on your word. I pray that we might place all our faith and trust in your. I pray that we might be strengthened in the spirit to worship you through it all both as individuals and corporately as the body of Christ.
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