The Daniel Fast

The Rainbow Pen!

 

Overcoming Daily Temptations

 

 

The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. After Jesus had gone without eating for forty days and nights, he was very hungry. Then the devil came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, tell these stones to turn into bread.” Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say: ‘No one can live only on food. People need every word that God has spoken.’” Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. The devil said, “If you are God’s Son, jump off. The Scriptures say: ‘God will give his angels orders about you. They will catch you in their arms, and you won’t hurt your feet on the stones.’” Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don’t try to test the Lord your God!’” Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. The devil said to him, “I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus answered, “Go away Satan! The Scriptures say: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him. (Matthew 4:1-11 CEV).

 

The greatest battle we face in Overcoming Daily Temptations is within us. It is the battle between the flesh and the spirit. We are basically spirit with a soul in a body. The spirit and soul are eternal. The body’s life is a series of heartbeats, about 72 per second. Our uniqueness starts with a unique natural vibration rate or frequency. When the heart stops beating, we consider the body dead! Another uniqueness is what value we add to the common capital time given us daily. We each have a time slot of 24 hours or 1440 minutes or 86400 seconds every single day. We are evaluated on what we add to this vehicle of time. Most people have broken it down to 8 hours of work, 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of relaxation or pleasure. They call it a balanced life. There are the extremes of workaholics and the idle ones! It is important to strike a balance between work and rest to determine how many days you need to stay here on Earth. It appears the dividing line between the rich and the poor lies partly in the values added to their time slots. The law of Sabbath is about rest or relaxation! When you trust that God is your source, you will schedule a time for rest and relaxation. You will adjust the vibration rate of your mind to listen and hear God broadcasts every morning and evening.

 

When did you last hear from God? We need to hear from Him regularly if we must function effectively. We were created for a purpose and only our manufacturer has the user's manual. We have an inheritance and a legacy to hand down to subsequent generations. Our Creator has given us all the resources we need, but they are held up in the warehouse. We must listen to the daily broadcasts from the manufacturer. We must call out to the person manning the warehouse each day for our supplies. It becomes clear that the goodness and wealth added to time can be handed down to other generations in a family and nation! This may explain the natural good character or abundance of wealth to certain people. Similarly, evil deeds and poverty and disease can be inheritance in a family or nation. Thank God that there are always opportunities for everyone to determine the circumstances of their lifestyle. Those who may have inherited poverty may just have to work a bit harder to change their story to abundance. And those who inherit abundance can change their family or nation’s story to that of poverty. Are you surprised everyone wants to become an American? The national story of America has been exemplary. God Almighty has blessed her to spread the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Watch for the return of Christ soon! All the Christian theologies are being shaken in the political realms: Egypt for Coptic Christians,  Italy for Catholics, Greece for the Orthodox, and America for the Protestants. Learn to work for one Christ in one Body! God is closely involved in every major world event today more than ever before.

 

Another uniqueness of each human is how much of our senses we make use of consciously and unconsciously. The IQ could be measured in the spiritual, mental, emotional, and relational dimensions. But we are each given 5 physical and spiritual senses of taste, touch, smell, sound and sight. These are more resources given us by our Creator to help us achieve the purpose for which He created us. Others refer to them as our potential, innate or inherent. Our 5 physical senses all report to the carnal mind which is the enemy of God. Satan uses the 5 senses to tempt us. Satan uses the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life to tempt us to sin. Satan has the same three temptations he had for Christ Jesus! The flesh includes tasting, touching, smelling, and hearing. The lust of the eyes is seeing. The pride of life is thinking you are special because of who you are, and what you have or know or look like. Christ Jesus successfully resisted the temptations of Satan using the Sword of the Spirit or the Word of God. You can learn to do same and Satan will flee from you!

 

Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are. Jesus was tempted in the same way as other men, without supernatural powers. Jesus was required to pass these tests before God without relying on powers that other men do not have. Satan was seeking to draw Jesus from a Messiah of self-sacrifice to a Messiah of power. Jesus was exposed to danger and was assaulted by the temptation and seduction of the Evil One, who proposed a different messianic path to Jesus, far from God's plan. The evil plan for our lives and lifestyles passes through power, success and domination rather than the total gift of yourself as sacrifice on the Cross. The alternatives for our lifestyle are the person of power and success, or the person of love and self-sacrifice. The reason for Jesus' temptation was that the Lamb of God was taking on the sins of the forefathers of Israel who had rebelled against Him when He led them with His Holy Spirit in the wilderness. In the desert they gave in to their craving and were given manna and quails. We must not reduce our lives to satisfying our cravings only.

 

The 3 temptations of Jesus foreshadow the 3 points in his ministry where political temptations were the greatest. Right after the miracle of the loaves and fish was performed, the hungry crowds wanted to make Him king. When He cleansed the Temple, He had already secured enough political and moral support from the crowds to start a political movement. And the night at Gethsemane when He played with the idea of calling on 12 legions of angels to stop his arrest - He could have initiated a holy war had He chosen to. It is believed that the devil was testing Jesus' understanding of His role rather than trying to lure him to sin. The devil wasn't so much tempting Jesus as presenting him with the different options He could take to be a Messiah, and making him choose one. Jesus could not just be someone who alleviates physical hardships by miraculously feeding himself when hungry. Jesus is not a miracle worker who wins converts by spectacular acts like surviving a jump from a high pinnacle. And Jesus was not a political liberator from the oppression of the Romans by having power over the kingdoms of the world.

 

In Overcoming Daily Temptations, you will always answer some questions from the enemy. First, for the lust of the flesh, Satan will ask you to avoid physical hardships to show that you are a mature Christ Disciple: Will you turn stones into bread since you are hungry? Second, for the lust of the eyes, Satan will show you earthly kingdoms and ask you: And will you worship Satan the Devil for material gains? And third, for the pride of life, the enemy will lure you into working miracles for your ego only: Will you be careless and then perform spectacular acts to protect you? Let the Spirit of the Living God be your Guide always! Operate in the spirit realm under His guidance only.