Temptations of Jesus #2-Jumping Off Temples

The devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and told Him to jump off. Satan quoted from Psalm 91:11-12 about God’s protection. “If You are the Son of God throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will give His angels charge concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone’” (Matt. 4:5-6).

Satan tempted Jesus with Scripture—the very words of God! Who would have thought that God’s Word, taken out of context, could be used to tempt someone? The devil wanted Jesus to believe in the ability of God while ignoring the will of God.

Satan, who was a rebellious, unholy angel, tried to teach Jesus about the protective responsibilities of the holy angels! The Father didn’t tell Him to jump off, so if Jesus had jumped, He would have obeyed Satan and not God. Angels aren’t obligated to catch people who follow the devil’s instructions.

Many Jews believed the Messiah would be revealed by suddenly appearing in the temple. Malachi 3:1 says, “And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple.” If Jesus would jump off and float safely down, the crowd in the temple courts would see it and He would receive instant acceptance as the Messiah. It made sense. Quick. Impressive.

Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:16, “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matt. 4:7). In other words, Psalm 91 cannot be used to force God to act against His will. You must not force one verse to contradict another verse.

I’ve seen people impulsively “jump off temples,” thinking they can make foolish decisions and God will always protect them. Man shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, not selected words taken out of context.

Over 270 printable Bible studies at www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY:  What is the correct order of Jesus’ temptations?

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Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

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Temptations of Jesus #1-Turning Stones into Bread

Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days when He became hungry. The tempter said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread” (Matt. 4:3). The devil was trying to get Jesus to doubt who He was. The last thing He heard from His Father was at His baptism, when He spoke from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son” (Matt. 3:17). Now the devil questioned His identity as the Son of God and challenged Him to prove it.

What tool could Satan use in the wilderness? He tempted Jesus with a rock. He probably pointed to a stone that looked exactly like a loaf of bread. When you’re hungry, even rocks start looking good. The devil can even make unappealing things look attractive when you’re weak.

Jesus could prove He was God’s Son by simply telling the rock, “Change!” and it would instantly turn into bread. No one would ever know, and He could fulfill His hunger drive. Jesus had the power to do it. He performed His first miracle by turning water into wine, so converting stones into bread would be easy.

Since His Father hadn’t given any “daily bread” for forty days, the devil tempted Him to provide for himself. He tempts people today in the same way, “Don’t wait for God to answer. Provide for yourself.” People do all kinds of things they shouldn’t be doing because they refuse to wait on God to provide.

Jesus told the devil, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matt. 4:4 NKJV). Don’t spend your life chasing bread alone, or anything else that fulfills your cravings. Live by every word that God has spoken.

Over 270 printable Bible studies at www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY:  What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

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God Appointed You to Live on Earth at This Time

In 1864 during the Civil War, Henry was a student at Virginia Military Institute. When the Union army attempted to destroy a railroad that brought supplies to them, the VMI cadets were called up by the Confederate army to engage them at the Battle of New Market.

     During the battle, Henry was struck in the stomach by a Minni ball, but instead of penetrating his skin, the bullet miraculously bounced off. If the bullet had entered his body, he would have died in battle due to lack of medical aid. If he had died, you wouldn’t be reading this. Henry Stuart Crockett was my great grandfather. If he had died, I wouldn’t be here today.

If you climb up your family tree, you’ll find someone who barely escaped death. If that person had died, you would not exist. You are not here by accident. God determined when you would live on earth and where you would live. “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (Acts 17:26). Out of all the centuries you could have been born, God appointed you to live at this time.

The Lord also created you with a purpose to fulfill. King David “served the purpose of God in his own generation” (Acts 13:36). Just as David accomplished God’s will during his time on earth, the Lord has a purpose for you to fulfill. If you will seek Him, He will show you your purpose in life. It’s not too late for you to get started.

Over 270 printable Bible studies at www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY:  “Did any prophets come out of Galilee?”

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Making Life Count Ministries

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How Is It Possible to Love Your Enemy?

Corrie Ten Boom was a prisoner in a German concentration camp during WWII. Years later, while speaking in a church in Munich, she spotted in the congregation a former SS soldier who stood guard at the shower room door at Ravensbruck. When the church was dismissed, the former Nazi guard came up to her and said, “How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein. To think that Jesus has washed my sins away!” He reached out to shake her hand.

Corrie kept her hand by her side as vengeful thoughts boiled within her. Here she stood, face to face with the evil soldier who had been so cruel to her. She prayed, “Lord Jesus, forgive me for hating him and help me to forgive him.” She struggled to raise her hand, but couldn’t. Again she prayed, “Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness.”

As she slowly lifted her hand and grabbed his, an incredible thing happened. She said, “Into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our own forgiveness that the world’s healing hinges. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.” (Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place, p. 238)

How is it possible to love your enemy? God can and will do it through you. “For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9). Jesus will give you love for your enemy, just as He did with Corrie. All it takes is being willing to do it. www.makinglifecount.net www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

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Making Life Count Ministries

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The One Thing That Could Stop Salvation

When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for the sins of the world. But the apostle Paul makes a stunning statement in 1 Cor. 15:17, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins.” I’ve often wondered WHY that was true.

The answer is found in our being united with Him. Every believer is “IN Christ” (Eph. 1:7, 13) and Christ is IN every believer (Rom. 8:9-11). When Jesus died, we died with Him (Rom 6:8). “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, (He) made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:5-6)

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but though Me” (John 14:6). If He was still in the grave, we could not go with Him to the Father in heaven. We would still be in the grave with Him. That’s why Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised…you are still in your sins.” If there is no resurrection, there is also no redemption, no reconciliation with God, no justification, no salvation.

But then Paul continues, “But now Christ HAS been raised for the dead” (1 Cor. 15:20). Paul had seen Jesus in His resurrected body (15:8) and spent his entire life trying to convince others of that fact. “If you confess with mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). www.makinglifecount.net www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com

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BIBLE STUDY: If Jesus died on Friday, how could He be in the grave three nights?

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Making Life Count Ministries

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Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

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God Will Show You The Next Step

Worry always concerns things that might happen in the future. You don’t need to know everything about your future. You only need to know where and when to take the next step.

I hated being in second grade, so I asked my father why I had to go to school. He explained, “So you can get to third grade, and then fourth grade, and then later to high school, then college, and then you’ll get a job to support your family.” 

That was NOT what I needed to hear! I was just trying to get through the next day at school, and now my dad was adding even more burdens on me for years to come. It was too much information for me to handle.

That’s why Jesus told His disciples, “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). To make life easier, He would reveal things to them a little bit at a time—as they needed to know it. God leads us one step at a time. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” God gives enough light to your feet to take the next step. The light keeps moving with you as you take each step, which lights the path to your destination.

After the prophet Elijah stopped the rain in Israel, God led him to the brook Cherith. After the brook dried up, God told him to take the next step—go to Zarephath (1 Kings 17:1-9). The Lord didn’t speak to him about taking the next step until Elijah needed to know it.

When Joshua was leading the people into the Promised Land, they wondered how they could cross the Jordan River. God told Joshua to tell the priests, who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant, when to take the next step. When the priests arrived at the Jordan and took the next step into the river, the waters parted for them to cross over (Joshua 3:8-4:18).

God isn’t going to reveal everything that will happen in your future, but if you will seek Him, He will tell you when to take the next step. It’s called walking by faith (2 Cor. 5:7). www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY: Here is a list of scriptures telling you to not be afraid. For more information about why God can be trusted and how to be set free from fear and worry, read The Sure Cure for Worry

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Making Life Count Ministries

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Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

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Jesus Slept Through the Storm to Make a Point

The disciples were on the Sea of Galilee when a violent storm hit. The waves were breaking over the sides and the boat was filling up with water. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion (Mark 4:38). Did you know this is the only time the Bible says Jesus was asleep? That’s no accident. He was sleeping during the storm to make a point.

Jesus was sleeping the stern, which was the lowest place in the boat. The boat was filling up with water, and the disciples couldn’t bail it out fast enough. As waves crashed into the boat, the water rushed down to the stern. Picture Jesus sleeping as water is filling up the stern. He’s soaking wet, the boat is being tossed from one side to the other, yet He doesn’t wake up! It’s nearly impossible to sleep under those conditions, unless God calms you so much that you can. He might have slept through the entire storm if the disciples hadn’t awakened Him.

When we encounter a storm, we don’t know how dangerous it will get. Some storms have little waves, while others have big waves. This was an intense storm too big for them to handle. It looked like God wasn’t in control. The disciples woke Jesus up and screamed, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” (Mark 4:38 NLT) Jesus commanded the winds to be still and the sea became perfectly calm, which proved He was in control of the storm. He demonstrated that He was in charge of their circumstances, whether He was sleeping or awake. 

The disciples were amazed that He could calm the storm simply by speaking words. And He can calm your fears as well by speaking words to your heart. Listen carefully, and you will hear Him whispering those words to your heart, “Peace, be still. Do not be troubled. Do not be afraid.”

Are you trusting God through the storm? You’ll never be able to sleep through the storm like Jesus did until you first rest in the fact that God is in control, even when your boat is filling up with water. God is still with you, even if He appears to be sleeping and unconcerned. It’s just a test. If the Lord doesn’t calm the storm you are going through, He will keep you calm through the storm. Either way removes fear. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY: Here is a list of scriptures telling you to not be afraid. For more information about why God can be trusted and how to be set free from fear and worry, read The Sure Cure for Worry

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Making Life Count Ministries

P.O. Box 680174

Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174

www.makinglifecount.net  Twitter: @KentCrockett

www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com