Mark 1 & 6

Temptations and challenges to our faith have been around since creation. We see that Jesus and His disciples faced the world with amazement at what Jesus was doing in their midst. Feeding the five thousand, walking on water, calming storms were all beyond their comprehension.

Jesus instilled faith and trust in His disciples so that when He asked them to follow, they did. He taught with authority, and commanded evil spirits to come out of men. His disciples trusted in Him and followed His teaching.

His words to the disciples when they saw Him walking on the water should comfort us all when He said “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” In our times of trials and temptation we need to remember that Jesus is there for us, and we can take courage in His comfort.

Matthew 4:1-11

Looking back at the Old Testament and writings in the New Testament we see that God has always been there with Jesus at His side. Along with that the tempter has been there to try to steer us away from our relationship with God.

In Matthew we see how Jesus dealt with Satan’s attempts to draw Him away, which applies as a model to follow today. Temptation was there in early days, and through the many stories in the Bible, just as much as it is today. We need to be vigilant in maintaining our relationship with God and His Word to help guide us on our paths, and keep the Evil One at bay.

Numbers 32-33

The children of Israel are preparing to cross over to the promised land when God provides instructions on what they are supposed to do. God’s intent is for His people to cleanse the land of the people and objects of worship that are not from God, in order to provide a pure environment for them to honor and worship Him.

God also warned them of what would happen if they did not follow His direction, and how it would be a snare to them that prevents a close relationship with God.

This instruction applies to us today. Guiding us to remove any worldly distractions that prevent having a pure relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father. We also need to replace this void with God’s Word and have the mindset of a true believer, so we can live the life God offers to each of us.

Numbers 21 & 22

As the children of Israel make the final push to get to the promised land, God provides clear instructions on where to go, and how to handle the people around them. However, when things don’t go as anticipated, the people thought that God’s plans must have changed. The people decided to adapt their own ideas and “adjust” the plan to what makes sense.

Not only did the children of Israel miss out on all the great gifts and opportunities God had planned for them, but they also ended up straying away from God’s plan, which led to their separation from God’s blessing.

How often in our lives do we want to appear to be listening to God for direction and then when it becomes hard or does not make sense, we make our own adjustments, thinking that it’s OK because we are still “following” what God told us. Partial obedience is still disobedience. God desires true commitment from our hearts so we can experience His grace and love to the fullest.

Luke 24:1-8

On this Resurrection Sunday we come together to not only remember what Christ did for us, but to also to understand the power of what He did. Jesus’ example shows how He submitted obediently to God’s will, how He forgave those who persecuted Him, and humbly walked on this earth as a servant.

The resurrection gives us the power to live as a child of God. Trying to do this on our own is impossible. We must first die to our flesh by emptying ourselves, including giving up our expectations of God, our definition of “what is good”, our control, and especially our own will.

The greatest gift from God is this power of the resurrection is available to all who accept Jesus and follow in his examples.