[Jesus] was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:2-4) JESUS USED WHAT WE USE The crew of Apollo 13 was in trouble. On the way to the moon, an oxygen tank exploded on the spacecraft. It was a race against time to get the crew back to earth before the remaining oxygen ran out. But there was was another problem. The air filtration system had broken during the explosion. Without a working system, the crew would soon die. What was the answer? A group of technicians quickly gathered in a room back on earth to invent a new filtration system. The trick, however, was that these technicians could only use materials that the astronauts already had in the spacecraft. Plus, their design had to be simple enough for the astronauts to assemble the system in a hurry while receiving the instructions by radio. In that room on earth, as they worked and planned, they had to put them themselves in the astronauts place. Jesus came to this earth to battle the devil in our place. As the Son of God, Jesus could have used his power to crush him. But remember, Jesus had come to be our substitute. As our substitute, he could only use the same weapon you and I have to resist the devil. And thats the weapon Jesus used. He used the Word of God. Years ago, the wife and daughter of my friend were in a terrible car accident. They both survived, but matters were tense and uncertain for some time. In response to a card we had sent, our friend mailed a reply we will always remember. In essence, he said, I thank God for all the sermons I thought I had forgotten and all the Bible passages I hated to memorize as a child. What carried our friend through those dark moments was the same thing Jesus wielded in his battle against the devil. The Word of God is not simply some series of statements defining Christian doctrine. The Word of God is living and active. Its promises are life-changing. And at its core is the gospel, the good news that Christ has arrived to wash our sins away and to cover us with his holy life. Thats why the devil cannot handle a Christian who is armed with the Word of God and who is not afraid to use it. Send your Word, Lord God, into the marrow of my soul. Amen.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 18:23:47 +0000
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