When the Devil Grilled JESUS!

It was just an ordinary day. The Devil decided to take Jesus, the Son of the living God, for grilling. Now, you must agree with me that that was not going to be fun; no, not at all!

Anytime the Devil takes anyone up for grilling, it is always grueling.

Think of Joseph: For seventeen years, he was grilled by the Devil. But God was with him, so he wasn't burned! Think also of Job, the man of faith. Satan decided on a particular day - whether it was in spring, summer, autumn, or winter, I couldn't tell; but the Evil One decided to show up and afflict "righteous Job". He lost everything he had worked for, in a jiffy. Just like that!

It is not particularly a good idea to allow the Devil an opportunity to show up at yours. The Scripture commands us to "Neither give place to the devil" | Ephesians 4:27. Yet, that exactly, most people - whether ignorantly or by default - do! It's explicitly stated in Ephesians 4:22-31 thus:

22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

27 Neither give place to the devil.

28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Whenever any person who claims to be a child of God chooses to operate in the flesh of his former personality; that is, in deceitful lusts - and ignores the renewing the spirit of his/her mind, the Devil is advantaged over such a life! Such individuals will find themselves at tangling positions being caught by the ensnaring traps of the Devil. Such will become like smoked bacon portion at his grill!

HOW THE DEVIL GRILLS

This is how the Devil grills: Through lusts.

The Bible clearly states that human beings are ensnared by the Devil, being held captive by their wills in 2 Timothy 2:26. Apostle Peter the aged, says that we escape "the corruption that is in the world through lusts" | 2 Peter 1:4. The old Devil has run out of ideas in captivating and ensnaring both the ignorant and the learned. He will never change his tactics. We know his tactics: He ensnares every captive through lusts.

"But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." | James 2:14-15

What are the lusts in your heart that you're hatching?

Every temptation you and I would ever face was summarized in the Devil's temptations of our Master Jesus, after His forty-day-and-night fast in the wilderness viz-a-viz:

a.) Sensualism - "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread!" Just as if he didn't know Jesus Christ was the Son of the living God! But Jesus rejected the Devil's touting of His belly and hunger desires being filled/met by the Evil One!

What about you?

Is your God your belly? Is your glory in what God calls shameful? And do you mind earthly things or eternal values? The Bible says the end of such is destruction | Philippians 3:19.

Food is good for quenching hunger, as water quenches thirst. But both foods and drinks can soon become intoxicants if care is not taken. So also can sex, modern-day entertainment, and the fulfillment of the general category called 'appetites.'

b.) Egotism - "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands, they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou should dash thy foot against a stone ..." Here, the Wicked One taunted the Savior

to display His showmanship-skills. Jesus didn't give in. He wasn't carried away with the demonic lousy tout: The real showmanship would be depicted on the Cross where our Master and Savior had: "disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it" | Colossians 2:15.

Do you love to display your showmanship at the expense of the Giver of the skill?

Do you hold people whom you're supposed to serve subservient under your spell of acuteness and smartness? You must likely recognize by now who the Directir of your skills is; for it could never be God, but the Devil! Your gifts and 'showmanship-ness' are concentrically witchcrafted clouted with a smear of rebelliousness.

c.) Materialism - "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."

Think of a robber trying to sell stolen goods to the Owner! That's so sick a mindset. No wonder Jesus had finally had enough of the Devil's wiles. He had ordered him to "Get lost!" That's how provoked you too ought to be when the Devil wants to sell you what he stole from you!

At each of His temptations, the Master Jesus displayed a sharp analysis of the application of the Word of God. Hence, we establish from this account of Saint Matthew that we too will put the Devil to rout and quench the fire in his oven/grill with the right application of the Word of God whenever temptation to arouse us to lust arises. by now, I believe that lust isn't just limited to fornication/adultery or booty calls alone. It comprises every pressure applied to your weakness(es) with the devilish anticipation to break you!

__________

Written by Sammy Joseph. Log onto https://www.harvestways.org/shop to be introduced to the Gospel crusade of the author!

Photo credit: Farah Blaise, Manhattan, New York, USA.

Sammy Joseph Ministries, U.K. obtained the copyrights to this image. (This is a copyrighted photo that must not be reproduced, or altered without the written permission of the owner!)

Bunkers/Sand-traps!

A bunker or a sand-trap? Different people call it different names. But its meaning is never different! There it is: Whatever you choose to call it; it is a small, sand island on a golf course!

I am not yet a golf player; someday, I hope to nurture into life, that secret ambition. However, I do visit golf courses regularly to either observe my walk or jogging exercise in the tranquil atmosphere where I am offered the serenity to meditate or pray as I observe my exercise. As I gently progress in my soul-searching efforts, sometimes, I MUST admit that I am nonetheless distracted. Distracted by "wannabe pro-players" ... You can very easily tell them apart from the majority of the golf-users: They often urge their player-mates - or in some cases, companions - to watch them display extemporaneous skills as they attempt a strike at the miniature ball, from within the BUNKER!

The other day, this young player had invited along his girlfriend - and had tried to impress her with his amateurish skills!

"Oh, bunkers ..." she'd exclaimed as the dry summer's wind had driven some soft sand onto her flowing maze of blonde hair!

Only the wanna-be star wasn't laughing!

DON'T MAKE A FOOL OF YOURSELF!

While we may all be embarrassed at times for displaying inexperience or foolishness, it would nonetheless be worse if we either deliberately or unknowingly make a fool of ourselves! There must be a reason - if not more - for the erection of a man-made bunker (or sand-trap) on golf courses! Just like in every sport that calls for professionalism, resistance objects are created both to tone the athletes' muscles and possibly also acutely hone in on their skills!

Bunkers (or sand traps) are shallow pits filled with sand and generally incorporate a raised lip or a depression from which the ball is more difficult to play than it is on the 'smooth' grass surface!

In the spiritual realm too, all that pertains to righteousness and Godliness WILL face obstacle-erections or barriers! That's a certainty! Father-GOD allowed it so to be!

Barriers, to a spiritually dead or a spiritually immature person, are a pain. Painful to conceive and even navigate. "If God were a good God, why would He allow this and that to happen to me?" That is the kind of question that agitates such souls in crises, at crises' calls!

But for the spiritually enlightened, the perception that gives birth to their response to the presence of sand-traps or bunkers on their life's golf courses is remarkably different! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 comes to mind: "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." When the GOD had allowed the devil to wreak chaos and calamities in Job's life, his spiritually ignorant wife had urged him to "Curse God and die!" Whether Job followed her advice or not, she was determined to abandon him in his pain and anguish any way! thankfully, the spouse in pain was steeled in his faith in God: Job had answered her thus: "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips" | Job 2:10.

One thing is certain: When suddenly our golf courses grow sand-traps/bunkers, we are tested by God. We are summoned to "Come up higher" | Revelation 4:1 The demands of honing in our skills and sharpening of focus are called into operationality! If we prepare to pass, fortunately for us, we hit the hole in one! An ace, so to speak! Our ball has ended up in the cup! Unfortunately for the devil, he tempts us to draw us away from our Father's love. Never ever had he any idea of what glory was about to be revealed in us! Father-God's tests, therefore, are resistance, muscle-growing elements specially designed by Him for the healthy bulging, curl-formation of our spiritual muscles! The writer of Hebrews made mention of a phrase in light of this truth: "ARM YOURSELVES WITH THE SAME MIND!"

"Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God."

1 Peter 4:1-2

Jesus the Master categorically warned His disciples to expect trouble, persecutions, and indeed tribulation as they endeavor to follow Him. The truth is that your bunkers will certainly be different from mine, and indeed, someone else's.

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." | John 16:33.

Ought we not, therefore, request from our great High Priest, grace to walk with Him daily even in the face of the grit and the drifting sand of the sand-trap/bunker?

__________

Written by Sammy Joseph.

Log onto https://www.harvestways.org/shop to be introduced to the Gospel crusade of the author!

Photo credit: Sammy Joseph Ministries, U.K. This is a copyrighted photo that must not be reproduced, stored, or altered without the written permission of the owner!

Make It a HAPPY Day, Week, Month ...

"The joy of the LORD is your strength!"

That's just about all the average person has heard ... and thus also say!

I say 'average person'; that may infer a stark unbeliever, an unchurched person, a church-goer who has not committed their life to the Saviorship and Lordship of Christ; or indeed a child of God who's rusty in the depth of the knowledge of the Word of God.

Whoever this applies unto, we ALL know, first, that JOY is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit | Galatians 5:22-23. Second, we are assured that there will be dark clouds in our lives' existential living. It's just a matter of when. And when such billows of time happen upon us, we know that we cannot navigate such heaviness in our own strength! This is why the Father-God had bequeathed unto us the Holy Spirit! Along with JOY, the Spirit of God produces such other fruits as love, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

Now, the question is: 'How do I get these fruits of the Spirit?

The Word of God is clear on how! By the receipt of the gift of salvation that the Father-God offers us all through the propitiating sacrifice of our LORD Jesus Christ on the Cross. And once His Gift is accepted and received, supernaturally - almost inexplicably because it surpasses human understanding - takes residence in our hearts. Like a Tree, we begin to cultivate His fruits. It is thus, our responsibility, to CULTIVATE the fruits of the Tree!

Are you busy cultivating these fruits? Because this cultivation is NOT only meant for days of dark clouds alone; there will be days whereby after you have triumphantly overcome your own sad, gloomy, cloudy days, you will encounter some others who are just encountering theirs. For such a season also, are you prepared of God:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:2-4).

HERE'S THE COMPLETE MIND OF FATHER-GOD IN NEHEMIAH 8:10

Then Ezra said to them, “Go [your way], eat the rich festival food, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be worried, for the joy of the LORD is your strength and your stronghold.” | Amplified Version.

God commanded His prophet Ezra to command the people in today's English: "EAT. DRINK. BE MERRY. SEND PORTIONS OUT TO THOSE FOR WHOM NOTHING IS PREPARED. TODAY, IS A HOLY DAY UNTO THE LORD, AND CARE LESS FOR ANY ATTACKS OF GLOOMY DARK CLOUDS BECAUSE THE JOY GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT GIVES IS BOTH YOUR STRENGTH AND REPOSE! HALLELUYAH!"

Now, read that and incorporate that into your everyday living and see how joy bubbles up in your heart! Make it a happy day, week, month, year - and indeed, existence!

ATTENTION:

Have you registered freely for the upcoming one-day Int'l Experience Harvestways Conference? Click upon either of these links to register today:

https://www.harvestways.org/events-1/intl-experience-harvestways-ieh-conference-21-november-7-2021-1

OR

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/intl-experience-harvestways-conf-21-tickets-189335697167?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb

Looking forward to welcoming you!

Photo credit: Tammy Schroeder, Manitoba, Canada. Tammy, a Swish Model, an actress, and a voice coach is also a freelance photographer when not at the office. Copyrighted photo used by permission and must not be reproduced, stored, or altered without the written permission of the owner!