06 / 19 / 06
(Comments in parentheses and emphasis are mine)

FIRST THOUGHTS

1 John 2:15-16:

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world -

1.) the cravings of sinful man, (The desire of a man’s heart … what he craves, or his intentions and inclinations. Some versions have this as “lust of the flesh”. Our flesh is sinful and is often called our sinful nature. God’s Laws go against this nature we were born with. Have you told a child not to do something, only to have that child do it out of curiosity? Our craving is to do wrong. 2 Peter 2:10 is clear: “This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.”)

2.) the lust of his eyes (Have you ever been pleased with what you have … until you saw what someone else had? Our eyes are forever gazing upon what the world has … are you still satisfied? It may be with our spouses or material objects. We must learn contentment and contentment stops this worldly battle of our eyes.)

3.) and the boasting of what he has and does (Our self-worth is often determined by others. We have all been there. When we purchase something we just HAVE TO show someone else! This is of the world and is out of pride. Simply, our flesh desires to satisfy flesh … not God!)

- comes not from the Father but from the world.”

Yes sir, ever since Adam and Eve (the creation of the human race), Satan has used the same three temptations. God desires us to let go of all three of the above and be satisfied with Him alone. He wants our hearts to crave Him only; He wants us to see and desire Him only as the only way to life, peace, and joy; He wants us to be satisfied with His provisions only.

Within every man there is a desire to know God. But, along side with that desire, there is also a desire to satisfy our flesh. My friends, it is that sinful nature (our flesh with all its desires of this world) that we are to crucify so that we can wholly serve God!! (Galatians 5:24 … “Those who belong to Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”)

Man’s sinful nature does not want to obey God, does not want to serve God, and is not satisfied with God’s provisions for each day alone.

“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ), and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (Romans 13:14)

“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” (Galatians 5:-16-17)

Can you see why the churches that preach a prosperity doctrines are so popular? These doctrines try to satisfy this sinful nature, while trying to hold on to the promises of God. This is impossible and God will not share His throne! These doctrines actually APPEAL to the lustful desires of our sinful nature. These teachers claim a freedom from obedience, yet worldly wealth as a gift from God. Can you see mere babies in Christ, who have yet to “put off” their old self and “clothe” themselves with Christ … grabbing hold of this doctrine? They can have both the world and God! (In the end … they only truly had the world, though) These types of churches that preach to the sinful nature are not new … read 2 Peter 2:18 … “For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.”

Let us go back in time and look at Adam and Eve. It is, again, these three aspects of the world that Satan has ALWAYS used. It is no different for us today. Let us read the temptation Satan used on Eve (Genesis 3:4-6):

“‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”

Did you see them? Let us examine this scripture more closely. Remember, in order to stand up to Satan, we must know how he works. We are not to merely trust in our faith, but to act upon it. Could this be why, in the end, the elect will not be deceived (Matthew 24:24)? We are to train ourselves to recognize our enemy.

1.) Satan tested Eve’s heart. She was given a command by God (do not eat of this tree) and Satan twisted God’s command and explained it away … it made sense to Eve, so she continued in the desire / intention of her heart.
2.) Satan tested her soul. She was told … you would be like God. Eve looked at who God was and who she was. She should not have been looking in the first place. Our sinful flesh desires this … to be our own Master with no one being over us!
3.) The rest is Eve’s strength … she saw that it was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom … Eve failed. She was not content with the food that God had given her. Like the child who was told not to do something … wanted to do it even more. Eve should not have even been around the tree.

How are we doing? Are we falling for the same lies, the same deceptions?

- Heart: Many have twisted God’s word to mean that they no longer have to obey God’s commands. Yet they hang on to the promise of eternal life (minus any sanctification). Their daily decisions and lifelong goals are based on the desires and intentions of a heart set on their own standards, free time, hopes, and dreams. They claim, “God is okay with these new commandments,” or worse yet, “His Son told us to change them.”
- Soul: Many lives are being guided by a soul set on pleasing the flesh. Set on things other than God. They claim that they are under God’s control and leadership, yet they do not obey His laws and commands in their daily lives. They are continually looking around to check their own lives.
- Strength: So many people want to satisfy their flesh with material wealth (not being satisfied with God’s simple provisions for each day). In short, they want more than what God has given them.

Have so many missed the point of knowing God? Have so many missed the point of knowing what His Son did? I know this is strong, but we all must (myself included), check ourselves every day to make sure that we are not simply following traditions and friends … claiming “they must be right”.

So let us continue looking for these traps of Satan so that we will know how to avoid his schemes of deception. Adam and Eve’s temptation was no different than our Master’s and those who followed Him. Let us first examine our Savior’s temptation found in Matthew 4:1-11 (I suggest reading it entirely, but to save time, I will use the verses that are critical to the point at hand) Our Lord was being obedient to His Father in the wilderness being tempted by Satan for forty days. We will see the same three temptations:

1.) “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (vs. 4:3)
2.) “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (vs. 4:6)
3.) (After showing Yeshua (Jesus) the riches and spender of the world … which appear to be within SATAN’S power to give (Now there’s a thought provoker!! Is this what many have fallen for and think that it is God blessing their disobedience?) “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”(vs. 4:9)

Let us examine these temptations. Do they fit the previous pattern of Satan’s weapons and armory?

1.) Our Master’s heart was tempted (His desire to take control of the decision of His life – to determine His own destiny apart from the Father was being tested.)
2.) Our Master’s soul was tempted (He was far beyond hungry … does he wait on God’s provisions to satisfy his hunger, or does he take it in his own hands? Does He follow His flesh or His Spirit?)
3.) Finally, the Master’s strength was tempted (The flesh desires the riches of this world and all it has to offer … He could have had it in this life … He chose to forgo and built up treasures in heaven!)

In opposition to the final outcome of Adam and Eve … the Son of the Father passed the test. He knew His Father and trusted in Him alone for every desire. His heart waited on Him (even though He was more hungry than any of us will EVER know) … His soul trusted in His Father’s guidance (He knew that He had the power and the word was with Him … but He waited on His Father’s direction) … Finally, His strength was not in the wealth of the world but trusted and desired in whatever the Father was going to provide Him in this life (It ended up being simply food and clothing … not even a place to lay His head. And He considered Himself blessed! Can we do the same? Can we forgo all that He did … or does our sinful flesh proclaim, “He lived that way so that we don’t have to.”? He could have had the entire wealth of this world … but He was satisfied with food and clothing … for it was his Father’s will.)

It fits. We are seeing how the deceiver works. I hope that you find it as amazing as I did when you read about the third seed sown. It can be found in Matthew 13:22. Again, I will write it and then examine it more closely:

“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”

Did you see the pattern, again? It is hidden, but I believe that all three are there, as well:

1.) Heart … although this person received the word, it did not change Him. His desires were set on what the world has to offer.
2.) Soul … remember that the soul is one’s life. Therefore, he was too worried about his flesh and its worries that he never really trusted in God with his life … “worries of this life”.
3.) Strength … remember that our strength is wrapped up in who we are and what we have. Therefore, it is obvious that this person still desired wealth and was deceived by it. His strength was not in the Lord but in what he had and could gain in this life.

I think that we have found the three areas that our flesh does not want to let go of. It is these three that both Satan and our Father are after. Our Father in heaven desires:

1.) Our heart (As His Spirit writes His Law on our hearts, He wants our desires to be HIS desires as we submit to His commands. NO MATTER what others may think.)
2.) Our soul (Giving Him total control of our lives. He has appointments each day, each week, and each year … we are to keep them, just as our Savior did. We are to give HIM our life, our soul, by giving Him our schedule each day, each week, each year … it is HIS to control, not ours.)
3.) Our strength (We are to be satisfied with simply food and clothing for the day. We are not to desire more than that each day. Can you see how worldly advertisements play against this? “We need more” … “We need better” … “You are not successful unless you reach this point.” It all plays upon this weakness in our flesh, as well.)

WAIT JUST A MINUTE!!! Does this sound familiar, or what? I knew I heard this before:

“He (Yeshua (Jesus)) answered: “Love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,” (Luke 10:27a) Can you see why our Savior quoted Deuteronomy 6:4-5 as the greatest commandment? Moses had just got done giving us the Law (or mind) of God!!

Finally, to emphasize this even more, let us look at King Josiah. Satan deceived the hearts, souls and strength of our forefathers … They went astray. They abandoned the ways of God. They were NOT obeying God’s laws, they were NOT living to please God, and they were going after the riches and luxuries of the world. Then came King Josiah (found in 2 Kings 23:25) … “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to YHVH as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.”

I pray that this has enlightened you, as it did me … there is nothing new under the sun!! God still desires His children to love Him with all of their heart (obey His commandments / appointments) and with all of their soul (give Him their life and all that they are) and with all of their strength (not desire the riches of this world, but storing up wealth in heaven).

All I am saying is “just think about it.”