Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Romans 1-2

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 4:7
Jesus: That is not the only thing Scripture says. It also says, “Do not put the Eternal One, your God, to the test.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Isn’t that just like the Devil to twist scripture to lure us aware from God? It has been said you can use the Bible to prove anything you want to prove. It even says in Psalms 53:1, “there is no God.” Of course those words are taken completely out of context and if you read the whole verse it says, “The foolish are convinced deep down that there is no God. There souls are polluted, and they commit gross injustice. Not one of them does good.”

There’s just a little bit of difference in what the foolish and arrogant might want to tell us and what God’s word really tells us. So, how do we escape the rhetoric and know what God really wants to tell us? How do we face the temptations that the Devil puts in our path when he uses things that sound so convincing and even uses scripture against us like he did with Jesus? After all, Jesus was and is God. How are we supposed to stand up against the Devil’s schemes when those times come?

The answers lay in doing exactly what Jesus did. Jesus knew the counterfeit message Satan tried to pawn off as truth because He knew the scriptures. He didn’t just sit in a pew at the synagogue every once in a while to appease His mother. He didn’t just attend church to feel good or let his neighbors know he was religious. Remember, He told the Pharisees they were religious but they wouldn’t make it to heaven unless they changed.

No, Jesus learned His Father’s words and wants us to do the same. We must spend time, reading and studying God’s word if we are to really know His word. Then we can know when the words we hear from those who would want to deceive us with parts of God’s word are the false prophets the early church leaders warned us against. We will know when someone is trying to tempt us to stray from the straight and narrow path God’s word gives us in this “progressive” world we live in by trying to use part of his word against us.

It’s like the way people quote Jeremiah 29:11. Yes, it says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Eternal, “plans for peace, not evil, to give you a future and hope—never forget that.” But many forget that the verse is in the middle of a letter written to the Jews exiled in Babylon. Jeremiah tells them in the letter, get use to Babylon. Plant gardens, start businesses, build houses, let your kids get married and enjoy your grandkids.

The rest of the letter tells the Jews that think God will rescue them from their exile that He won’t. Get used to their new country. Yes, God knows the plans He has for those Jews in exile, but their return to their homeland won’t come for another 70 years, just like He told them through the prophets. The exiles will have peace, but not in their land, in Babylon. The have a future and hope, but the next three generations will learn a new language, grow up in foreign country, integrate into the culture of the captors.

Then, and only then, will a small number of the Israelite return to their homeland to rebuild the destroyed temple and begin to rebuild their country. But not until 1948, when the United Nations gives them back their land after World War II will they govern themselves again as an independent sovereign nation. Jeremiah 29:11 is a great verse, I like it, but remember it’s context.

Satan tried to use some great verses with Jesus. He liked them growing up. He understood them when He disappeared in the crowds that tried to seize Him and throw Him over cliffs or wanted to stone Him because of the words He spoke or plotted to kill Him before the time His Father set for His sacrifice. Jesus understood the words Satan tried to use to tempt Him. But He was not about to let Satan use them inappropriately to lure Him away from the mission His Father had given Him.

Satan will try to lure us away from our mission, too. He will do whatever he can to get your mind away from the task God gives you to do. He will try to make you think God is not real. Remember Psalms 53? He will twist and turn God’s word and make his lies sound real, and the only way you will know the difference is to stay firmly connected to God.

Can I challenge you this year to not just skim through the Bible this year, but to really pick it up and make it a major part of your life? Can I challenge you to let passages sink into your heart until they become part of you? Don’t let your favorite verses be the only thing on which you meditate this year, but like Jesus, make God’s word a steady diet until you it devours you. Until it becomes a part of you. Until it transforms your mind.

Do what Jesus did when He faced temptation. Let God’s word keep you safe.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
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