I know what you are thinking, "Jesus on probation, come on man. He never committed a crime, so why is He on probation?" Well, to be honest, it fits. You see probation is a moral trial or a period of testing. Just as courts decide when an inmate is ready for life in society by a period of probation, so Jesus was on a "probation" - so to speak - by the Father.In the temptation or testing of Jesus we see satan continually asking him, "if you are the Son of God..." then do this or do that. Jesus, in each case lives in His identity as the Son of God by not doing the very thing satan asks of Him. In fact, He responds by saying, "it is written..." and then goes on to rebuff temptation with the use of Scripture. What's amazing is not that He could quote the Bible, rather the life He found in those words He quoted is what I cling to.
You see, the issue in passing through temptation successfully lies not in how much Scripture I can quote. The real issue is whether I find my life in the words of the Father. When Jesus was baptized God did the all-confirming identity work that was so crucial for Jesus' success in life and ministry - He loved Jesus before He did anything.
So, resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ, God's demonstration of love for us, is the precursor to any tools or practical blocks to temptation. It is with that in mind that I post these few simple ideas and resources to help you in your battle against temptation:
- Fasting (Matt. 4:2-4) - a great tool for spiritual growth, but oft misunderstood. The book "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster is an excellent resource (there is one chapter devoted to fasting).
- Accountability (Matt4:11) seek out ways that you can share your temptations with others in an effort to minimize their hold on you (James 1:12) www.x3watch.com is FREE internet accountability software that logs questionable sites and emails them to addresses of your choosing - great tool.
- Run: in each of the three temptations of Jesus He responds by saying "it is written..." Jesus did not have a conversation with satan in regards to the temptation. In the same way Joseph in Genesis did not discuss with Potifer's wife any possible options - he ran. Often we should follow this example.
Oh, one more thing, recently I preached on this very issue. You can download it by clicking HERE
you need to be careful when using statements containing never.always, nothing, etc.. in your sermon you said that Jesus had done nothing up to the point when God said this is my son in whom I am well pleased. Jesus was perfect. He obeyed his earthly parents and his heavenly Father. He grew in favor with God and man. He was about the Father's business in the temple when he was twelve. Use of such definitive statements can be dangerous and misleading. Just a thought for future reference.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I noticed that too, and knew Jesus had I'm sure impacted those around him for the good of the Lord, but also got Doug's point in saying Jesus had done nothing up to that point. I think Doug's point was the comparison to us, how we don't have to do anything for God to love us which is amazing beyond my comprehension.
ReplyDeletein response:
ReplyDeleteto anonymous - thanks for stopping by and beginning the discussion. I agree, use of terms like never, always etc. can be misleading but the point is that we need stuff like that sometimes to jar us. you see, we are OVERRUN with how we can please and serve God...and in point of fact we can't on our own. we are programmed to perform so often - I was simply pointing to Jesus achievements, because Scripture does not give examples of ministerial achievements to that point. Essentially, when we slap the, "well, he was God He couldn't sin..." onto Jesus - it is to our peril. He willingly set aside divine qualities to operate as a human for the benefit of those he came to save.
thanks for the feedback - I will be more careful in my use of those things...but you see, it got both of us talking and thinking.
to Dana - I think you are right on Dana. I know growing up you always hear, "you should/should not..." and that programs me to respond to receive affection or love. God did not love Jesus because he obeyed (although there is that element there). He loved Him because that was His character. You see, if God only loved Jesus because He obeyed then to be accurate (because we are adopted as sons and daughters) He will only love me if I obey...legalism and performance driven faith. Anyway, thanks for the comments and I love the discussion and feedback.
to anonymous - I forgot to ask you, did you learn something from Sunday's sermon that encouraged or challenged you this week? just curious...
ReplyDeleteI found Sunday's sermon both challenging and encouraging.
ReplyDeleteto anonymous - I am glad that it is being used to encourage and challenge people. thanks again for stopping by and feel free to post any comments to start a discussion
ReplyDeleteOne thing that's jumped out to me so far (I haven't gotten all the way through it) was just how we should respond to God's supremacy. We should respond with an attitude of trust because God is omnipotent, not an attitude of testing because God is omnipotent. Yes, God has the power to spare us from all trials and temptations. Yes, God had the power to totally prevent the situation you had with your house sale. Yet because God is good, we should look at those trials and see the potential for God's kingdom instead of seeing the initial "bad" that might come jump out to us at first. Say Billy gets inexplicably fired from his job. One option is for Billy to respond by testing God and saying, "Hey God, you're pretty nifty...Because you're nifty, I know that you will get me a new job right away." And yet that attitude of "testing" is really an attitude of doubting that God is in control. Another option for Billy is to trust God and say, "Hey God, you're pretty nifty...because of your niftiness and your love for those who love you (Romans 8:28), I'm going to trust that you are in control and that you have a plan in all of this. Not necessarily a plan to benefit my name, but a plan to benefit Your name...and as a Christ follower, the glory of Your name is far more important than the glory of mine (John 3:30)."
ReplyDeleteWednesday, November 5, 2008
ReplyDeletePrimetime America
Dr. Jerry Benjamin
http://www.moodyradio.org/brd_ProgramDetail.aspx?id=28550
Brokenness – spiritual brokenness – just what is it?
A popular Christian chorus that many of us sing in church includes the following stanza:
Brokenness, brokenness is what I long for, brokenness is what I need.
Brokenness, brokenness is what you want from me. (“Take My Life” lyrics)
The word brokenness simply comes from a Hebrew word that means to fall on a rock. When that person lands on the rock they are obviously broken. But the rock in Scripture is Christ. So, we are landing on him and letting him be our very light that we would enter into the fullness of his efficiency in our life. He wants us to bring us to the end of ourselves so that we can be filled with Christ.
Brokenness is not the end in itself. It is Christ that we need; not brokenness that we need. He uses brokenness to bring us into the fullness of Christ that we might call the abundance life; intimate fellowship with Christ; in the same way God uses the cross to bring us into a relationship with Christ he uses the cross to bring us into salvation. God uses brokenness to bring us into sanctification. It is not brokenness that I seek after; it is not brokenness that I need, it is Christ that I need; but the means by which Christ does it is brokenness.
When looking for example of the life characterized by being empty and broken, Christ is our clearest model.
Christ in his own words really defines brokenness. At the last supper he said, “This is my body which is broken for you.” The tense of the verb there is not future, it is present. So, granted he is talking about the crucifixion - it includes that - but it is more than that. He is saying that my whole life and ministry on this earth has been a life of brokenness from the time of his incarnation in Bethlehem’s manger to his ascension, and then a few hours later he defines that brokenness when he says, “Not my will be done but thy will be done;” again, giving us a summary statement of his entire life and ministry. So, brokenness is simply no will of my own; and that is what characterized the life of Christ is that I don’t speak my own words but only the words of the Father. I don’t do my own works, only the works of the Father; I don’t do my will, only the will of the Father. So brokenness is simply God bringing us to the end of ourselves so it is no longer my will but his will.
Some call brokenness the crucified life, and that has an element of truth in it but the problem is that crucifixion is that one form of death that we cannot do to ourselves, and so we got be careful that we do not do break our ourselves, we don’t crucify ourselves; it is a work of God. Just as God saves me, God sanctifies me; God is also the one who is doing the breaking. So if I am serving the Lord without having first been broken by the Lord, then it is simply wood, hay and stubble. I meant be doing good works for Him but it is not going to count for eternity. It is only when I have been broken by Him that He is doing His good work in me and through me.
Brokenness is primarily a work of God but the believer has a role in the effectiveness of that work. We have two words in our English language that because they sound the same we think they mean the same: these two words are commit and submit. There is a nuance of difference.
It is God who has committed himself to the believer. God is not asking us to commit but submit. To commit means that I have given my life to someone or something but I still retain all rights, I still retain all authority and I still make the final decision. To submit not only means I have turned over my life to someone but that I have turned over all authority and they make the final decision. Throughout Scripture it is God who has committed Himself to the believer; He has given Himself to us but He retains all rights and all authority. He makes the final decision. God is not calling us to commit but submit because by committing I am still in control even though I have given something over to God. But to submit means that it is all of Christ and it is none of me. So, brokenness is God’s means to bring us into that total surrender and complete submission.
When looking at the Scriptures there are many examples of how brokenness and humility are characteristics that God uses mightily.
It is only when I have been broken by Him that He is doing His good work in me and through me. There is a pattern in Scripture where God has never used anyone greatly that he has not first broken deeply. This has been God’s pattern. He did it with Moses. He spent 40 years in the wilderness just undoing all that Egypt taught him. So, even though it appears to be unfair or mean it is really a picture of God’s love because God wants to pour all that he is into my life. The only way he can do that is by breaking me or bringing me to the end of myself. When Paul said for me to live as Christ, he was not living for Jesus; he was saying living is Jesus. And that is where God wants to bring everyone who names the name of Christ; where Christ is truly my life; that He is my all-in-all.
Is brokenness always related to God’s discipline? Discipline is still a picture of God’s love, so it is not that one is God’s love and one isn’t (i.e., brokenness or discipline). It is simply God bringing us to the end of ourselves so that we have no will of our own. Sometimes it happens through discipline; that is what he had to do for Israel through out the Old Testament because they would refuse to listen to God through the Prophets; but it doesn’t have to be that way. It is like the wrestling match in Genesis 32. God is the initiator; God is the pursuer but Jacob was the resistor. Jacob wanted to be blessed by God but he did not want to be broken by God. God spends all night wrestling with Jacob (this actually began 20 years earlier in Bethel where God began the breaking work but Jacob was resisting him). Now in Genesis 32, God is the pursuer and initiator. He wrestles with Jacob all through the night but Jacob refuses to be broken even though he still wants to be blessed by God. God touches his thigh muscle, which is the strongest muscle in the body of a wrestler, and now Jacob cannot stand on his own two feet but must cling to God. This is an outward picture of that brokenness. When we are broken we are not in control.
One of the blessings of brokenness is the comfort that comes to the believer through the process; where our comfort comes is in the sovereignty of God; that God is the blessed controller of all things. This is what Job had to learn; that there is comfort when there are no answers; when there are on reasons; and when there are no explanations as to why God let it happen. The greatest comfort that we will ever experience is attached to God’s character. That is what we learn in brokenness; that is when we truly see the character of God; but again, I can trust God because he makes no mistakes. I can trust God because he is good; he is perfectly good. He can’t be any gooder than already he is because he has no degrees of goodness. It is in these tragedies in Job who lost all his children as well as his wealth and his health, Job said, “I had heard of thee with the hearing of my ear but now my eye sees thee for who you really are.” The purpose of Job really is not so much as to explain suffering as it is to reveal God. Scripture says in heaven that God is going to wipe away every tear. That is when we are going to understand how all things work together for good to conform us to the image of Christ. That is when we are going to see the answers to the questions we have in this life. But God does not need to answers my questions or give me an explanation in order for me to trust him or submit to him.
The paradox of the Christ life is that it is the unbroken life that is the unsatisfying life. It is in brokenness that we find our true fulfillment , satisfaction and completion. We see this in Psalm 34 when the psalmist says he blesses God, he praises God, “Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together.” Later on he says it is the broken and contrite heart that is blessing God and praising God and is magnifying the Lord. So brokenness does not produce this gloomy “Woe is me” attitude but what brokenness does is it actually produces joy; it produces a true worship; we see this in Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel in chapter 4. It is brokenness that actually causes the believer to seek God rather than to fear God.
Psalm 34:18:
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Holiness (Holiness) is what I long for
Holiness (Holiness) is what I need
Holiness (Holiness) is what You want for me (repeat)
Righteousness (Righteousness) is what I long for
Righteousness (Righteousness) is what I need (That's what I need)
Righteousness (Righteousness) is what You want for me
Chorus:
Take my Heart and mold it
Take my mind, transform it
Take my will, comform it
To Yours (to Yours) oh, Lord
Broken ness (Broken ness) is what I long for
Broken ness (Broken ness) is what I need (got to be broken)
Broken ness (Broken ness) is what You want for me (for me,)
Chorus:
Take my Heart and mold it
Take my mind, transform it
Take my will, comform it
To Yours (to Yours) oh, Lord (repeat chorus 3x's)
Holiness (Holiness) is what I long for
Holiness is what I know need (got to be Holy)
Holiness is what You want for me
I want to be Holy
(Is what You want for me)
Got to be Holy
(Is what You want for me)
Fade out
deene - thanks SO much. what a great bit of information. God is about our transformation which leads to our UTTER dependence on Him and His power. great thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThere's also Covenant Eyes accountability software:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.covenanteyes.com/blog/2008/02/14/x3watch-and-covenant-eyes-what-are-key-the-differences/
in response to CE:
ReplyDeleteI love how people are jumping in to help provide resources for our strengthening and for the glory God. thank you...I know that Covenant Eyes is A LOT more comprehensive...and that X3 is free...but the link is helpful. thank you.