Brown's Daily Word 2-4-10

Good morning,
The Lord blessed us with a wonderful Wednesday evening Bible study session. We looked at Mathew 4. Soon after the glorious His baptism, our Lord was driven by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan, in the wilderness. During this time, He fasted for forty days, after which He was tempted by Satan. In Mark we read, "And He was in the wilderness 40 days, tempted by Satan,and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him." Mark 1. Jesus overcame Satan. He grants His grace now to those who call upon Him, and trust in Him, to overcome the evil one. By His grace and the anointing and ministering power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome the adversary.
Thomas Costain’s history, "The Three Edwards", describes the life of Raynald III, a fourteenth-century duke in what is now Belgium. Grossly overweight, Raynald was commonly called by his Latin nickname, Crassus, which means "fat." After a violent quarrel, Raynald’s younger brother Edward led a successful revolt against him. Edward captured Raynald but did not kill him. Instead, he built a room around Raynald in the Nieuwkerk castle and promised him he could regain his title and property as soon as he was able to leave the room. This would not have been difficult for most people since the room had several windows and a door of near-normal size, and none was locked or barred. The problem was Raynald’s size he couldn’t fit through the door. To regain his freedom, he needed to lose weight. However, Edward knew his older brother, and each day he sent a variety of delicious foods. Every day he wheeled before Raynald on a cart, the tastiest foods. Instead of dieting his way out of prison, Raynald grew fatter from the food. When Duke Edward was accused of cruelty, he had a ready answer, "My brother is not a prisoner. He may leave when he so wills." Raynald stayed in that room for ten years and wasn’t released until after Edward died in battle. By then his health was so ruined he died within a year, a prisoner of his own appetite.
There are many of us who are like Raynald, trapped by our own sinful desires. We wish we didn’t have these desires but often the delicious temptations that are "wheeled before us" are too hard for our flesh to resist. We each have an appetite for a certain sinful pleasure that whenever we are tempted with it we give in. It becomes a cycle of feast and famine, pleasure then guilt. Whatever it is, you know you lack the personal willpower to overcome it because the temptation is just too strong.
Kent Hughes has a book entitled, "Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome", in which he gives a list of questions we can use to examine the nature and the effect of the thoughts we are entertaining. Are we being desensitized by the present evil world? Do things that once shocked us now pass us by with little notice? In 1 Corinthians 10:13 (New King James Version) we read, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."
In His Victory,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN9JALQRMb0