MEMORY WORK

The picture on the right made me think of those balloon captions that appear in cartoons. They, of, course, reveal what the character says, or in some cases, they can also reveal what the character thinks. It's a good thing that those don't appear over our heads when we're conversing. At least, the thinking process.

But what I wanted to focus on in today's blog was our reaction to temptation. Jesus, as always, gives us the perfect example. His temptation, I should have capitalized it because He had many temptations just like us, with Satan (why do I have to capitalize him?) after His 40 days in the desert is my reference point.

How did Jesus respond? First of all, by quoting scripture. There's still no surer way of getting him to leave. But we have to know scripture to quote it. We may have to go back to our early days of Sunday School, Royal Ambassadors, Act Teens, Awana, or a plethora of other Christian youth groups that stressed Bible drills and memorization. Or better yet, memorize scripture today. Why is that better? Because it's more current to us. It's more meaningful than "Jesus wept." Your turn. " ' Caesar's,' they said." And any more short verses that are easy to put to memory. So if we memorize scripture these days, it's probably more meaningful.

Secondly, Jesus obeyed. He obeyed the Father to the point of suffering. Suffering then for a greater reward in Heaven. Had He turned the stones to bread, He would have been physically satisfied. But by denying his flesh (his not capitalized because at that time He was fully man) He was being obedient to His Father's desire and purpose for sending Him. If we love God, we will obey Him. Even if it means suffering or persecution.

Finally, He pursued Heavenly, eternal things rather than earthly or worldly things. It's about focus, too. King Solomon found that folly even along with material wealth and wisdom were futile.(Eccl 2:12) All the means and ways that he had to live a hedonistic lifestyle, he found meaningless. Because he had forgotten one item in his equation--God. Anything not based on Him is just that: futile. And doomed to fail.

When temptations come, and they most certainly will (remember when Satan left Jesus, he commented he would return at a more opportune time), they won't stop coming just because we conquered them once. They'll appear again and maybe in a different form. Arm yourself with scripture, obedience, and focus. And when those little cartoon balloon thoughts pop up, pop them. The Holy Spirit gives us that power.