DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Monday – Read Matthew 4:1. The temptation of Jesus occurs immediately after his baptism. At Jesus’ baptism his
identity as the Son of God was confirmed. Jesus was charged with bringing humankind back to God. How was he to do
this? Was he prepared? Jesus was wise. He realized he needed time alone with God to figure out his role as the messiah.
He knew he would be alone in the wilderness, which was a barren wasteland between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea.
There he could work out his destiny in silence. So often we make the mistake of not making time to be alone with God.
Imagine how many bad decisions and unhealthy life choices could be avoided by setting aside time to be alone with
God. Time spent with God provides us the spiritual strength to resist temptation. How often do you spend time alone
with God?
Tuesday – Read Matthew 4:2-4. In the first temptation the devil goes right after Jesus’ weakness – his hunger. Jesus
was famished after fasting for forty days, so Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread. There are two sides to this
temptation. The first one was for Jesus to use his powers for selfish purposes. The second one was for Jesus to attract
people by giving them material things. His scriptural response from Deuteronomy reminds all of us that true satisfaction
can only come by being dependent upon God. How often do you feed on the bread of life? Just once a week or every
day?
Wednesday – Read Matthew 4:5-7. The devil tries a different angle with Jesus with the second temptation. He tempts
Jesus to persuade people to follow him by being sensational. The devil wants Jesus to imagine the people who would
flock to him if he simply showcased his powers by floating down from a high temple. The problem with basing ministry
on sensationalism is that people will always demand something more sensational. What’s more is that demanding signs
and wonders is not faith. We must rely on God’s power, but not play with it or put it to the test. Do you think the church
of today is faces the temptation? If so, how?
Thursday – Read Matthew 4:8-11. The tempter tried one more time. This time the devil was more direct, and he hit
Jesus at his most vulnerable place – his desire to save the world. The devil told Jesus that he could have the world if
would just compromise with evil. William Barclay reminds us that we can never defeat evil by compromising with it.
Jesus did not back down. He kept his standards and remained loyal to God and God’s purpose for him. In the crucible
of the wilderness, Jesus learned that the only way he could bring humankind back to God was through a cross. What is
it about the cross that is victorious? What does the cross mean to you?
Friday – Sin always looks better before we do it than after we do it. A good question to always ask when faced with
decisions and possible temptations is “What’s the wisest thing to do?” If we ask that question more often than not we
will make the right decision. Is there a situation or temptation in your life where you need to apply that question?
Pasadena Community Church
The Lord’s Prayer
“Lead Us Not Into Temptation”
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Sermon by: Dr. Charley Reeb, Senior Pastor
Scripture Lesson: Matthew 6: 9-11
As we continue our series on the Lord’s
Prayer we are faced with a very serious subject –
temptation. We all battle temptation. We all have
our weaknesses. Even Jesus was tempted. Today
I’m going to talk about how we can stand strong
against temptation so it doesn’t ruin our lives.
I battle temptation every day in some way.
Do I get the hamburger or the garden fresh salad?
This gossip is juicy. Should I keep listening to it
and find out more or should I walk away? The
speed limit says 55 but who goes 55? This movie
on HBO looks pretty exciting but is it really
something I should be watching? Is it good for
me? This is probably a road I should not go down
but I like it. Should I take another step? I’m human
and I battle temptation like everyone else.
P ASADENA C OMMUNITY C HURCH
We all have a nose for temptation. We all
battle it. We all have two voices inside of us, one
telling us to do what is right and the other tempting
us to do what is wrong. The question is: which
voice will we listen to! The first story in the Bible
is about this very thing. You know, Adam and
Eve. God said, “Enjoy this life I have created for
you. You can do anything; just don’t eat the fruit
from this tree. That’s all I ask.” The serpent came
along and said, “Aw come on, did He really say
you could not eat it? What harm is it going to do?
And imagine how good it will taste?” And they
took the bite and discovered the emptiness and pain
of sin.
a United Methodist Congregation
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email: [email protected]
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In many ways the entire Bible is really
about humanity wrestling with temptation,
succumbing to it and then being delivered from it.
That’s the story of scripture. That’s our story. But
my purpose today is to give us the resources we
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need to prevent us from giving into temptation and
suffering the shattering consequences of sin.
Because the truth is much of the suffering and pain
in life begins with temptation. We don’t see it that
way at the beginning. In the beginning temptation
looks exciting, fun, and pleasurable. Otherwise it
would not be temptation. But sin always looks
better before we do it than after we do it. When we
choose to open that door we find out how ugly,
empty and painful sin can be.
The married man who begins to stay late at
work with a female coworker he is attracted to is
not thinking that his actions may eventually lead to
divorce and losing custody of his kids. The
teenager who gives in to peer pressure and smokes
marijuana is not thinking that her actions may lead
to heavier drugs and a life long battle with
addiction. The guy who enjoys gambling a little
too much doesn’t think that his repeated
compulsive actions may one day lead him to lose
everything he owns.
You see, temptation is serious and it is why
Jesus includes it in the Lord’s Prayer. And we
need to take it seriously and learn how to resist it
because if we don’t we can lose what is so precious
to us. Maybe some of you are going down a road
you should not go down but you don’t how to turn
around. You don’t know if you have the strength
to turn around, but there is something inside of you
that is telling you that if you don’t turn around your
life is in trouble. Maybe it is the websites you keep
visiting. Maybe it is the flirting you enjoy with a
married co-worker. Maybe it is the kind of food on
the menu you keep staring at that you know you
need to stay away from. Maybe it is that drink you
want every day when you come home from work
that you keep thinking about. Maybe it is that
cigarette you smoked in secret and for a moment
you forgot that you promised your kids you would
be around to see them grow up. Maybe it is that
crowd at school you keep hanging out with who are
pressuring you to do things you know you
shouldn’t do.
ourselves to it. We allow ourselves to be taken
away by it. God leads us in the opposite direction.
So I’m going to give you the best way to remember
this phrase of the Lord’s Prayer so that it will help
you. All we have to do is move a comma. Here it
is:
I know some of you are on the front end of
a temptation and the line between freedom and
destruction is very thin for you. You want to resist
it but you are afraid you will not be able to. You
want to turn around but you don’t know how. You
don’t want to ruin your life but the temptation feels
so strong.
The best way to understand what this prayer
really means is by moving the comma. Put the
comma after “us.” When we do that it is totally
different. This way we are really praying the
meaning of this prayer: “Lord, I want to listen and
follow your voice and not go into temptation.”
This prayer is about who is going to lead us – God
or our own sinful desires? Which one is going to
lead us? And when we pray this prayer we are
saying to God, “I want to follow you. Lead me
Lord. I want to pursue your will.”
So how do we resist temptation? How do
we get it done? Well, the next phrase of the Lord’s
Prayer provides the answer. “Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.” So, we
pray to the Lord, “Lead us not into temptation.”
Now, off the bat that sounds ridiculous doesn’t it?
I mean, we keep talking about resisting temptation
and doing the right thing. Why would God even
think about leading us into temptation? Maybe you
have always been perplexed by this phrase. Why
would we have to pray for God not to lead us into
temptation?
In fact, the book of James says, “God
tempts no one to sin.” God does not tempt us for
obvious reasons. So what does this prayer mean?
Others have suggested that the word temptation
really means “testing” or “trial.” In other words
that word temptation means a time when God is
preparing us. But again, if God wanted to prepare
us for something why would we pray for God not
to do that? It doesn’t make sense.
So what does this perplexing phrase mean
exactly and how can it help us resist temptation?
Well, the best way to understand it is through the
book of James. Two verses in the first chapter of
James really open up the power of this phrase of
the Lord’s Prayer. James 1:13: “When tempted,
no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For
God cannot be tempted, nor does he tempt
anyone. But each one is tempted when, by his
own evil desire, he is dragged away and
enticed….”
Okay, so God does not lead us into
temptation. Instead, we lead ourselves into
temptation by our own evil desires. We draw
“Lead us, not into temptation”
God will lead us if we ask him. He will
gently nudge us inside toward something or
someone. We will keep seeing something in the
bulletin about where to serve and He will pull us
toward it. We will hear a message that feels tailor
made to us. We will be tempted and someone will
call at that very moment and move us away from it.
We will run into someone who is just the person
we need to talk to. God does it all the time, but
sometimes we think it is just coincidence. It is not!
Over time as we grow, we become more sensitive
to God’s nudging and we can differentiate between
our voice and God’s voice. The question is: Are
we listening and which voice are we listening to?
Which voice will we follow?
I have learned that my dog PJ has a hard
time resisting temptation. If I leave food anywhere
near my recliner in the living room she will wait
until I leave and jump up and grab it. I’ve learned
that when I leave the room I have to put the snacks
on a shelf or on top of the TV so she cannot reach
them.
In many ways when we pray, “Lead us, not
into temptation,” we are praying, “Lord, put
temptation out of my reach!” And He will. He will
provide ways for us not to easily succumb to it. He
will put roadblocks in our way – a phone call, an
interruption, someone who needs our help. He will
put temptation out of our reach. But here is the
thing: God will not make temptation and sin
disappear. We still have to decide. He has given
us free will. It is up to us. If we still want to sin
we can, but must know the cost.
The rest of the text from James tells us what
the cost is. James 1:15: “Then, after desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it
is full grown, gives birth to death.” The Bible
says “the wages of sin is death.” And it is true.
We are not talking about just physical death, but
spiritual death – the death of our reputations, the
death of our relationships, the death of our goals,
the death of our marriages, the death of what bring
us joy, the death of what is so precious to us.
This is why “Lead us not into temptation” is
followed by “deliver us from evil.” At its root sin
is evil – sin is the fruit of Satan. In fact, some
translations say, “Deliver us from the evil one.”
Evil has limited power against God, but he likes
tempting us with lies. He tries to make truth look
like a lie and a lie look like truth. And evil is very
seductive about it. Evil’s purpose is to diminish us,
to destroy us, to tear us apart. Evil’s purpose is
death.
So we pray “deliver us from evil!” Adam
Hamilton reminds us that the Greek word “deliver”
literally means “rush.” The best way to describe it
is like defensive linemen rushing the quarterback.
We are praying for God to rush the sin, tackle it,
and destroy it.
Now, this sounds rather dramatic, but
temptation, sin and evil are dramatic. They have
dramatic consequences. I have a friend who had a
buddy who enjoyed gambling a little too much. It
began very innocently with Poker games on the
weekends. But he started enjoying the high he got
when betting. Those Poker games turned into more
Poker games. He started betting online and on
football games. The more he did it the more he
wanted to do it. On the outside he looked like
another guy having fun “making things interesting”
but inside he had an addiction that was tearing his
life apart. He gambled at work and when he got
home he pushed away from his wife and kids and
gambled online in his study. Everyone thought
daddy was working a lot. What his family didn’t
know was that he was draining all the accounts to
satisfy his addiction. He took money from savings
and from his kid’s college fund to pay off his debts
and keep betting. He gambled all of it away until
his family had virtually nothing. He lost his job
because he was gambling at work. His wife
divorced him and his kids loathed him for
gambling away their college money. The wages of
sin is death.
Now, am I saying that those who gamble
will end up like this? No, but what I am saying is
be careful. Temptation and sin begins in very
small ways. It is subtle. For this guy it was just a
few harmless Poker games, but gambling was his
weakness and those games led to more games and
then to more games and they slowly nibbled away
at his money, marriage, time with kids, and his
work and life. This is what temptation and sin
does; it slowly nibbles away our lives.
So, how do we take this part of the Lord’s
Prayer into our daily lives when we are faced with
temptations at every turn? How do we arm
ourselves against temptation so we don’t lose what
is so precious to us? I’m going to give you
something to say to yourself whenever you face
temptation that will help you. No matter the
situation, it will always cause you to make the right
decision. In fact, you can apply this to any
decision you have to make and it will help you. It
is a question that Andy Stanley based an entire
book on. Here is the question: “What is the wisest
thing to do?” Whenever you face temptation,
whenever you have a critical decision to make, ask,
“What’s the wisest thing to do?” If you allow that
question to guide you, you can never go wrong.
Just think of all the pain and destruction that could
be prevented in all of our lives if we asked this
question whenever we faced temptation.
Some of you have been struggling for a
long time with temptation and sin. It is time to do
the wisest thing. It is time to stop going down that
road. You know where it is going to lead and it
will not be pretty. It is time to talk to someone.
Maybe you need to talk with a counselor here at the
church. We can recommend one to you. Most of
all, it is time to let God lead you out of the
darkness and into the light. And He will. “Lead
us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
All of us need to ask for forgiveness today.
All of us have given in to temptation. All of us
have fallen short. All of us need to put ourselves
on the right path again. All of us need to ask God
for his grace which will empower us to find life
again. Let us pray…. Amen.