Redefine Life and Living

Rev Enoch Thompson | JANUARY 14, 2023 | MATTHEW 4:1-4

KEY VERSE: Matthew 4:4 (NIV)

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "

MESSAGE:

The first Temptation in the wilderness took the form of the Devil asking the hungry Son of Man to turn the stones which abounded in the wilderness into bread, apparently to satisfy a real need, for after forty days of fasting, the Lord was truly hungry.

Satan takes advantage of our felt and real needs, and the circumstances we find ourselves in to push us to violate who we are and to digress from our divine mission.

The first Temptation was an attempt to lure the Lord Jesus Christ to misuse His divine power to satisfy a real personal physical need, to behave like the First Adam who let food, the satisfying of a natural appetite, take the place of a sustained relationship with God by keeping God’s commandment.

The response of the Lord redefined what life and living should be. Bread is important, but bread is not what sustains the God-kind of life. The God-kind of life, which is the real true life of the person, is derived from a knowledge of and dependence on the written and revealed Word of God, which ensures a positive relationship with God.

True Followers of Christ must wean their hearts away from material orientations, and develop a deep reliance on God and His demands of them. God has been teaching this lesson from the Old Testament:

¹Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers. ² Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Deut 8:1-4 (NIV)

The Lord Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15 (NIV).

FEET AND HANDS FOR THE MESSAGE:

Determine to be alive over and above what you have or do not have. Find real satisfaction not in a full mouth, a full stomach, a full wardrobe, or a full bank account. That is not what defines who you are. Tune your mind to find satisfaction in your relationship with God.

PRAYER:

O Lord, please help me to be weaned away from all attachments and self-definition that are built on material things. May I find real life in you and your Word. And according to your word, please meet all my needs according to your riches. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

SHOWERS! BLESSINGS!!