Title Principles of Spiritual Management (4)
Contents
The principle of spiritual management (4) (Luke 4:9-13)
We have been thinking about spiritual management many times.
While talking about spiritual management, I thought a lot about how to fill it and how to avoid losing it. In particular, I thought a lot about how to avoid losing grace.
How are you? Do you feel that your spirituality is being managed well while listening to a sermon on spiritual management? Do you feel like you are living a life that does not lose grace? What I feel while preaching this sermon is that spiritual management is really important. It is difficult to receive grace, but I don't know why it is so easy to pour it out. It's kind of disappointing. We were told to be careful not to lose it, but I wonder if there is still a life in which we lose grace too easily. Management is really important.
Today is the content of the third temptation that Jesus was subjected to from the devil. The devil tried to destroy the spirituality by tempting Jesus as well. How much more would we? The devil is still targeting us. Be careful. You must know the devil's schemes and prepare for it. Don't go overboard foolishly.
1. How does the devil tempt Jesus?
This time they take Jesus to the highest point of the temple. And he tells him to jump from the top. And even the devil uses the Bible. Verses 10-11. <Didn't the Bible say that God protects us from danger? Didn't I say that I would support you with your hands so you wouldn't get hurt! So jump down and see if God actually does that>
But what does Jesus say? “Do not test God,” he says. Looking at this, what is the devil's third temptation? It is a test to try God once. But Jesus resists the temptation of the devil by saying that I will not tempt God. We must be like Jesus when the devil tempts us like this. We must never lead a life of faith that tests God.
So, what kind of faith should we lead?
It is not a life of faith that tests God, but a life of faith that trusts God. Let's follow. “God is not to be tested, but to be trusted.” That's right. God is not something to be tested, but something to believe and trust. Some people use their faith life as an object of testing against God. This is the case. <God! If you solve this problem this time, I will believe in God.> You are testing God. Are you saying you won't believe me if I don't do it? It's kind of intimidating.
2. Why is a faith that tests God a dangerous faith?
Let's take an example in human relationships. There are times when we test others in our relationships. For example, this is the case. Children test their parents' love.
Some foolish children are like this. Usually, my parents are busy, so they don't pay much attention to them. So there were complaints. Even if I asked for this or that, my parents would not listen to me, always giving excuses for this and that. Then, in this child's heart, there was a child who wanted to confirm that his parents really loved me. So how do you do it? escaping. You start hanging out with bad friends. Why? Because he thinks that the parents will be surprised and will pay attention to them. Of course, when you do that, the parents will be surprised and all will be interested in this child's behavior. Then, the child achieved his desired goal, but is such a relationship between parents and children? In that way, can parents and children maintain a good trusting relationship? It only increases distrust. You will be more interested in your child as they wish, but you will see them with suspicion rather than trust.
Let's take marital relationships as an example.
Wives are tempted to have their husbands confirmed once in a while. There are times when I want to know if you really love me.
Of course it could be. But do not test your husband for it. But some wives test their husbands. How do you test it? I ask my husband, <Are you really in love with me?> When you say <I love you>, you ask for something very difficult, saying <Then if you love me, can you do this? It's a test of your husband's love. Then the husband will do it to prove his love! Of course some people don't, but most will. But if you test your husband's love that way, will your relationship deepen? no. Reliability is reduced. If you have to try it to know, it's less reliable. My husband doesn't talk, but I'm more distant from my heart. Don't try to test.
The same goes for your relationship with God.
There are people who want to test the love of God. <God! If you love me, please do this.> In this way, you test God. Of course, if that happens, God will probably grant the person's request. However, if you try to live your life of faith in that way, your faith growth will not happen.
why? I am always interested in confirming God's love. If you try to confirm God's love in various ways, it will be confirmation itself, but there is no growth beyond that. Because the purpose of faith is not to confirm God's love, but to trust God and go forward. Living faith is believing in God, trusting Him, and going out boldly. That is right faith.
The devil told Jesus to jump off the top of the high temple. A lot of people will be watching. So let's say you jump. And it's fine with no injuries. Then people will cheer and be on the news that night. But then what do you mean?
Jesus did not come to this world to receive people's attention and cheers. He came to accomplish God's will. He did not come to confirm God's love. He came to please God. Whether God Loves Me or Doesn't Love Me There is no time to test God's love. I don't have time to flirt like that, wondering if I can do God's will even if I work without sleep.
The purpose of faith is not to test God, but to trust and go out. If you believe and go out, God's power and miracles will appear.
Who is a person of faith? Abraham. Why is Abraham the father of faith?
Let's look at Genesis 12:1-3. What did Abraham do when God told him to leave his hometown, relatives, and father's house and go to a foreign land he had never been to? Let's look at verse 4. Believe the word of God and move forward. This is faith.
Abraham did not test God. It is trusting God and His Word and moving forward. And I continued to live that way. Even if you don't see anything, even if you don't get caught, you won't be disappointed, you won't be shaken, you just keep going. You live by faith. So he became the father of great faith. It has become a source of happiness. This is the life of faith.
God is trustworthy. If so, I can entrust my life to him and go. That's when your faith grows. There is nothing impossible in God. But if you keep trying to check it, it won't grow. It is there every day.
3. The people of Israel lived that way in the past. Especially living in the wilderness. They test God countless times in the wilderness. The first is when they came out of Egypt and arrived in front of the Red Sea. The sea is in front and the Egyptian army is coming in behind. I can't go forward and I can't go back. How did the Israelites react at that time?
They blame God and Moses. <If God lives, this can happen! How can you make us all drown in the water like this?> And while traveling in the wilderness, they get thirsty because there is no water, so they react again. <If there is a God, it can be like this, you have to give it water! There really is a God!>
I doubt God's love every day. And I try to confirm that love with my own eyes. Even though God has shown countless amounts of love so far, we do not think about it and try to confirm His love again when we encounter difficulties. So your faith doesn't grow. It is a faith that we only confirm every day. If it's confirmed, I like it for a while hahahoho. That's it. So there is no growth. What kind of faith does God want? If you have received God's love, you must believe, depend on it, and continue to grow. is to move forward.
What does Satan want? We do not fully trust and doubt God, and we do not hesitate to be there every day. <If God exists, check it, ask him to show you the evidence> He tempts us like this. So it prevents us from further developing
But God is not an object of testing, but of trust. We must live by faith. Let's look at Hebrews 11:1-2. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Even though people of faith could not see, they lived as if they had seen it with the eyes of faith. Even if I couldn't catch it, I believed and lived as if I had already caught it by faith.
I only believed in God and His word and went forward. All people of faith believed in God and went out. At that time, many powers and miracles appeared through them. We live by faith. Let's believe and move on.