What Trips A Christian Up?

In Mark 4:14-20, Jesus likened the good news of salvation to seeds planted by a farmer.

"The farmer plants seed by taking God's word to others.
The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.

The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy.
But since they don't have deep roots, they don't last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God's word.

The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God's word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.

And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"

I wanted to write about the things that can keep us from God so we can be aware of them when they happen:

1. Problems/Troubles.

2. Persecution.

3. Worries.

4. Lure of money.

5. Desires for other things.

Everyone in the world is tempted by these things. When we are going through hard times, we wonder what God is up to and why we have to suffer. Why does he let these things happen to us? 

When we are worried about paying the rent or buying food, we can be tempted to get mad at God for allowing such a thing to happen to us. 

When we see other people with good jobs, nice cars and beautiful homes we wonder why we can't have those things. What have we done to deserve poverty?

We are all tempted to love other things more than God. We may love something innocent, like playing baseball. But if we give most of our attention to baseball or shopping or work, then we are worshiping it. We have made it our idol. If something fills our thoughts all day or as soon as we are off work, then it could possibly be an idol we put above God.

I must admit my own failures. I have failed the most in going through troubles. I have been angry and rebellious towards God many, many times. I didn't see why anyone, especially my daughters or me should have to suffer so much. But God never gave up on me. He moved on my heart to study this problem in the Bible and other Christian writers. I finally realized I was not understanding God or suffering. 

Desires for other things has sometimes tripped me up. I think I have desired for too much in this life instead of being completely content with my life. I am coming to terms with these desires through Jesus' strength and wisdom.

What all these sins represent is not trusting God. We don't trust he has enough comfort for us. We don't trust he will help us when we need money. We don't trust that we will be happy with a simple life. We think he is a spoil-sport. But he is far from that. What we don't see is that he will comfort us in every trouble and help us in all our ways. They may not be the ways we think we want, but when we look back over the years of our lives we will see that if we had seen as He sees, we would have chosen the same path he chose for us.

Ruined by Prosperity.

Photo by:Georges Jansoone (JoJan) 

" There are more men ruined by prosperity than by adversity. If we had our own way in life, before this we would have been impersonations of selfishness and worldliness and disgusting sin, and puffed up until we would have been like Julius Cæsar, who was made by sycophants to believe that he was divine, and the freckles on his face were as the stars of the firmament."

"It was out of Dante's suffering came the sublime "Divina Commedia," and out of John Milton's blindness came "Paradise Lost," and out of miserable infidel attack came the "Bridgewater Treatise" in favor of Christianity, and out of David's exile came the songs of consolation, and out of the sufferings of Christ came the possibility of the world's redemption, and out of your bereavement, your persecution, your poverties, your misfortunes, may yet come an eternal heaven."

New Tabernacle Sermons: T. De Witt Talmage

I remember hearing a sermon where the preacher said, "If you are a Christian, you will be happy all the time." I thought, "He has never suffered a great loss." Even Jesus wasn't happy all the time. And we have this comfort, that if we never suffered we would be hard-hearted. We would think about people, "Why can't they just pull themselves up by their bootstraps? I can do it, why can't they?

Prosperity ruined Solomon and King Saul. David fell into adultery and murder when he was prosperous. Joseph did better. He was righteous in slavery, in jail and in a palace sitting next to Pharoah. Sometimes God tests us in prosperity and in suffering. Let us pray we will all pass these tests.

Trails and Temptations.

I was watching Joyce Meyer yesterday and she gave the best sermon on how tests and trials lead to temptations. She also explained why we are given tests by God, or why he allows trials.

Trials show us what we are really like deep inside. When we are suffering we can:

Be angry at God.
Complain constantly.
Resent people who have no troubles (so we think).
Take matters into our own hands and don't wait for God.

We can also run to an addiction to help us instead of trusting God.

For when we are having a hard time in life; if there is a set-back or a heartbreak, we are all tempted to make ourselves feel better in some way. The temptation is different for each of us. For some, it might be to get drunk for days on end, for another, it might be to overeat or take drugs. Anything to feel better.

I have to say with shame that I have done all of the above. All.
Yes, God has shown me what was in my heart. But I am learning as I walk along the paths in this world. I used to get discouraged at my lack of maturity, but I don't any longer. I know God loves me. I have no fear. He loves slow learners too.

Joyce says to tell yourself, "Don't Panic. This is only a test."

Jesus was Tempted.

Paul says in Hebrews 4:14-16 that Jesus is our high priest in heaven. He goes on to say, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet he did not sin."
Paul says this should give us confidence before God to receive mercy and find grace.

Jesus was tempted in all things. What does this mean. Did he sometimes feel like swearing, stealing, killing? Was he tempted to go his own way apart from God?

When he was in the wilderness, Satan tempted him by showing him all the kingdoms of the world. He told Jesus he would give him all this if he would bow down and worship him. Jesus said, "Go, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only."

Satan's temptation was that Jesus need not die on the cross. He need not suffer. Satan himself would give the world over to Jesus if he would worship him. I would think that would be a great temptation.

Hebrews 2:18 says, "For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered. He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."

When Jesus was being beaten, whipped and spit upon, it must have been a temptation to get angry, to retaliate, to leave earth and go back to heaven where all is love and peace. When I go to heaven, I want to hear what it was like for Jesus to be a man. I want to know exactly how he was tempted.

"Although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered. And having been made perfect, he became to all those who obey him the source of eternal salvation." Hebrews 5:8,9