Scripture.

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God. For the kingdom of Heaven is near.”

Observation.

Jesus hears that John has been put in prison so he goes to Galilee. He returns to Nazareth first, but then moves to Capernaum.

Matthew says that this fulfils the prophecy of Isaiah, “In Zebulun and Naphtali and in Galilee, the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light. “

Jesus begins to preach his message that people are to repent and turn to God for the kingdom of heaven is near.

Application.

The gospel message is a call that has three parts.

1. We are to repent of our sins. Too often people want to have a bit of God while holding on to their sins. That is a form of religion in which we go through the outward actions, but refuse to let God change our hearts.

Repentance is hard because nobody wants to admit that they are a sinner.

2. Turn to God. If all we do is live a respectable life with no recognition that we owe our lives to the Lord, then we can be easily become self-righteous.

There are many good people in the world, but that does not make them acceptable to God. We must recognise that any goodness we have comes from God and not from ourselves.

3. We must recognise that the kingdom of God is here. Jesus is the king. He is king of my life, every part of the things that I do, my values and my ambitions; all of it must be subject to his Reign.

Prayer

Lord Jesus. I lay myself at your feet. I declare that you are my king. Please give me grace to be able to surrender completely to you. Amen

Scripture

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him. ‘”

Observation

The devil comes to Jesus in the wilderness in order to tempt him.” If you are the Son of God, tell those stones to become bread.” Jesus responds with the scripture that says, “man does not live by bread alone, but by the words of God.”

Satan, then tells Jesus to prove himself by jumping from the temple and having angels protect him. Jesus, again, responds with scripture about not putting the Lord to the test.

Finally, Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus will worship him.

Jesus again responds with scripture and tells satan to leave.

Application

The temptations that we face every day are of a similar kind to those faced by Jesus, although at a much smaller scale.

The underlying issue is, who do I trust?

Who do I trust for my physical needs?

Who do I trust to meet my needs for significance”

Who will I trust, worship and put at the focal point of my life?

Satan craves our worship. He is a false god and intruder.

If he can’t have our worship directly, he will deceive us into worshipping anything or any person other than the Living God.

He promises us bread, significance, or even the kingdoms of this age.

But God promises us eternal life.

Prayer

Lord, please grant me discernment to recognise when I’m being led astray from worshipping you, the one true God. Amen.