The Audacious Request: Just Once

-



“Then the devil took Him up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time [in the twinkling of an eye]. And he said to Him, to You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity and grace, for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will. Therefore, if You will do homage to and worship me (just once), it shall all be Yours” (Luke 4:5-6, AMP). 
          This terrible audacious request was made of the Lord Jesus Christ by the devil. It is not the first time the devil had made the request; in fact, he still makes the request till this day of man! However, back to our Scripture…you may be asking at what point did the devil get his hands on all the habitable kingdoms of the world? God gave the authority of ruling the earth to Adam (male and female) in Genesis 1:26-28. However, this awesome responsibility came with a warning to ‘subdue it’.  Unfortunately, the devil found it easy to take the kingdoms away from Adam. They thought they were wise or going to be and they exchanged the God-given authority they had for a fruit! For the devil, it was like taking candy from a child. Naturally, children are carried away by the things they see (colors); they cry and throw tantrums to own them whether it will be harmful or not. Deploying the weapons of lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh, Adam and the woman fell prey to the gimmicks of the devil they were supposed to subdue and they were subdued! Now the devil owns it and is quite boastful about it as we saw in the above Scripture; he is equally not ready to ‘seemingly’ release it unless he is worshiped! This authority, the devil has released to his minions (Revelation 13:1-10). He is permitted by God to wage war against the Saints and to conquer them for a time. The fact that the enemy was permitted does not mean that we should worship him (“just once”) in order to get the splendor of the world. Jesus’ reply to the devil concerning this is a guide for us: No matter what, only God Almighty must be served and worshiped! If this sounds heavy, God simplified it for us in 1John 2: 15a, “Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world…” Once we love these things a fall is imminent as it happened to Adam and the woman. Adam did not consider the end of the matter, which is they will die. Maybe he felt since they both had a wonderful relationship with God, God cannot just kill them. This is the erroneous thinking of most of God’s children. 
         God expects us to understand that, “The world and all its passionate desires will one day disappear. But the man who is following God’s will is part of the permanent and cannot die” (1John 2:17, J. B. PHILLIPS). God is giving us the opportunity to be part of the 2nd Adam Who is Jesus Christ and not be carried away like little children by our primitive desires, greedy ambitions and the deceptive glamour of what we think is glorious just as the 1st Adam was. We must be strong willed and stand our ground against the audacious request made by the devil on a daily basis. So many wonderful children are being deceived to worship the devil ‘just once’ in order to get ahead in their endeavors. The devil has not changed his tactics; he still uses the visual technique to lead men into the traps of lust. Adam and the woman felt ‘just once’ will not matter, but it cost them everything. Friend, don’t be deceived, that which looked so colorful to the eyes and will make you look or sound great carries within it terrible consequences. We must be focused on the goal, which is to reign with the Lord in the end: “So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen; for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2Corinthians 4:18). May the Lord flood your heart with His light and open the eyes of your heart to see through the visual gimmicks of the enemy and may He grant you the grace and strength to remain standing in the face of his audacious requests in Jesus Christ name. God bless you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Quarry Site Experience

-
Have you ever visited a quarry site and considered the process the rocks are subjected to before they become dressed stones to be used? If the stones could talk they will have a story to tell about their experiences.  As children of God we go through diverse experiences and we wonder if we will indeed survive them. Sometimes we wonder why our gracious and compassionate Father would allow such to befall us considering who we are in Him and what we are doing in His vineyard.  The Scripture that should readily come to our minds in such circumstances is God’s assurance when He said: “I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire and the flame will not burn you ” (Isaiah 43:2). This Scripture assures us that through the experiences of flames and waters, God is always by our side to see us through.  Thus, it is necessary for us to go through them so that we m
Read more

Clean House!

-
Many things had happened in the life of Abram. He had gone to war to save his nephew caught in a war between several nations. Against all odds, Abram with his 318 trained men born in his household, successfully pursued the armies of four kingdoms and defeated them. This feat could only have been possible with the help of God. Abram acknowledged this by giving a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek, the king of Salem. "After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; Your reward [for obedience] shall be very great" (Genesis 15:1, AMP).    In the previous chapter, we saw Abram refuse the overtures of the king of Sodom to share in the spoils of war. The way Abram puts it was quite enlightening. He said: "But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand and sworn an oath to the Lord God Most High, the Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take anything that is yours, fr
Read more

Beware Of The Choice Table

-
       The book of Daniel opens with the account of God handing over the king of Judah, her people, and her treasures to the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. Those first two verses in the first chapter of Daniel were quite frightening; imagine being handed over to your enemy to be enslaved and or probably killed. Why would God do this to His beloved people? 'Where is His mercy', many cry out today when they read these and many more Scriptures like that. Why would God send His people into slavery and suffering, many yell today, especially in the face of current happenings around the world or in their personal lives.         Those that say such are yet to understand the extent of His mercy and love. In His mercy, He gives His people a chance to repent and return to Him because He is holy; and those that must worship Him must do so in holiness. In His love, to experience that life outside of Him is empty and filled with darkness devoid of any form of light. His love brings light i
Read more