Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 139:7-12
Ps 139:7-12
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Heb 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
In Jesus Christ we have a great High Priest who has lived among us and who has faced every temptation we face today. In a different time, a different culture and with a different political climate, human nature does not change and the same basic things that allure us today were present then. Jesus had an ego and it had to be controlled. He had sexual desires that were no different from any young man today. There were other boys who did things that seemed to have moments of pleasure and it was attractive to him as well. He was tempted but did not sin.
James says that we are tempted when we are drawn away by our own desires so Jesus was drawn by his desires as well. Paul says that no temptation has overtaken us but such as is common to man. It is easy for us to think that since he is the Son of God and he is deity that somehow, he lived in a vacuum so that he was not really tempted to do evil. But Jesus was human, truly one of us.
Each of us has different things that tempt us and the same things may or may not tempt someone else. But the principle behind each temptation is the same for everyone. Whether it is eating a forbidden fruit or committing murder, sin is the result of our giving in to our desire that is contrary to the will of God.
O Lord, God of heaven and earth, it is such a comfort to know that I have one who has faced all that I face but who did so without sin and is now in your presence to intercede on my behalf. His example in life gives me a measure of strength and desire to do your will in all things. Thank you for revealing your will to me in your word so I can know how to live for you. Give me wisdom to understand it, to live it and to teach it every day. In a world that is filled with turmoil, strife, hatred and bitterness, fill me with peace and love. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
