Temptations

Luke 4:1-13

The Temptation of Jesus

1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

3The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."

4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.

5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours."

8Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'[b]"

9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written:

" 'He will command his angels concerning you

to guard you carefully;

11they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'[c]"

12Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'[d]"

13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

The verses here in Luke mostly tell how the devil tried to tempt Jesus into sin and turning away from God. Of course Jesus wasn’t swayed by the devil, even if the devil presented plausible reasons that can make Jesus turn His back to God. But in the end the devil left him because the faith of Jesus is so strong that it is futile trying to tempt him to sin.

We should be aware that in our everyday lives, the devil lurks almost everywhere. Almost all the time he tempts us to do bad stuff, often giving us reasons which we may deem justifiable for the act of the sin. But we must keep this in mind, no matter what the reason, a sin is a sin. We should never sin, since it is bad, and God will be saddened if we do.

What if we have already sinned? We should ask God for forgiveness. If we are sincere, God will surely forgive us. But the lesson from the verses here is simple. Do not give in to sin. Do not be tempted by the devil. Live as a good person, and all will be well.

Poor, Rich

Luke 6:17,20-26

And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. "Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. "Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh.

"Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

"But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation.

"Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. "Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. "Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Upon reading the verses, I can conclude that this is about the rewards man will receive when he or she will go to heaven. Jesus tells us here that all our sufferings here on earth will never again happen when we reach the kingdom of heaven. God loves us and all of us who suffered hardships and have gone to numerous trials no matter how hard will reap the rewards when the right time comes, because that is the will of God.

If you were once poor, in heaven you will inherit Gods riches. If you were always hungry, you will never go hungry again in heaven. If someone hates you on earth, on heaven you will be loved by everyone.

The rich people, the ones who did not follow Gods ways, the ones who did not help those who are in need, they will don’t have a place in Gods kingdom. They will become poorer than ever, they will suffer a hunger that cannot be satisfied, and they will hate with such feverous intensity that they will never learn to love another human being again.

We should be humble and kind to every one of us. God put us here in earth, to live, love, and be happy. If everyone is love, we can all live happily.

Why?

This blog here will contain all the reflections my sister asked(ehem) me to do for her.

Actually these are assignments. I accepted since this is a way for me to go surfing the net for free! Misguided? Yes. ^_^