‘Marvelous’ you may think, ‘how Jesus knew the Word and quoted it accurately to the devil.’ But this wasn’t what decided the day. Jesus didn’t simply know the Word of God; it wasn’t that He had studied it diligently; it wasn’t that He could quote it or even that He kept it in context. That was basic and academic. What made the difference was something else far, far more powerful. He was submitted to it, all of it.

What you may never have considered is that our Holy, Holy, Holy God is thus indescribably beautiful, pleasant, lovely, delightful. Absolutely nothing compares, nothing even approaches. His holiness is a beauty that fills eternity with awe, that makes the highest sinless angels blush, that makes life…life.

Patriarchs in peril, a king in compromise, an apostle in persecution – all came to places of trying discouragement and defeat – or so it would seem. These weren’t simply trivial inconveniences or minor setbacks. They were far beyond all human ability to deal with, to control or to change for the better. And that’s exactly what God took advantage of – what He used. This is where He displayed with a grandeur that awes the saved, His ‘re-ability’.

"This, then, is how you should pray: “

“The question before the house is this: “Will you follow a God you do not understand? Will you follow a God who does not live up to your expectations?”

But then the ‘bottom fell out.’ This man of faith was not yet a man of abiding inward peace. And the two are inextricably linked. Abram feared greatly. We know this because right after these things, God spoke to him in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield…”

What’s heaven like? As we read of it in scripture, we only get glimpses, but they are startling and compelling.

Satan offered ‘wisdom’ and in doing so he enticed Eve with the ‘method’, but he didn’t specify the source – himself. Yes, our enemy has his own brand of wisdom – one that insanely perceives the wisdom of God as foolishness. Keep in mind that mankind did not originally have a desire to rebel against God but rather a desire to be more like God. The devil used that to snare and enslave us in the same way demented cult leaders use it to create their own followings.

In some Christian circles there is a tendency to hide from the light not so much because of what the Lord will think but what we suspect men will think. We believe that men will usually want to ‘stone us’.

So then, having moved us forward from the initial spreading of the Word and the consequent sowing of the enemy’s tares unto the final days of the age, Jesus next describes the unnatural nature of the last days Kingdom of God on earth.