Lessons for Living (Audio)

You know, it’s pretty natural for people to seek attention. As infants we are the center of attention, and we try to perpetuate that as long as possible. If you reflect on the life and words of Jesus, you will see that He was always trying to deflect attention from Himself, always crediting God the Father as the source of His power and the impetus behind the miracles He performed. Pastor Mark will be teaching us, using the example of Jesus, how to overcome temptation. He will be stressing the importance of knowing what God’s word actually says, and having the Word deep inside us so we can resist the devil as well as our own sin nature.

Jesus’ story in the Gospels is not only given to us to try to know about Him and eventually to know Him in relationship, it’s here for us to understand how to successfully live the Christian life. The hallmark of Jesus’ life is His total dependence upon the Holy Spirit for the power to do what it was He needed to do. The story of Satan’s unsuccessful attempt to get Jesus to do things in His human power rather than through the power of the Holy Spirit and in God’s timing is a poignant lesson for us on how not only to survive, but thrive as we are faced with temptations from without as well as from within.

Jesus’ story in the Gospels is not only given to us to try to know about Him and eventually to know Him in relationship, it’s here for us to understand how to successfully live the Christian life. The hallmark of Jesus’ life is His total dependence upon the Holy Spirit for the power to do what it was He needed to do. The story of Satan’s unsuccessful attempt to get Jesus to do things in His human power rather than through the power of the Holy Spirit and in God’s timing is a poignant lesson for us on how not only to survive, but thrive as we are faced with temptations from without as well as from within.

It’s always pleasing to find a shortcut to doing a job or while driving. Shortcuts in work and driving save time and frustration. Shortcuts in the Christian walk, however, don’t work out so well. God has a plan for us and a timing for that plan – and if we try to get ahead of Him things rarely end well. Pastor Mark is teaching from Luke and showing us how Jesus handled things like temptation. Jesus resisted temptation because He was filled with the Holy Spirit and He didn’t rely on His strength to resist the devil – He used scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit. And He expects us to do the same.

It’s always pleasing to find a shortcut to doing a job or while driving. Shortcuts in work and driving save time and frustration. Shortcuts in the Christian walk, however, don’t work out so well. God has a plan for us and a timing for that plan – and if we try to get ahead of Him things rarely end well. Pastor Mark is teaching from Luke and showing us how Jesus handled things like temptation. Jesus resisted temptation because He was filled with the Holy Spirit and He didn’t rely on His strength to resist the devil – He used scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit. And He expects us to do the same.

It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind and get overly focused on what’s happening in our own lives. Pastor Mark will be continuing his teaching from the book of Luke, and expanding on what the Bible is saying to us. Jesus’ life shows us that we must have the Holy Spirit filling us, being active in our lives for us to achieve the purpose God has for us. The Holy Spirit wants to overflow our lives to a needy world, and to demonstrate to them the love God has for them. We will be reminded that the only thing that matters to God is lost people, that God sent Jesus to find His lost kids, and we are here to tell them about Jesus.

It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind and get overly focused on what’s happening in our own lives. Pastor Mark will be continuing his teaching from the book of Luke, and expanding on what the Bible is saying to us. Jesus’ life shows us that we must have the Holy Spirit filling us, being active in our lives for us to achieve the purpose God has for us. The Holy Spirit wants to overflow our lives to a needy world, and to demonstrate to them the love God has for them. We will be reminded that the only thing that matters to God is lost people, that God sent Jesus to find His lost kids, and we are here to tell them about Jesus.

It’s hard to live this life, isn’t it? We struggle to do and say the right things with varying degrees of success. God, however, knew we couldn’t do this life alone – so He sent the Spirit. Just as He did with Jesus, the Spirit helps us to know God’s will. In the process of teaching from Luke, Pastor Mark will be reminding us of the various roles of the Holy Spirit and how He helped Jesus. Jesus spent a lot of time praying, which allowed Him to hear from the Spirit, giving Him direction for what He was to do and say. Listen to what is being said and ask God to help you apply these principles to your life.

It’s hard to live this life, isn’t it? We struggle to do and say the right things with varying degrees of success. God, however, knew we couldn’t do this life alone – so He sent the Spirit. Just as He did with Jesus, the Spirit helps us to know God’s will. In the process of teaching from Luke, Pastor Mark will be reminding us of the various roles of the Holy Spirit and how He helped Jesus. Jesus spent a lot of time praying, which allowed Him to hear from the Spirit, giving Him direction for what He was to do and say. Listen to what is being said and ask God to help you apply these principles to your life.

We are continuing Pastor Mark’s teaching on the Holy Spirit, and how it’s important to remember that the Holy Spirit was essential to Jesus’ life and His ministry. The Spirit-filled life is vital for every single Christ follower, and we need to do what Jesus did, which was to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and be completely submitted to and controlled by God. We need to remember to allow the Holy Spirit to do the jobs He is here to do, namely to indwell us constantly, convict us of sin, teach us and remind us of God’s words to us, and to comfort us and encourage us when we are attacked by the enemy.