“Man Cannot Live by Bread Alone…”

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
(Mat 4:1-11)

Three weeks ago, I was sitting at a borrowed desk, going over training videos. One day my fellow trainee told me where I could find our profiles within the company intranet to see all of our benefits and pay. I found my profile with little problems, and as I looked at a computer screen, my eyes got really wide. On it was one of the largest pay and benefit packages that I have had the privilege to earn at a job. It was like winning the job lottery! Not the  Mega Millions Lottery, but like the straight ticket on the Daily 4!

As I sat there, thinking about all the things I could do and the needs of my household, my heart racing with pleasure and my eyes shining with cupidity, I heard these words; ” Will you bow to Satan for bread, or will you follow me.” I was jolted, and all the noise and chatter of my co-workers ceased about me. My heart sunk because I knew what the next words were straight from Matthew 4; “Man cannot live by bread alone, but by ever word that preceedeth out of the mouth of God.”   Then I heard The Lord speak again; ” Jesus when he was hungry after fasting, preparing for the task set before Him, was taken by Satan to be tempted, and he tempted Jesus, with bread. Anita, will you be tempted with bread or will you bow at the feet of Satan, for your life?”

I answered immediately, with tears in my eyes out loud at my desk; “No, I will not bow, I will serve you Lord and do what you told me to do.” The Lord Father, then said ” Why are you here? Do you honestly think that what you see, can give you what you need? Once everyone takes from what you think is a great sum of money, you will still be hungry. What is worse, you will have done it at the expense of the work I called you to do. I will and can give you more than he ever can. I am The Lord.”

See what you do not know from the above narrative, is that I had just started a new job. I thought it was a great opportunity, but there were things there that was not right in which I will not discuss here. Suffice it to say, that I knew that I had taken the job without praying about it, but out of my need for provision, to make sure I had money to keep the ministry going and my household. I knew from day 1 what I supposed to had done, but was afraid to do it. This task, this “thing” was set in motion over a year ago. I knew last year 2017,  that this year 2018 was going to be a game changer. I had heard from The Lord, then but knew not the scope of what He would ask me to do.

Over the last few months I have been teaching the people, about faith and trust in the Almighty God and how that faith and trust will sustain us in our daily lives, even to eternity. Even as the words fell from my mouth, I knew this would be required of me. Even now, I must continue to encourage the people of God through my right now testimony to stay in the Good Fight of Faith. The Lord has called each of you to complete an assignment, whether great or small, but you must do it to the glory of God. What The Lord God will ask us to do, will stretch us, will make us uncomfortable, will call us to give up the very thing we need in order to survive, so that we cannot say it was us but God alone.

The Lord Jesus is calling His followers, to a higher level of faith, a narrower walk with Him, that will prepare us for the time of testing that will come upon this entire world. It is not easy, it is not pretty. you will shed tears, you will be afraid, but you have to remember that The Lord does not give us the spirit of Fear, but Power, Of Love and Sound Mind. You, WE, have to constantly remind ourselves of the promises The Lord has made in His Word to us, and in our personal daily prayer time. We have to count the cost of walking and completing the work that our King Jesus has chosen for us to do here on this earth, in this season, in this moment. We cannot step up, then the only recourse is to go back, and we know what Jesus said about turning back; “And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
(Luk 9:62)

There is no going back. To go back now is to deny the faith, and to deny God. Do the impossible, “…for with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26.

Doing the Impossible when I do not understand it!

Redeemed One

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