Week 3...i think

Good to hear from you Billy! Sad to hear you are not going to be there this week, but i hope you have fun in Dallas.

I think Luke 4 would be enough to talk about this week, so thats what i am going to write about.

1) I was reading the temptation of Jesus and wondering how this fits with James 4:7, "resist the Devil, and he will flee from you"...or at least how does this fit with how we interpret it? It seems we yell at Satan a lot and tell him to go away, and we expect him to tuck tail and run away scared... Jesus seems to just stand firm on truth, not letting Satan choose the battle. And Satan doesn't seem to run away, but rather he waits "for a more opportune time". Do we have our ideas of how authority and submission work in terms of "resisting the devil"? Jesus' way seems much simpler and less draining...just stand on truth, and Satan cant move you.

2) I find it interesting that Satan starts 2 of his temptations with "If you are the Son of God...", like what he was really attacking was Christ's identity, or his confidence in his identity. I wonder how often he tries to get us insecure enough to "prove" our identity or God's power.

Jesus just seems so solid, and i wonder sometimes if we are so adamant and loud in our "rebuking" of spirits, our declaration of who we are, etc. because we are trying to convince ourselves.

That's what i got for now...i might post more later in the week.