" BEING ALONE "

Welcome Aboard. I'm pleased to see that you saw your way clear to drop in. This week we will be looking into " BEING ALONE. " Now, when Jesus walked the earth people were flocking to hear Him preach and to have their diseases healed. Jesus made sure He often withdraw to quiet solitary places to pray.

Many things clamor for our attention, and we often run ourselves ragged attending to them. Like Jesus, however, we should take time to withdraw to a deserted place to pray. Strength comes from God, and we can only be strengthened by spending time with Him. Since our God is not a God of CONFUSION we should seek out a place of solitude to receive a good clear answer from God.

Another thought, if Jesus wasn't tested alone in the wilderness we would be doomed to Hell. If Jesus had given in, then his Mission On Earth to die for our sins and give us the opportunity to have Eternal Life, would have been lost. Jesus sought solitude after the news of John's death. Sometimes we may need to deal with our grief alone.

Jesus did NOT DWELL on his GRIEF, but returned to the ministry He came to do. OK, I wish to get back to Jesus' wilderness experience. He had just been fasting forty days and forty nights and Jesus was hungry. Satan showed up and said, " If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." Yes Jesus was hungry and weak after his fast, but He chose not to use his Divine Power to satisfy His natural desire for food. Food, hunger, and eating are good, but the timing was wrong. Jesus was in the wilderness to fast, not to eat. And because Jesus had given up the unlimited, independent use of his divine power in order to experience humanity fully, He wouldn't use His power to change the stones into bread.

We may also be tempted to satisfy a perfectly normal desire in a wrong way or at the wrong time. If we indulge in SEX before marriage or if we steal to get food, we are trying to satisfy God-given desires in wrong ways.

Until Next Time...
Jim