DEAD OR ALIVE
DEAD OR ALIVE
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” —Matthew 4:4
Satan encourages people to live for the temporal, to enjoy the temporal, to focus on one’s “needs” and to be caught up in the temporal moment without any thought to eternity. This is what He sought to do with Jesus, with Job and this is what Satan seeks to do with all of us. He wants us to focus on the temporal and not the eternal.
“Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Satan only wants us to focus on bread… the temporal only and that is not what real life is all about. Real life acknowledges the temporal AND the eternal. Real life feeds on temporal bread and eternal bread—
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” —Hebrews 4:12-13
So, people are not really living unless they are “feeding” and the Word of God and living according to what He has to say. As a matter of fact, people who do not know Jesus are like we who know Jesus used to be—
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” —Ephesians 2:1-3
Again, Satan wants people to focus on the temporal ways of this world. By doing so they are opponents of God and “must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (II Timothy 2:25-26). So, people who do not know Jesus—
- Focus on the temporal (bread)
- Do not focus on the eternal (Word of God)
- Are not truly alive
- Are dead in trespasses and sins
- Are following the ways of this world (temporal)
- Are following Satan
- Are disobedient
- Are gratifying the cravings of their flesh (temporal)
- Are following their desires (temporal)\
- Are following their own thoughts (temporal)
- Are deserving wrath
- Need to repent
- Need to come to the knowledge of the truth
- Need to come to their senses
- Need to escape from the trap of the devil
- Need to escape from the captivity of the devil
- Need to escape from doing the devil’s will
How can one be set free from the clutches of Satan? Jesus tells us— “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). We are also told that “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ” (Romans 10:17) and that “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
How do we know a person is truly a follower of Jesus? The Word of God is their top priority in life— they are listening to what God says and they are seeking to consistently be faithful to what He is saying to them. They have a hunger for God’s Word above all because they love Him and want to know Him more and faithfully serve Him. This all comes from the living, active, penetrating, revealing, reproofing, correcting, instructing, training of the Word of God that prepares the person of God for what He has for them. So, if you have not responded to the Word of God and called on Jesus to save you, I urge you strongly to do so. If you have called on Jesus, then is that known by your listening to/reading His Word and seeking to be faithful to what He says to you? May it be so… Yes, Dear Father, may we be faithful to Your Word by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYu8ZyETnKo