My Favorite

So today Tish and I will be doing day five of Jillian.  I don't actually hurt anymore which is really exciting.  That just means that I can work harder during our workout.  I haven't been doing very good with eating heather, or eating less.  I have always loved to eat, and not its really hard to eat less.

So since I don't know if everyone knows what Jillian Michael's 30-day shred is, I figured I would try and explain it to the best of my abilities.  It is a 30-day workout in which there are three levels.  You do each level for 10 days and then you move onto the next level.  After 30 days you are supposed to be in good shape and have lost weight...I don't really know if this is really true...I have never made it that far.  I will let you all know it it is true when I get there.

Tish and I read Matthew 4 last night.  This is my favorite chapter in Matthew.  This chapter talks about the temptation of Jesus, the start of Jesus' ministry, and Jesus calling His first disciples.  I specifically focus on the temptation of Jesus, because there is a lot that you can learn from that section, and my favorite verse is in that section.

The temptations are a diabolical attempt to subvert God's plan for human redemption by causing Jesus to fall into sin and disobedience, thus disqualifying him as the sinless Savior.  Jesus responds to each temptation by quoting from Deuteronomy, linking his experience to Israel's in the desert.  In Deuteronomy 8:2 Moses reminds the Israelites of God's testing through hunger and miraculous provision of manna.  The devil's quotation of Psalm 91 is a blatant misuse of scripture in an effort to manipulate Jesus.  Such a spectacular display as jumping from this great height unharmed would have gained him an enthusiastic following, but it would not have followed the Father's messianic and redemptive plan of suffering and proclaiming the kingdom of heaven.
The devil quoting scripture, while out of context, is not as miraculous or unusual as most people think.  Satan (Lucifer) is a fallen angel.  he used to be with God in Heaven.  Lucifer decided that he wanted to be as powerful, if not more powerful then God, so he started a war in Heaven...and lost.  Him and his followers were cast down from Heaven.  Satan had spent an unknown amount of time in the presence of God, so it is only natural that he knows scripture.
Jesus is part of the holy trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Jess came to earth, and took on the form of a man, and still lived a perfect sinless life.  He didn't take the easy road.  he knew that He was going to have to be ridiculed, hated, beat, and finally nailed to a cross to save the lives of all of us imperfect sinful humans.  Jesus' temptation in the desert shows that He was truly a man when He was here on earth.  Jesus was perfect in every way, and not even the devil himself could stop Jesus.

My favorite verse in this section is vs. 4, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."
We as human beings cannot only live on what this world gives us, or what this world has, or what we as individuals have.  We need God to truly live, and have life forever.  Nothing is this world is ever going to be good enough, but God is always good enough and then more so.

I hope you got a lot out of this.  I know that I do every time that I read it.

Thanks for reading. =)