answers

heaven
will not answer
the correctness
of the calvinist
or
the arminian...

heaven
will not declare
whether or not
unknown trongues
can be spoken...

heaven
will settle
no doctrinal disputes
once
and for all...

heaven
will be about
the Lamb
slain
forever ago
& His regard for
us.

loving God's ways #2 (matthew 4:8-10)

anger
&
hatred are bad
companions
to clear thinking.
the evil one has been angry
for a long time.

that day
in the desert, his anger
burned
hot.

You saw through each
deception
&
hung onto Your Abba's every
word.

he was outclassed
&
he knew it.

"fall down," he demanded,
"worship me...and all power will be
Yours!"

"get out, satan!"
"YaHWeH alone is to be worshiped."

the tempter left.
defeated.

loving YaHWeH
above all else
is the only defense that
will kill each
&
every plan of the devil.

love worships.
love wins.

hearing God's promise #2 (matthew 4:5-7)

who
could possibly overlook
such a big chance?
a once-in-a-lifetime chance
to be noticed?

the tempter always knew
how
to cut corners...
to get what he
wanted.

he tried to help You
learn
the same lesson he'd taught
adam
&
eve.

he did not understand
one
very important thing about
You...
after 40 days of hanging out
with YaHWeH's Spirit,
testing God was the
LAST
thing you would want to do.

ever.

instead You waited on YaHWeH
one more time
to speak with You.

His words are
Life.
everything else is
less.

making bread #2 (matthew 4:3-4)

alone
&
hungry...
to hate-filled eyes
You looked vulnerable.

You needed bread.
food.
after 40 days
even an old crust
would do.

hatred
blinds even the most clever
of thinkers.
satan
was no exception.

"make bread,"
he said, "You can do this."
"You should do this to
prove
You are YaHWeH's Son."

so
You proved Yourself to be the
ONLY
BEGOTTEN Son of YaHWeH
by NOT making bread...
by relying on God's words
for food.

the stones were
safe
for another day.

loving God's ways (matthew 4:8-10)

alone
powerless
You were offered...
every
kingship on earth
&
all power here
to go with it.

the price You would pay
for all this?
simple...
worshiping anything, anyone
other than
YaHWeH...
in specific:
bow oneself to God's enemy.

this
is the always-choice
we each
face.

suddenly
&
with growing force
in Your heart
these words grew huge...
"Hear,
O Israel,
you shall love the LORD
with ALL..."

these words
burned
their way through Your
heart
onto Your lips.

into satan's face
they flew...
killers
all & each of the
darkness
dripping
out of him.

FINALLY...
a man stood on the earth
Who could force
satan
to back down!

the DAY began to
shine
for us all!

hearing God's promise (matthew 4:5-7)

unknown
You were asked to
show
some of Your real glory so that
amazement
would bring people into
the Light of God.

instead
You waited again for YaHWeH's
Voice
to speak.

in the fire of being
tested
most severely
You refused to
test
Your Own Abba.

more light
breaking
out over the deep dark.

killing it.

obedience
always trumps
power.

making bread (matthew 4:3-4)

hungry
You were approached to make
bread
which was nowhere to be found from
stones
which were everywhere.

it was doable.

after all
at the start of THE
Beginning
You made the cosmos
out of nothing by
talking
about it.

it WAS doable.

hungry
You waited
for Your Abba's kind
provision.

even though Your hunger was
strong
Your heart for YaHWeH was
stronger.

so
You waited.

Satan failed...

the first real ray of
the newest dawn
ever
burst out over a dark land.