Between A Rock and A Hard Place. Part [16] 07/13/2024 (Morning thought)

Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

Under no circumstances is Christ going to eat, or provide bread outside of His Father’s will. And He is not going to almost eat bread either. His response is a firm, and non-negotiable no, Period! When we too, find ourselves between a rock and a hard place, and satan comes peddling alternatives that are contrary to God’s revealed will, like Jesus, we are to say a firm non-negotiable no, and let the chips fall where they may.

[Confrontation pp 55] After Satan had ended his temptations, he departed from Jesus for a little season. The foe was conquered, but the conflict had been long and exceedingly trying, and Christ was exhausted and fainting. He fell upon the ground as though dying. Heavenly angels who had bowed before Him in the royal courts, now came and ministered unto Him. They prepared Him food and strengthened Him, for He lay as one dead.

The mark of the beast is scheduled to put the saints between a rock and a hard place, and like Jesus, we too will have the promises of God at our backs, but the waiting period for fulfillment might be open- ended in some instances. The faith of Jesus and the patience of the saints that we read about in Revelation 14, is not your ordinary, or generic type of faith. It is the most radical form of trusting in God with no holds barred, no deadlines, and no ultimatums.

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!

Between A Rock and A Hard Place. Part [15] 07/13/2024 (Evening thought)

2nd Corinthians 11:23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 24 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep.

In dealing with this conundrum of being between a rock and a hard place, there are certain things we will have to scratch off as alternatives to doing right, things that will cause us to violate the conscience. We will have to begin, not with what we will do, but with what we must never do.

For the right course of action to pursue we will have to turn to the experience of Jesus in the wilderness, as He too, found Himself between a rock and a hard place, meaning that He was hungry unto death, and He trusts in God The Father to provide whatever He needs, but no food seems to be coming, and satan is there to offer what seems to be a viable alternative. Should He hunker down, and wait it out indefinitely, even as He is being reduced to bare skin and bones, or is there a point where Jesus would be justified in saying enough is enough.

As The Savior confronted crunch time in the wilderness, He too must scratch off things that He will never do, no matter what the cost. He is not going to eat any bread that is provided in a manner that is contrary to The Father’s will, even if it is whole wheat bread. He would let the chips fall where they may, and in the process, He is prepared to go all the way, even if death is included.

Matthew 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!