Yesterday I went to Facebook as I usually do and I saw a picture that a friend of mine named Dawn had posted and here it is. A clever picture, but one that does not HAVE TO BE TRUE. Why? Because it is all in the details of who is asking you to read. Consider, God is in heaven and teaches you what you need to know. It comes from heaven and down to you. Now, read the picture from the top down. Next, Realize picture Satan in HELL and looking up. His message to you is designed to be the exact OPPOSITE of what God has said. Read the message from the bottom UP. This reminds me of something that was discussed in the Bible class last night. When someone is baptized, Satan enters the picture and tries to turn the situation around. This is what happened...
Matthew 3:13-17 (WEB)
13) Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
14) But John would have hindered him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?”
15) But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.
16) Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.
17) Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 4:1-11 (WEB)
1) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2) When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.
3) The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4) But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
5) Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6) and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’”
7) Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”
8) Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.
9) He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10) Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’”
11) Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.
Satan will look for the best moment to try to twist your thinking; when you are the most vulnerable and therefore the most susceptible to flawed reasoning. He looked at Jesus' situation and saw danger, hunger and helplessness and attacked on all three fronts. Satan knows that communication between married couples can be quite a problem and as a result attempts to twist the way God wants our lives to read. Do your marriage a favor, listen to God. You won't be sorry; on the contrary, you may wind up happily married for many decades. Now, that's a book that I want to read!!!