Feb 25 2013

Nuggets of Fudge – REFLECTIONS ON TEMPTATION (1)


Why do we sin? What is temptation? What is its appeal, its substance, its power? Can we resist it? Defeat it? Escape it? If “Yes,” by what power? If by our power, is God involved? If by God’s power, must we do anything ourselves? As one who has been sinning and coming short of God’s plan for human beings for nearly 69 years, and as one who has been rescued from sin’s power by a power even greater, but who has been helpless against sin apart from that greater power, I wish to devote a few gracEmails to this subject beginning with this one. Today we take a general look at the context of the temptation of Jesus during his forty days in the wilderness of Judea, described in Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13.

The Gospel story begins with John baptizing Jesus, and with God visibly and audibly marking Jesus as his well-beloved son. Luke inserts a genealogy that begins with Jesus and moves backward to Adam–“Adam, the son of God.” Luke is telling us that Jesus is a second Adam, the head of a new humankind. Jesus’ bright moment at the Jordan is followed by forty days of spiritual darkness in the desert. It is a barren and rugged land, a badlands crawling with snakes and scorpions, devoid of human residents, a place where wild animals wander in search of prey. It is also a haunt of the devil.

Jesus fasts for forty days and nights and is hungry. The son of God hungry? Can hungry Jesus really be the son of God? No doubt. But doubt is a chief stock in the devil’s trade–overt at times, subtle at others. Doubt expressed with a sneer, or a look of surprise. Expressed by suggestion, question and insinuation. If you are the son of God, taunts the devil, manipulate a miracle and meet your needs! Enjoy the perks! Look the part! Wow the crowds and gain a following! But each time, Jesus refuses. God’s results do not depend on carnal shortcuts or cheap stunts. Didn’t then. Don’t now. Truth is, they never have.

Words of truth and wisdom from my friend and fellow on the journey, Edward Fudge.

From time to time I’ll share “Nuggets of Fudge” with the readers of Grace Digest. They are tasty!

Royce Ogle
Monroe, LA

 

 

Feb 10 2013

From guest blogger Edward Fudge – Sinful Through and Through


A graceEmail subscriber asks what David meant in Psalm 51 when he said that he was conceived in sin, and what Paul intended in Ephesians 2 in saying we once all were children of wrath.

* * *******

Some believers conclude that both David and Paul are using hyperbole, deliberately overstating the matter to emphasize the extent to which we all participate in sinful activities. That explanation probably contains some truth, but it stops short of the full reality. Sin is not only a specific wrong deed; it is also a malignant force embedded in our fallen nature (Rom. 5:12ff). David looks at himself and confesses that he is a sinner and that he always has been–since the moment he was conceived. Paul says that even those who are finally saved once were controlled by sin and under God’s judgment.

Perhaps the easiest way to see the truth in David’s and Paul’s spot-on statements (not overstatements at all, as it turns out) is to look at one’s own self. When I honestly inspect my own heart in the light of all that God wishes to do in making me like Jesus Christ, I am a total failure. Every moral command God has given, I have broken–in spirit if not in actual deed. If I ever deny that, I will be lying and further proving the point. If I should ever pretend that it is not so and that I am not guilty before God apart from Jesus Christ, I would be a hypocrite of the worst sort.

But instead of denying my sinfulness, I confess it. Rather than pretending to be something I am not, I constantly admit that my aims are higher than my achievements. My goals exceed my performance. My desires surpass my ability to carry them out. But because God is rich in mercy, I am now a saved one by grace through faith (Eph. 2:3-9). God has declared me righteous–and by declaring it, he made it so. He is now transforming me into the image of Jesus Christ. This is all from God, and it is a free gift. It is all to the praise of the glory of his grace.

*************

I couldn’t have stated this truth any better. Because what my friend Edward Fudge says is true is the specific reason we need Christ and what his work affords those who trust him.I, like Edward, often find that I fail to live up to my own expectations and my heart is not fully turned toward God. So, it is with thanksgiving that I proclaim that God is a God of grace, giving sinful, ungodly people what they don’t earn or deserve.

If you are not a subscriber to Edward Fudge’s gracEmail you should become one today. You will be blessed by the heart of this good man. Go to EdwardFudge.com and sign up for his weekly treasure of wisdom.

ewfatty

 

Feb 4 2013

Same Blog, New Look


A few of my readers had problems reading the white on black text, and I discovered that some of the older stuff in the dusty archives did not translate at all to the black theme. So, black is out.

An online friend advised me of the difficulty of finding archived posts. Hopefully I fixed that. Posts can now be found using a search widget, a category cloud, and by dated archives.

Writing has been a joy to me since I was a high school kid. I write principally for my own therapy. A few years ago my friend John Dobbs  suggested that I might enjoy blogging. I took his suggestion seriously and now many, many posts later I am so glad for the suggestion.

I have been both honored and humbled that things I have written have been helpful to so many people. I have received messages from readers from several countries saying they were encouraged, enlightened, were helped to understand a passage of Scripture, or in some way blessed by my humble efforts at the keyboard. I have heard from people who used something I posted for a communion meditation, churches have posted several posts in their weekly bulletins or monthly newsletters, and many people have written to me saying they were using something they found here in a sermon or Bible class. I am in awe at what God has done!

In 2012 there were days when I had over 20,000 views. Some days there are as few as 200. I am continually amazed that people from literally all around the planet manage to find little insignificant me and read what I write. My sincere thanks to those of you who have read my posts and a hearty welcome to new readers.

Royce Ogle
Monroe, LA

Jan 20 2013

Jesus knows all about your trouble


_____sorrow_longing_tears______by_WestiaFor a Christian to want to be like Jesus is the most noble of desires. Those who love and serve him want to imitate him. All of us who march under his banner want to love like he did. We want to be righteous as he was. We want to be devoted to our heavenly Father as he was. The list of qualities that define his holy character is long.

The result we expect from living like Jesus, the best we can, is that we will be full of joy, know true peace in our hearts, and live above the cares of the world as we look for his appearing. I am sometimes amused and sometimes angry when on the rare occasion I watch a TV preacher. It seems that most of them teach that if you follow Jesus you will have no want, spiritually or financially, and live in good health. They didn’t get that from the Bible.

Being like Jesus will be painful. Hundreds of years before Jesus became a man the prophet Isaiah said of him.

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.(Isaiah 53:3)

Jesus knew the pain of rejection, experienced deep sorrow, and was acquainted with grief. Did you know that when you are rejected you are living like Jesus? Do you realize that when you are in your deepest sorrow that Jesus has been there too and knows how you hurt? And are you aware that in those times when grief has almost completely overwhelmed you that you are perhaps more like Jesus than at many other times?

Jesus was fully God but fully human too. Joy springs from our hearts when we talk about, and sing about Jesus calming the raging sea, giving sight to the blind, and forgiving the sins of many. We glory in his deity and we should. Oh, but he was just as human as we are.

Because Jesus was human there is no depth of loneliness, no sense of rejection, no storm without or within that he does not fully know and understand. There is an old song we sang in little mountain churches in the hills of North Carolina that says, “Jesus knows all about our troubles…” and “There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus”.

May we not only glory in Jesus’ deity but let us also glory in his humanity. But for his humanity his deity would be pointless. It was in a human body that he always did the will of his heavenly Father and in that human body, though tempted in every way we are, never once sinned. It was that righteous life, that lifetime of loving obedience, that Jesus offered when he willingly gave himself to die for us. It was in a body like yours that he was beaten, humiliated, was sorrowful, grieved, cried, and was rejected. Because he loved us so he gave his holy life by dying on a cross where he took the full measure of God’s wrath against sin, for you, for me.

It’s the greatest love story ever told. Because he lives, even death is not a threat. And you can know that in the middle of your deepest trouble (you will have trouble…) Jesus is with you and knows in the most intimate way possible what you are experiencing. You can rest in the truth that he has your best interests in mind and that in that awful pain you are being like him.

Have you lost someone you love? Did you just learn your child has a disability? Did your business fail? Did a loved one betray you? Jesus knows all about your troubles and he will lead you through them all into the sunlight of a better tomorrow. He has been where you are, he is with you now, he will never leave you, even in death, he is there.

So, when trouble comes, don’t try to run away, run to Jesus, you’ll find him right in your worst troubles and where he is you are safe and secure. In Jesus’ life of suffering and dying there came a resurrection morning. Because he lives you will have one too!