Sunday Scriptures: An Anchor

After finishing "Anonymous" by Alicia Britt Chole, I have been challenged to memorize more of the Word of God. After all, Psalms 199:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

When examining Jesus' life and the 40 days of temptation that He faced in the desert, one has to wonder how a human being could endure FORTY days of being tempted for even the simplest of things like food.

Whenever Jesus was tempted by the devil, He quoted scripture as a means of rebuking the temptation. Chole says, "If anyone ever had the ability to completely live a self-reliant life, it was Jesus. But he passed on self reliance. He knew it was highly overrated. As Jesus meditated on God's Word, that Word anchored and strengthened Him to choose a better way in the desert." I want to equip myself to choose a better way when I am in a desert. I know first hand that being self-reliant IS highly overrated....

The first temptation that Jesus was faced with was in regards to his appetite. Jesus has fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. He may have been God in the flesh but he was also human, and after this long fast he was most definitely a HUNGRY human! Would have it been bad for him to eat? No, except that it was Satan that said, "If you are the Son of Man, turn these stones into bread..." (Matthew 4:3) Jesus replies, "It is written, 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God". Bam! Take that devil!

Chole writes, "In the Judean wilderness, that anchor proved faithful and enabled Jesus to resist Satan's lure through a world changing choice. Though painfully conscious of his appetite, Jesus was even more purposefully committed to God's Word's have preeminence in his life. When tempted in the layer of appetite, Jesus chose to reposition his cravings, desires, longings and physical needs behind God's unchanging truth."

Appetite is an ironic temptation for me in this stage of life, with the desire to get healthy something on my mind constantly. But more then physical appetite, I believe that in this day and age we struggle with an appetite for immediate gratification. Doing what we want when we want to because it's what we want. Make sense? I want to be someone that uses God's Word to anchor me, not be guided by my own desires or wants. I have proven to be unreliable in making important decisions or resisting temptations.

And so, I join a friend of mine on the 2010 Scripture Memorization mission! I have chosen this as my first verse and perhaps as my 2010 "anchor verse".

"For the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him." Isaiah 30:18.

I will be choosing a new verse each Sunday to memorize for the week. I know that there have been times in my life when I have been deep in the Word and you just can't help but have it overflow out of you at times. I find that when I am praying for others, I feel inadequate if I don't know what God's word says. God's word is truth and will never come back void; I need to cling to that and start arming myself with the Word as I grow as a woman, wife and mother.

I would challenge you all as my blog friends to make the Word of God your anchor too! Have a blessed Sunday everyone!!