There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Catholic Church is a force for good in the world. When it comes to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and looking out for the poor, the Catholic Church is second to none. It has, more so than any other religious institution spread its wing in diverse places across the globe. Wherever there are suffering and oppression, the Catholic Church is there to lend a helping hand.
Nevertheless, the Church is not perfect. Its failings in recent years and in its distant past continue to be an Alcatraz around its neck. However, such failings should not in any way shape or form take away from its importance as a force for good in the world.
I strongly believe was it not for the Catholic Church, even with its failings, the world would be worse off than it is today.
The Temptation of Christ, 1854 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Everybody faces temptation. It pursues you like a predator stork its prey. Young or old, temptation entices your wish. It follows you wherever you go. It enters into your thoughts, your dreams, and even into your prayers.
In the book of Matthew 18:7-9, Jesus warns that temptation to sin is sure to come: He says:”Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or disabled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”
There is absolutely no doubt that God could spare you from such enticement, but He has decided not to. Instead, He uses Jesus as an example for you to emulate. According to Matthew 4:3-7, He endures temptation after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights.
“Now when the devil came to Jesus, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
However, Jesus answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’
Then the devil took Jesus up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you.’
And,
‘In their hands; they shall bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.’
Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
So when temptation comes, do as Jesus did. He uses the Word of God to turn back every sinful challenge the devil throws at Him. He knew the flesh by itself cannot endure temptation. Still temptation is sure but yielding is sin.
3rd quarter of 16th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It is possible to learn much about God’s invitation and never respond to it personally. Even so, His invitation is clear and nonnegotiable. In the book of Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus makes a very generous offer that is hard to resist. However, many of us turn our backs and walk away.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
He is very specific in what He asks and equally clear in what He offers. The choice is up to you. He gives you all, and you give Him all. He requires nothing more or nothing less.
Isn’t it amazing that God leaves the choice to you? Let’ think about it for a minute….There are many things in life you cannot choose. You cannot, for example, choose the weather. You cannot control the economy and you cannot choose whether you are fitted with big nose or small ears or a lot of hair. You cannot even choose how people respond to you.
However, when it comes to life after death, you are given a choice. You can choose where you want to spend eternity–heaven or hell. God leaves the big choice and the crucial decision to you. The ball is in your court and you are free to do whatever you want with it.
No doubt you have made some bad decisions in life. You may have chosen to skip college to hang with the boys. You may have chosen the wrong career or even an incompatible spouse. Now your past is haunting you, and you wish you could turn back the hand of time. You wish you had a chance to make up for the bad decisions you have made during the past.
God has provided a way out for you. He wants you to know that it doesn’t matter how tattered your past has been, with Him your future is spotless. One good decision for eternity offsets a million bad ones on earth. The choice is yours.
What are you doing with God’s invitation? You can either accept it, or reject it.
Jesus makes an astonishing statement when He declares: “I amthe bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will; is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:35-40).
When the teachers of the law heard this they began to grumble, “. . . “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” (John 6:42). But Jesus was talking about the spiritual Bread that nourishes the soul.
“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘they will all be taught by God. ‘Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 43-51).
When we think of bread, we think of something that accompanies a meal, not something that is the meal as Jesus indicates.
When Jesus tells us that He is the bread of life, He is also telling us that we will never hunger again. It means that Jesus is enough! When we come to Him and partake of His life, we will never hunger after another savior to redeem us; we will never hunger after another teacher to instruct us.
Jesus’ peace is enough, His presence is enough, His fellowship is enough; His atonement is enough, His Lordship is enough, His Kingdom is enough, His grace is enough, His mercy is enough, and His love is enough. He is the bread of life.
Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 4-10).
Jesus Christ is above everything, before everything, and ahead of everything in your life, in this world, and in this universe. Before you ever sinned, He was already your redeemer, waiting for you to come to Him. When you had your first revelation of God, it was Christ’s image that you beheld.
Christ is your hope of the resurrection. And because He has already experienced it, He has made it possible for you to experience it as well.
Are you empty?
Christ is your fullness
Are you weak?
He is your strength
Are you needy?
He is your supply
Are you confused?
He is your wisdom
Are you seeking?
He is your destination
Are you anxious?
He is your peace
Are you alone?
He is your companion
In Christ you have much more than you could ever imagined—everything!
Let's Talk Gospel 