Satan Worship?

I have been preparing a message to preach at church tonight regarding the temptations Jesus went through in Luke 4. In re-reading the text I was blown away by something I had never seen before. It says:

Luke 4:1-13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'" The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'" The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. (from New International Version)

There were a few things about each temptation that Jesus went through that stood out:
First of all, would he trust His Father to provide for Him or would He take matters into His own hands and misuse His abilities to serve His own purposes. None of us will be tempted to turn stones into bread because we do not have that ability, but we will be tempted where we are gifted. For example, if I have people skills I will be tempted to manipulate people to do what I want them to do with my ability. In other words I will be misusing my gift. Christ's maturity was being tested. Maturity is the ability to endure pain and delay pleasure. Jesus was tempted by both.
Secondly, Jesus was tempted to give His loyalty to Satan. We must always keep in mind that Jesus was fully human, just like us (Hebrews 2:14-18). So He was experiencing the same struggles we do.
Thirdly, He was tempted to take a short-cut to what God had called Him to. Satan was tempting Him to show off His power so He could gain everyone;s approval. Think of what Jesus was about to endure. He was going to be rejected, betrayed, and greatly misunderstood. Satan was tempting Him to take a short cut that would jeopardize His integrity.
I want to focus for a moment on the second temptation. Satan's temptation to worship Him. Why would that be a temptation for anyone, let alone Jesus? The answer is in the context. He told Jesus that He would give Him power, pleasure, and possessions if He would worship Him. True Satan worship is not death metal music, Ozzy Osborne biting off the head of a bat, or blood sacrifices, or any other pagan rituals. It is the worship of self. It is living for pleasure, power, and possessions as the chief end of your life. I once heard a leader in the church of Satan say that "real Satan worship begins by being your own boss and calling the shots for your life."
We are all tempted to worship Satan in the same sense that Jesus was. Will I live for self? Or will I live for the glory of God and the betterment of others. Jesus responded with "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only." Let that be our response as well when we are tempted to give our loyalty and worship to power, pleasure, possessions, and self.

Longing For Eden Part #1

I believe that the reason a lot of people struggle in the Christian life is because they have a faulty view of what has been promised to us by Jesus. A lot of people think that following Jesus means a life that will be free from pain. We hear people preach and talk about "the victorious Christian life", but what does that mean? Does that mean we will be spared from struggles in life? What did Jesus promise? He promised that if we trust in Him as Savior we can have eternal life (John 3:16). He promised that He would give us His peace regardless of our circumstances (John 14:27). He also promised:

"...Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." John 16:33 NLT

Notice He did not say "you might" have trials and sorrows, but "you will."

Yesterday I was reminded once again of how fragile life is. A very healthy lady I know had a severe stoke and as I write this is on her death bed. I went to the hospital and prayed with her husband and family as they struggled to cope with the pain of losing someone so dear to them. Thankfully, she is a strong believer in Christ and has the promise of eternal life waiting for her when she dies. The struggle is for those left behind that will miss her.

Heaven is heaven because there is no pain, sorrow, sickness, death, or sin. It is the place where we will perfectly know and experience God's presence and joy. There will be nothing in the way of fully knowing Him. Ironically, how I described heaven is how life was for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Prior to the Fall (Genesis 3), there was no sickness & sorrow, because there was no sin. What we all long for is to go back to Eden. The difficulty is we cannot go back to Eden until we die and go to heaven. Where my friend who had the stroke is about to go, is the place we all are truly longing for.

I love the music of Mercy Me. They have a very powerful song about what I am trying to say. Here are the lyrics:

You're in a better place, I've heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I've rejoiced for you
But the reason why I'm broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

Help me Lord cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I'll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I'm still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
I've never been more homesick than now

In Christ, there are no goodbye
And in Christ, there is no end
So I'll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place
Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

If you want to hear the song follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvhrPMJe8LE