Away from me satan. 1/4/15

Matthew 4

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Jesus Begins to Preach

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.”[f]

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,”Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Heals the Sick

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,[g] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Supplied Devotional with Bill Freeman

"The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you." Deuteronomy 7:7- 8 To speak of God's unconditional love is to utter a wonderful fact about God's nature. He loves because He chooses to love and for no other reason. His love is not dependent upon finding something in us that merits His love. His love is without conditions-- it is unconditional. It is this kind of love that is expressed to Israel in the above verses. In other words, God loves because He chooses to love, not because of a reason found outside of Himself.God's unconditional love is revealed throughout the Old and New Testaments, but the most detailed description of His love is found in the book of Hosea. When we touch this book that unveils the nature of God's love, we are treading ground that we have never trod before. We see God's unconditional love coming to the least likely object of love.Gomer, the name of the woman Hosea was to take as a wife, reveals the depths of the nature of God's unconditional love. Gomer is derived from a Hebrew word (gamar) that means "cease, come to an end, and fail." In other words, God was telling Hosea, "Go take failure to be your wife," or "Go take that which has come to an end to be your wife." This illustrates the nature of God's love to us. He loves us when we have no potential, no victory, when we have come to an end-- when we are nothing but failure. Gomer not only means failure, but it also has the meaning of "completion" or "perfection."So this woman was complete or perfected in her failure. She was a harlot. She filled up the measure of harlotry to the uttermost. She committed not merely one transgression but a thousand transgressions. She reached a state of completion and is ironically spoken of as being perfected in harlotry. She was that low, that base. She was perfected in her harlotry because she was fully experienced in sinning and in rebellion. She was fully developed, perfected, and completed in the realm of failure. She was not partially a failure, but she was a total failure. Yet God tells Hosea to take this "wife of harlotry" to be his wife (Hosea 1:2). Later, God tells him to love her. This demonstrates the Lord's love toward us. He takes us and then lavishes His love on us, despite our failed condition