It Could Happen To You

If it Happened to Him……..

It Could Happen to You

Several Years ago there was a movie that starred Nicolas Cage. It was about a New York City Cop who didn’t have enough money for a tip. He felt bad about it so he gave her a choice. She could wait until tomorrow and he would come back and bring her a few dollars or she could have half of anything he might win on a lottery ticket he had purchased earlier in the day. I really identified with this movie because as you know I too am a waiter. What you may not know is that I am also a delivered compulsive gambler. Well the waitress did exactly what I would have done in the same situation. She took a chance. If you haven’t seen the movie or didn’t here about the true story that inspired it let me tell you what happened. They won. The movie goes on to tell of all the good and bad things that happened to them after winning this large amount of money. The title was

It Could Happen to You.

As I thought about that movie I thought about all the possible out comes and what would I have done if that had happened to me.

When we look at stories on the news about people hitting the lottery or finding some junk in the attic that turns out to be a priceless work of art a little voice may say to us

It Could Happen to You.

When we hear about tragic stories like car accidents, natural disasters, or those freak in home accidents. The voice says ….

It Could Happen to You

When I was looking for something to talk about tonight I read the story about Satan tempting Jesus when he went into the desert just prior to the beginning of his ministry as I read this story the Holy Spirit seemed to be saying to me…

Richard,

If it could Happen to Him?

It could happen to you……..

Lets take a look at the scripture…….Turn in your Bibles to Mathew Chapter 4 verses 1-11

41Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

4Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"

5Then 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.’"

7Jesus answered him, "It is also written: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’"

8Again, 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."

10Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’"

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

Let us Pray

I believe this passage of scripture shows us 7 things we need to realize because…..

It Could Happen To You

The 1st thing we should realize is that

God Allows us to be tempted by Satan and he limits his power over us.

Look at Verse 1.

41Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

We as Christians tend to forget sometimes that the Devil is allowed to tempt us by God. He has to have permission from God to be able to tempt us………We see the same thing in the book of Job Chapter 1 verse 12……You don’t Have to turn but listen what God said to Satan concerning Job…..

12The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands,

God Allows us to be tempted by Satan. We should think about this and realize that Satan’s dominion over us is limited by God. That is an awesome thought. The fact that Satan can only tempt as much as God allows him to is comforting to me. As a parent I think about the things I ask my kids to do. I don’t ask them to do things I know that they cant do. I sometimes ask them to do things that they think they can’t do but I never ask them to do more than they actually can. Take for instance when I ask them to help me cook. I limit the level of danger……. to what I think they can handle. I don’t let them get burned but I do allow them to get close enough to feel the heat so that they know just how dangerous it would be to cook if I wasn’t around. That is a comforting thought to them. And we should be comforted by the fact that God limits Satan’s power to tempt us.