October 3, 2024 Devo

Not every idea, even grand ideas, is of God. I feel as if I need to say that. People approach me regularly with things they believe God is telling them to do. Since I’ve learned that God operates in ways I don’t always understand, I don’t usually outright tell them that it’s NOT a God-idea, even if my intuition is screaming that it’s not. What I do is try to ask good, thought-provoking questions that will help them process the idea fully. Sometimes people don’t take that well. They don’t want to hear about the challenges or obstacles. They just want me to tell them that their idea is of God and to go for it. They also sometimes want money and help. When I decline or hesitate, they frequently get upset with me. Some break off the friendship. And I’ve had to deal with the sadness of that. But I’ve learned. Not every idea is of God. Not even if it’s MY idea!
In our passage today, the Devil tempts Jesus to throw Himself off the temple. Now, you don’t have to have a high IQ to know that’s stupid. But the ploy is that since God will rescue Him, it’ll show everyone who Jesus is. That can’t be a bad idea, can it? Well, Jesus thought it was. While a miraculous angel rescue might SOUND like a God-thing, it wasn’t. It was actually a Devil-thing. Jesus was committed to sorting through all the human and demonic ways of doing things. He was committed to doing God’s work and accomplishing God’s purposes GOD’S WAY. So, no dives off the temple for Jesus.
Please hear my heart. Sometimes God wants to do amazing things through us. Sometimes He wants us to step out in faith and attempt something that we know we’re doomed to fail unless He shows up and makes it happen. But like Jesus, it’s important to make sure that it’s truly a God idea and not an US idea, or worse, a Satan idea. Sometimes our egos and our Enemy come up with ideas that SOUND good and SEEM good, but they are NOT good. That’s why we need to approach those ideas with humility, openness, godly counsel, and lots of prayer. That’s what the scripture calls “testing the spirits.” If God says, “Go!” then go. But if not, well, let’s just say, don’t go jumping off any temples. It might not end up the way you imagined. That’s God’s Word for you today.