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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Temptation of the Kingdoms of the World
And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Luke 4:5-8)
The second arena of temptation has to do with pleasure, and the realm of pleasure is that of worship.
Some individuals are not tempted by the frantic desire for money and material things. They are "party" people. As long as they are having fun they don't care whether they are paying their rent or sleeping in the gutter.
This is the area of lust, of the arts, of drugs.
A man will leave his wife and children when he is seduced by lust. Satan plays on his mind and he loses touch with reality. All he can understand is the need to satisfy his cravings.
How many mighty saints have been pulled down from their place by lust. They had been among those who stand in the Presence of the Lord. Now they are busily indulging in the cravings of their flesh, driven by grotesque goblins in the spirit realm.
Some are pulled off the ladder by "beautiful" romantic spirits, inspired by Wagner and Chopin. Others fulfill their appetites in sleazy motels, waking up in their vomit, heedless of the commitments made to more faithful people (and their children), beginning to worry about venereal disease and AIDS.
One more for the road!
These are the kingdoms of the world. Lust, drunkenness, murder, and every other sin abound in the temples of the democracies as well as the palaces of the feudal princes.
All of this is the worship of Satan, the God of this world.
No greater audacity has been witnessed on the world canvas than the fallen cherub asking for the worship of his Creator. How stupid, we say.
Yet we need to be wary. The same cherub approaches you and me after studying our personality profile. He appeals to the weakness whether gross or highly refined, whether in the area of the bestial or the sublime realms of science and philosophy. It all adds up to C.S. Lewis' "brown girls."
How about you? What is the old deceiver working on in you? Is he working in the area of pleasure? Is he playing with your mind? Is he speaking to you of depths of joy? But there are no depths in Satan, only the tired old grind of the lusts of the flesh and soul. He and his demons have no joy or glory. They have been condemned to crave the dust of human flesh. They are cannibals.
Have you been tricked in your mind? Cry out to God in the name of Jesus. He will reach down and pull you from the quicksand. Return to those you left in your mad rush to satisfy your cravings. Maybe they'll take you back.
I hope they do. If you have learned your lesson you will be a more stable person.
Don't try to sail past that shore tied to the mast. Don't reason with Jezebel. Don't imagine you owe anything to the deceived individual whose eyes like your own—if you could see past your fantasy—are burning with fire and sulfur.
Get out of there!