sleep just not an option

saturday nights just do not amount to sleep for me - no matter how much i try it just really does not seem to be what my Jesus wants for me - i've come to learn that He needs me at the end of me come sunday morning while i'm serving at church and i get it - i can't say that i appreciate it yet and maybe that's the place that God is taking me to really come to that place where i value the stripping me down process - so anyway this morning at about 3ish i was taken to look at the temptation of Jesus ( it came from a message I had heard this past week) so i went Matthew 4 and read it again - this time something stuck out to me that made me look at my walk and ask some tough ?'s - we have satan tempting Jesus 3 times before he leaves Him - 1st with hunger - Jesus was hungry - he came at him with his appetite - where/what are the appetites that satan comes at me with? - then he came at Jesus with the Word - this one can really trip us up and the only way to fight it off is to know the Word of God, really know it and understanding it - this will not come from prayer times, quiet times with Jesus this comes from hard core studying the Word of God - i know this is not what some want to hear but how do we meditate on it day and night if we do not know it by studying it? - then this 3rd one that hit me hard this morning - satan comes at Jesus with using the Word against Him in trying to have Him apply it wrong - Maybe, just maybe, we can apply it in a different way - satan says basically all that stuff about betrayal and rejection, and all that stuff about being persecuted, forsaken, and sacrificed, you know, there is an easier way to obtain the promise, Jesus. Just bow down and worship me, and I will give You the kingdoms of the world. It is what You came for. We have a shortcut. We just need to tweak the word just a little bit, and Walla! Promised blessing obtained.” - dang this is a hard one think about it how often we see the Word of God twisted to fit into someones life style - we see churches dying because of it - so my ? to myself and to you is where is this happening in our life today - do we try to find the gray areas of sin? - do we try to cheat our Lord out of His first fruits (tithing) - do we fool ourselves into believing fellowship is just not that important - do you think that pray is important but you just don't need to participate on the level that some do - do you draw a line in submitting to your husband because you will not become a door mat - do we dishonor the Lord with our bodies (His Temple) , what do we eat what do we drink and then we wonder why are bodies are breaking down - okay the list can go on and on as you can see this twisting of Gods Word is rampet - so in closing today i will strive to live aware of this application and i pray that the eyes of my heart will be open to the truth - the beautiful part of all this is that once Jesus fought off this temptation Satan finally retreated - Hallelujah!!!!! - just keep in mind that it did not mean satan was gone for good he just retreated and waited for another opportunity to come at Him. - well it's 5:30am and i need to get to church - okay first stop starbucks - praise Jesus for starbucks