Matthew 4:5-7
“Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”
The devil took Jesus to church.
But he didn’t take him inside.
Why?
Because that’s where the Holy of Holies was, that’s where the presence of the Lord was.
He took him up to the pinnacle, he took him up to a vantage point where he would have to “look down on” everyone else.
The devil does the same with us sometimes.
He will take us to church.
But not take us inside.
He will encourage us to look down on everyone else, creating a divide between us and those who go inside to worship.
There’s nothing wrong with the church, but we are in the wrong location, we’re “above.” Instead of inside, worshipping and hearing the voice of the Lord, we’re up above everyone else and looking down on them as if we somehow are better.
The devil doesn’t mind if you go to church.
He just doesn’t want you to worship.
He wants you too busy looking at those who also attend church.
He wants you comparing yourself to them, and seeing in which ways you may be “better.” He wants you analyzing every single look, movement, word, or deed to see if it’s “against” you.
Many times, that vantage point, causes you to believe that you have been done SO WRONG, that you need to be in recovery.
But if you would resist the enemy, as Jesus did.
And come back down to where you’re SUPPOSED to be, you’ll often see that all those things that Satan was trying to hang you up with, look totally different at eye level.
Those people you think are against you, may not be, if you’ll just come down from that place that you were never meant to be.
How do I know?
Because the enemy has taken me, many times, and sought to get me to look down on others at church. There is no worship at that pinnacle. The Lord isn’t there. There is no joy.
It’s just you and Satan, having a pity party.
But when I’ve come back down, and looked at things eye level, the things I was so upset over weren’t even REAL.
Don’t let the devil take you to church today.
Go into the house of the Lord, not above it.
Is there something that Satan has convinced you is an issue? Have you come down from looking down on everyone else yet to confirm it’s reality?
You can misread a lot of situations when you’re not where you’re supposed to be.
You can get distracted by a lot of things when you’re not where you were created to be.
Don’t miss the presence of the Lord because you’re too busy up above everyone else. That hurts NO ONE but you!
Go to church to worship today, not to sit above and hear the whispers of Satan.
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