Maintaining Balance
Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11; Philippians 4:11-13
The title of my message this morning is “Maintaining Balance.” Recently I completed a series titled the “Four Seasons of Life.” In that series I explained that we go through seasons as we shift closer to or away from Christ. Our seasons are defined by how warm or cold our love is toward Christ and doing His will and then how warm or cold we are to others. In part four of that series I talked about people who live close to the Equator and how that should represent the Christian life. A person who lives closer to the Equator does not experience four seasons as we do here in the Northern Hemisphere. They experience variations of the same season versus having different seasons like winter and summer. I used that analogy to explain that the Christian life should be more like the lives of someone living near the Equator who has seasonal variations. In other words, a Christian’s love for Christ and others should always range between warm and hot and should not reach the state of being absolutely cold – in a perfect world. The message that I was attempting to relay was that we should always maintain a sense of balance in our spiritual walk which impacts everything else in our natural life.
So let’s talk a little about what it means to be in balance. Remember the example I used in the “Four Seasons of Life” series about the old scales in the doctor’s office where the nurse had to make the scale pointer balance within the space in order to determine your weight? Well, when I think of balance, I think of opposites. Having two ends of a spectrum and finding that middle point. Have you ever heard the saying “opposites attract”? It is believed that your “opposite” brings you back to the middle. Again, if you think about a scale that is balanced, whatever you add to one side must also be added to the “opposite” side in order for the scale to remain balanced. It’s the same as when you eat something that’s very sweet followed by a craving for something salty? Your taste buds are trying to get back into balance. When you’re cold and take a nice warm shower, the shower puts your body’s temperature back into balance. Balance is necessary to keep us from living in extremes.
Webster’s dictionary defines balance as, “A bodily or mental stability; a weight, value, etc. that counteracts another; equality, to bring into proportion.” When you’re balanced, you are not swayed to the right or the left. You are walking a straight path. Balance is acquired and maintained based on the choices we make. Our daily choices demonstrate our understanding of who we are in Christ and our position as children of God. Acquiring and maintaining balance not only require that we know who we are and whose we are, but also an understanding of what we have in our possession – what we have been given. When we understand this, our choices change.
Let me give you an example that we will look at from two angles. First, consider someone who knows how to fight. This person knows that he can fight, yet he keeps it under control. If someone tries to bully him, the knowledge of knowing that he can take the person out is more powerful than actually doing it. The power does not come from taking action but in walking away. Now consider the bully. Most bullies are physically bigger, but are sometimes afraid to fight. They get their bluff in because they know if push comes to shove, they may not be the best fighter, so this way they never have to find out. The bully’s power comes not from his being able to hurt someone, but the “perception” that he could hurt someone. The person who knows how to fight makes a choice based on reality, however, the bully influences choices based on perception.
This morning we are going to read the story of Jesus’s temptation by Satan in Matthew chapter four. This story shows us three areas where we must be in balance based on the reality of who we are in Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Matthew 4:1-11. Before we read this Scripture, I want you to understand this key point which, hopefully, will make this scripture more personal for you. When Jesus was in heaven, Satan knew Him. Jesus was there when Satan was kicked out of heaven. So Satan knew of the eternal existence of Jesus. Now when Jesus came to the earth to save mankind, Satan again knew that He was coming. However, because Jesus walked this earth as a man, Satan believed that he could persuade Him to turn His back on God because He was now on earth and subject to the same things we are. What Satan failed to realize is that Jesus knew Who He was and Who He belonged to.
Let’s begin the first temptation: physical needs and wants. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ 4But He answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” (Matthew 4:1-4) Jesus had just been baptized and was completing a fast of forty days and nights. His body is tired and He is hungry – a dangerous combination for someone who is not in balance – and Satan comes and tries to tempt Him. Satan knows that He is the Son of God but he also knows Jesus was walking the earth as a man and subject to the same temptations as other men. So knowing that Jesus was hungry and tired, Satan offered Him food, something pleasurable to the body. He did not offer Jesus food that he was providing; no, he tempted Jesus to make his own food by turning a stone into bread. Jesus knew that if He accepted this challenge that He would sacrifice His relationship with God and fail in His mission from His Father. He was our sacrificial lamb – one without a blemish. If He had given in to the needs of His body, He could no longer be the perfect sacrifice. And, without His sacrifice, we would be Gentiles and would not be a part of His body and being called the children of God.
Do you understand the magnitude of what Jesus would have sacrificed had He given in to His physical need? He would have sacrificed us! It would have meant death for us – in this life (physical) and in the life to come (spiritual). When Satan tempted Him with food, Jesus quoted Moses when Moses addressed the Children of Israel about the manna from heaven. What Jesus told Satan was that He could go without food but He couldn’t sin against His Father and sacrifice His mission. Satan had a perception of what could bring Jesus down, but Jesus knew the reality of the situation. Jesus knew He would eat again and He knew that as long as He walked with His Father, that nothing could happen to Him before He had completed His mission. That was His reality and Satan did not understand it. The first area we need to get into balance is our physical needs and desires. We must learn restraint. I watch our kids sometimes and I am sure you have seen this also. If they want something, they want it right now – no waiting, no patience, just hurry up and give it to me now mentality. I have found that there are areas in my life that I am the same way. But to be in balance means that we practice self-control because we understand that this life is only temporary – our true life starts later. Our physical desires and needs must be managed to ensure that we do not sacrifice our mission for one day’s gratification.
I want to share a story that I read as told by Joel Lohr. “The story is told of two old friends who bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked pitiful, almost on the verge of tears. His friend asked, “What has the world done to you, my old friend?” The sad fellow said, “Let me tell you. Three week ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars.” “That’s a lot of money” his friend said. “But two weeks ago, a cousin I never knew died and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear.” “Sound like you’ve been blessed…” “You don’t understand!” he interrupted. “Last week my great aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million.” Now his friend was really confused. “Then why do you look so glum?” His sad friend said “This week I have gotten nothing.” Do you see what happened in this story? In the span of three weeks this man went from having little and expecting nothing, to having a lot and being disappointed that he did not get more. He was actually disappointed that no one else had died and left him something. This is how Satan works. He magnifies our needs and justifies why we should not have to wait to see them fulfilled. In doing this, what we have is never enough so we sacrifice all to get more. Jesus was hungry but He was not so hungry that He would sacrifice what He had with His Father.
Before continuing in Matthew chapter four, I want to show you what the Apostle Paul says about living a balanced life. In Philippians chapter four, this is what we read in verses eleven through thirteen: “Not that I speak in respect to want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. (And then Paul tells us why his life is balanced) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” You see, a living a balanced life is not dependent upon what you have on don’t have. A balanced life is dependent on knowing the One who is there to help you stay balanced.
Now let’s go back to Matthew chapter four and verse five. The second area we need to get into balance is our relationships – our relationship with God, family and friends. Let’s examine the second way that Satan tempted Jesus. “Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You; and on their hands they will bear You up, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him, ‘On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ (Matthew 4:5-8)
Remember I said earlier that Jesus understood that nothing could happen to Him until He completed His mission; that as long as He walked with His Father, He would be okay. Satan recognizes this and tries to make Him doubt His connection to God. What he was doing was daring Jesus to prove, once and for all, that He was the Son of God and that God would honor His Word and protect Him. This temptation was two-fold. Satan was attempting to get Jesus to disbelieve that God would save Him and on the same token, Satan was baiting Jesus to put him in his proper place by proving him wrong about God saving Him. This was a no-win proposition for Jesus. Remember the example I gave earlier about the guy who knows how to fight and does not have to prove what he can do so he is able to walk away? Jesus knew who He was and understood that He did not have to prove it to Satan. Satan was trying to get Jesus to question His connection to and His relationship with the Father.
Satan uses that same tactic with us. He makes us question our relationship with our Father. “If you were really saved, you would not think like that.” Or, “Look how hard you are struggling, just give up and enjoy this life – God wants you to be fully happy – besides, what harm will it do, you can always ask for forgiveness later.” Not only does he try to influence us to question our relationship with our Father, but he also tries to influence us to question our relationship with one another. He whispers negative and demeaning thoughts in our ears about our spouses, kids, friends, and co-workers.
In order to get into balance, we must start with our relationship with God. We must know that we know that we know what our standing is with our Father. We can’t doubt it, fake it or deny it. We must be sure. When we know our relationship, we begin to walk like we know it! Our solid relationship with our Father bleeds into all other relationships, even those that may not be so good. Why? Because we understand and trust that God will bring us through. He has given us all that we need to do His will; we just need to get “us” out of the way. When we look at our spouse, see God. When we look at our kids, see God. When we look at co-workers, friends and even those you do not know, let them see God in you and you look to see God in them. Balance.
The third area for balance is what I call our quest for power and/or money. Look at the last of the three temptations. “Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” (Matthew 4:8-11) Satan told Jesus that He could have it all if He would just bow down and worship Him. If Satan walked up to you and said he would make you a billionaire if you would bow down and worship Him, would you do it? I’m sad to say that far too many Christians would bow for the money. Money and the power it gives is a wonderful thing in the hands of the righteous, but oh it can corrupt, even the righteous. We see power on our jobs, in relationships, in our communities and in our Churches. Some people are what we call “natural born leaders”, but with that come a healthy respect for the use of power. Satan offered Jesus the world, He could have it all. All He had to do was just bow down and worship him. Satan did not understand what Jesus already knew – it was already His. Jesus had the power because His Father had the power and there was nothing that Satan could give Him that wouldn’t eventually be His anyway! You see, sometimes we sell out to promises that have already been fulfilled in our lives. Surely Satan could have given Jesus those kingdoms – but when Jesus left this earth those kingdoms would remain. He could not take them with Him. However, as soon as He bowed down to Satan, He would lose everything He already had and what was going to be His – each and every one of us! Power and riches were not important to Jesus and for us to be in balance, we cannot be motivated by the power and riches that we may obtain. Remember the Paul saying he have learned that whatever he was in life he had learned to be content. Balance.
I want to share this true story with you that was told by Carla Powell. “A Money magazine article several years ago told of the life of a woman who saved 80% of everything she earned. She invested it all in the stock market and turned it into a $22 million fortune within 50 years. This would appear to be a true success story. As you read the article you begin to wonder whether her sacrifice was worth it to make her money. She made the money legally and with hard work, but in the process of building her fortune, she alienated her family and made no friends. She walked to work to save the cost of bus fare. She wore clothes for years until they were tattered and worn. She limited herself to spending a few dollars a week on groceries. In the middle of all of this thrift though, she never bothered to invest in any relationship. She died without a single friend. In the last five years of her life, she did not receive a personal phone call. Her broker said, “A big day for her was walking down to the Merrill Lynch vault near Wall Street to visit her stock certificates.” Though her financial portfolio sounds successful, this story is a tragic illustration of a life driven astray by a misguided set of priorities.” Ecclesiastes chapter two talks about the vanity of laboring and building wealth only to leave it behind for someone else who might not manage it as you did in your life. This woman forsook all relationships for wealth, none of which she took with her when she died. This is what Satan was offering Jesus – all the wealth that He could have on earth if He would make the ultimate sacrifice.
I had a dream back in 2003 where I was in a situation where I could choose to sin. You know those dreams where the sin is hard to walk away from. In the dream, as I was trying to decide the total impact of if I gave in to the sin “just this once” I heard God say, “Rodney, Satan can give you everything that you want if you choose to serve him.” Then I woke up. As I thought about the dream I was forced to ask myself if there were things in my heart that I held secretly that I wish I could have if I had chosen a different lifestyle. That is when the Spirit told me that I need to get my life back in balance. I had a good job and was experiencing success. I had opportunities coming towards me that if I had taken any of them I would have had to walk away from this Church that I had just started. I could have gained a lot more in this life but what I would have lost would have been much greater. I want to encourage you that if you are already in balance in these three areas maintain it! If you are not in balance in these three areas, please pray and ask God what needs to change in your life.
As I close this morning I want to remind you of something that was a consistent theme in Jesus’ response to Satan’s temptations. As Jesus walked in His ministry, this same theme was evident in everything that He did. For Jesus, serving His Father was most important. He chose not to give in to physical pleasure (in the sense that we do); the need to prove to the world that He was the Son of God; or the need for power or fame. These things were not as important to Him as serving His Father. As I said before, to get into balance, we must be in balance with our relationship with our Father.
When Satan was making his offers, Jesus made choices that were based on truth. His truth was based on the “Word of God” that was within Him. Everything that Satan offered Him, Jesus already understood was His because it was His Father’s. Satan is known as the god of this world, but that is god with a little “g”. With that being a little “g”, he answers to God with the big “G”. So although we call him the god of this world, he is more of a “manager.” Now here is what we need to understand to grasp the reason we need to get in balance; Satan is a manager but we are joint-heirs with Christ by the grace of God of what he manages! God has given us authority, power in this world to defeat Satan so we are ranked higher than him in the food chain. We must understand our place in this world. A lot of the reasons we are not in balance is because we do not understand this truth. Our truth is that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, set apart for service unto our Father. Is this the most important thing in your life? Or is living the most important thing in your life? Our lives are much more than this physical realm in which we live, so much more.
Are you in balance?
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(At this present time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are broadcasting live on Facebook Live at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Please tune in to "New Light Christian Fellowship Church" and like our page if you wish to watch our broadcast and be notified when we go live. If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. We are developing more social media streams so please stand by and we will notify you once those channels are up and running. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
