Man vs. Wild

You've probably heard or seen the show where a gentlemen documents his survival techniques in remote places of the world. Living off the land and surviving the elements with only a back pack of common belongings. He making his own shelters, eats whatever he can find (snakes, insects, plant-life), conquering anything from rivers to mountain tops and deserts.

If you're like me, you'd say things like: "I would never do that." What we mean is: "IF we were given the choice to do those thing OR stay at home in our warm beds, have a nice home cooked meal with regular food; I would choose to never do that." BUT... if we weren't give the choice and found ourselves as a survivor of a plane that crashed in a romote place and for the sake of living... there's no doubt that we would do whatever we could to make it out!"


This is important for us to look at because all of us... being hu-MAN will face mountain tops and valleys in life. We have a tendancy to love the mountain tops of life, but not willing to endure the valley's to get there. I have found that the majority of the growth in my life and most significant moments that shaped me were in the times I was willing to go through the desert.

Things We Must Understand About the Desert


1. No One Is Exempt From The Desert (testing and temptations) - Jesus was the Son of God, yet fully man, living in and battling in the confines of human flesh.

2. Often Our Desert Comes After Great Moments - Jesus just experienced the heaven’s open up, the Holy Spirit descend upon Him, and the audible voice of God speaking words of acceptance. That's a great day! You are praised at home by your wife, your kids are listening to you, your boss at work gives you a raise, traffic seems to part aside like the Red Sea... GET READY... there's a desert coming!


3. Often While In The Desert, it Seems As If The Heavens are Silent - There's no angels present, voice of God, no warm fuzzy feelings... and the questions about God or His 'goodness' aren't as solid as you thought. Your prayer is: God... are YOU there? Why have YOU? How could YOU let this happen?

4. When God Leads Us To The Desert It Is To Prepare Us For A Breakthrough - If y our dreams, goals or prayers have been to fulfill the the potential for life... you must go through the desert to get there. Your desert is the prelude to your breakthrough.

SATAN DOESN’T WANT YOU TO RECEIVE YOUR BREAKTHROUGH, HE WANTS YOU TO BREAKDOWN.

Things I Battle When I'm in the Desert

• Are we really certain that we are loved and accepted by God? – identity
• Are we willing to be led to a wilderness before our desired greatness?
• Are we preparing ourselves spiritually by bringing our life/flesh in submission to our spirit?
• How do we think and respond when it seems that God is silent?
• Are we able to be at peace in God’s will even if we find ourselves alone?

On Sunday we are looking at the drastic shift from Jesus' public and heavenly applause during His baptism and the immediate leading of the Holy Spirit out into the desert for a 40 day fast and being tempted by Satan. (Matthew 4:1-11) I call this MAN vs WILD.