My Dear Friends in the Faith:
It's been called the greatest fight of all time. It was Oct. 30, 1974. Soul Train was on television and Don Cornelius had everybody giving the same benediction, "Peace and Soul." It was the soulful 70's. Afros were at their peaks, platform shoes and black light garage parties were in on the social scene and everyone was dancing to P-funk! It was October 30, 1974 in the country of Zaire which today is called the Democratic Republic of the Congo that these two titans met for the greatest fight of the century. The battle was promoted by Don King, which at that time had no money but promised to pay each fighter five million dollars. The fight featured the reigning heavy weight champion of the world George Foreman against Muhammad Ali! It was such a battle that its name still rings around the world as the rumble in the jungle!
As I share this devotional moment with you today I realize that real Christians see a jungle everyday and if we were to be really honest about it you do not have to be any where near the Republic of the Congo to have a rumble in your jungle too! Let's be real about it, all of us have issues that we must deal with in the jungle. And my devotional question for you today is this, "what is it that makes your jungle rumble?" Perhaps it's worry. It may even be stress. It could be problems in your family. Maybe it is a recent illness in your body that you cannot talk about because you are the pillar of the family that everyone always leans on. It could be financial woes that cause bill collectors to ring your phone all hours of the day. It may be job problems, fake friends, real enemies, relationships that just collapsed or mountains that you cannot seem to move. It could be one of your children. Nothing can make your jungle rumble like they can. Whatever the case, there is good news for those who have a rumble in their jungle, God has given you the truth of His Word and His Word gives us victory in every jungle in spite of the rumble!
After Jesus had been baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist, and sealed with the Holy Ghost like a dove that appeared from the sky He is led away into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It is the Bible's version of the rumble in the jungle. Here is how the score card reads:
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 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. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him (St. Matthew 4:1-11, KJV).
Jesus comes out of the jungle victorious. And the thing that gave Him victory is what causes us to have victory too. So what must we have in order to win our rumble in the jungle? The passage gives us three keys to victory!
The first key to victory is simple, stick to the fight plan. For those of you who are unaware of it the devil throws punches! One of his all time favorites that get believers to fall every time is the sucker punch of doubt. The enemy has a tendency to make believers think that God will not take care of them, so they have to take care of themselves because God will not do it. Hear this; don't fall for this sucker punch! God will take care of you. The first temptation that confronts Jesus is human hunger after fasting 40 days. And the enemy says to Jesus "why don't you make these stones bread" (paraphrase). But, Jesus declines His offer to take care of Himself because He knew that His Father would take of that. And, notice the counter punch of our Master here, "It is written..." In other words Jesus says to the devil my meal does not come from me but the one who takes care of me every day! What proof do you have that God will take care of you? If He did it then He will do it again! Don't doubt God just trust Him.
Secondly, if you are going to win your fight you have to listen to your corner. When the bell rings and the round ends a fighter goes to his corner. And, let be the one to tell you the best news in town. You have a corner out of this world! You have the Father as your coach, the Son is your trainer and He's giving you the instructions, the Holy Ghost is aiding you by closing some of your cuts from the punches that you have taken, and you have the angelic hosts supporting you in the battle. The second temptation hits Jesus and the enemy takes Him to the high place in the temple overlooking the Holy city and says "if you are really the son of God go ahead and cast yourself down. For it is written that he will give His angels charge concerning thee lest thou cast thy foot against the stone" (paraphrase). Hear this saints, be careful where you get your promotion from. Human pride will make you think that you are more than what you really are and without God we are nothing. Jesus counters again with a powerful right from the Word when He says, "It is written..." In other words, my promotion will not come from you. The one I seek comes from above and not from beneath. Have you lived long enough to know that God will promote you in His own season? Trust God to lift you and He will!
And lastly if you are going to possess victory in your battle you have to know how to skillfully finish the fight! A skilled fighter does not just know how to start a fight. But, they know how to finish one too! If you have the enemy reeling and rocking it is not time for a coffee break you have to know how to take him out! Jesus has Satan looking bad and He is about to finish him off. In the last temptation the enemy takes Him to a high mountain and says to the Lord "I will give you all of this if you just bow down and worship me" (paraphrase). And Jesus delivers a knockout blow. He set him up with a jab after the first temptation by saying......it is written! He hit him with an upper-cut during the second temptation by saying......it is written! But this is an overhand right that came from the locker room. This temptation has to do with the pride of life and who you worship! The enemy offers us the things of the world. But, the Lord offers us Him and that is something that the world cannot offer! I found it very interesting that the tempter came at Jesus when he knew that He was hungry. But, he left Jesus when he knew that he was full. What makes Him full? Jesus knows who He will worship! Here's the knockout blow........ it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve! In short Jesus says, "Get out of my face! If I cannot do anything I am going to worship" (paraphrase)! Have you made your decision yet? Have you decided that you will only serve the Lord? If so, your battle has been fought and your victory has already been won!
It was the greatest fight of all time. Ali was supposed to lose but someone forgot to tell him that. Foreman was bigger, stronger and reigning champion of the world. But, Ali had a fight plan that he developed in the ring. It was called the rope-a-dope. You see, Ali would lie against the ropes and take as many punches as Foreman could throw. And then he would release a fury of his own punches. Before long Foreman was down for the count and Ali was champion again. Likewise, Christians have a fight strategy too! After you have taken enough blows from the enemy you should throw some punches of your own! Hit the devil with trust in the Lord, sock him with forgiveness of those who have hurt you, jab him with thanksgiving every chance that you get, shoot him with a body blow of prayer and an upper-cut of fasting! Throw a fury of punches to his face of the truths that come from the scriptures. Bloody his nose and blacken his eye with the fact the tomb is empty and the cross is vacant. And when you are ready to put him on his back hit him in the face with an overhand right of worship! In fact, you should throw a few punches right now!!! Yes, you may have a rumble in your jungle, but you have victory based on the Lord's Word! Remember this, "it is written..."!!! Praise the Lord!!!
Your Friend and His Servant,
Dr. John R. Adolph, Pastor
It's been called the greatest fight of all time. It was Oct. 30, 1974. Soul Train was on television and Don Cornelius had everybody giving the same benediction, "Peace and Soul." It was the soulful 70's. Afros were at their peaks, platform shoes and black light garage parties were in on the social scene and everyone was dancing to P-funk! It was October 30, 1974 in the country of Zaire which today is called the Democratic Republic of the Congo that these two titans met for the greatest fight of the century. The battle was promoted by Don King, which at that time had no money but promised to pay each fighter five million dollars. The fight featured the reigning heavy weight champion of the world George Foreman against Muhammad Ali! It was such a battle that its name still rings around the world as the rumble in the jungle!
As I share this devotional moment with you today I realize that real Christians see a jungle everyday and if we were to be really honest about it you do not have to be any where near the Republic of the Congo to have a rumble in your jungle too! Let's be real about it, all of us have issues that we must deal with in the jungle. And my devotional question for you today is this, "what is it that makes your jungle rumble?" Perhaps it's worry. It may even be stress. It could be problems in your family. Maybe it is a recent illness in your body that you cannot talk about because you are the pillar of the family that everyone always leans on. It could be financial woes that cause bill collectors to ring your phone all hours of the day. It may be job problems, fake friends, real enemies, relationships that just collapsed or mountains that you cannot seem to move. It could be one of your children. Nothing can make your jungle rumble like they can. Whatever the case, there is good news for those who have a rumble in their jungle, God has given you the truth of His Word and His Word gives us victory in every jungle in spite of the rumble!
After Jesus had been baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist, and sealed with the Holy Ghost like a dove that appeared from the sky He is led away into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. It is the Bible's version of the rumble in the jungle. Here is how the score card reads:
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 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. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him (St. Matthew 4:1-11, KJV).
Jesus comes out of the jungle victorious. And the thing that gave Him victory is what causes us to have victory too. So what must we have in order to win our rumble in the jungle? The passage gives us three keys to victory!
The first key to victory is simple, stick to the fight plan. For those of you who are unaware of it the devil throws punches! One of his all time favorites that get believers to fall every time is the sucker punch of doubt. The enemy has a tendency to make believers think that God will not take care of them, so they have to take care of themselves because God will not do it. Hear this; don't fall for this sucker punch! God will take care of you. The first temptation that confronts Jesus is human hunger after fasting 40 days. And the enemy says to Jesus "why don't you make these stones bread" (paraphrase). But, Jesus declines His offer to take care of Himself because He knew that His Father would take of that. And, notice the counter punch of our Master here, "It is written..." In other words Jesus says to the devil my meal does not come from me but the one who takes care of me every day! What proof do you have that God will take care of you? If He did it then He will do it again! Don't doubt God just trust Him.
Secondly, if you are going to win your fight you have to listen to your corner. When the bell rings and the round ends a fighter goes to his corner. And, let be the one to tell you the best news in town. You have a corner out of this world! You have the Father as your coach, the Son is your trainer and He's giving you the instructions, the Holy Ghost is aiding you by closing some of your cuts from the punches that you have taken, and you have the angelic hosts supporting you in the battle. The second temptation hits Jesus and the enemy takes Him to the high place in the temple overlooking the Holy city and says "if you are really the son of God go ahead and cast yourself down. For it is written that he will give His angels charge concerning thee lest thou cast thy foot against the stone" (paraphrase). Hear this saints, be careful where you get your promotion from. Human pride will make you think that you are more than what you really are and without God we are nothing. Jesus counters again with a powerful right from the Word when He says, "It is written..." In other words, my promotion will not come from you. The one I seek comes from above and not from beneath. Have you lived long enough to know that God will promote you in His own season? Trust God to lift you and He will!
And lastly if you are going to possess victory in your battle you have to know how to skillfully finish the fight! A skilled fighter does not just know how to start a fight. But, they know how to finish one too! If you have the enemy reeling and rocking it is not time for a coffee break you have to know how to take him out! Jesus has Satan looking bad and He is about to finish him off. In the last temptation the enemy takes Him to a high mountain and says to the Lord "I will give you all of this if you just bow down and worship me" (paraphrase). And Jesus delivers a knockout blow. He set him up with a jab after the first temptation by saying......it is written! He hit him with an upper-cut during the second temptation by saying......it is written! But this is an overhand right that came from the locker room. This temptation has to do with the pride of life and who you worship! The enemy offers us the things of the world. But, the Lord offers us Him and that is something that the world cannot offer! I found it very interesting that the tempter came at Jesus when he knew that He was hungry. But, he left Jesus when he knew that he was full. What makes Him full? Jesus knows who He will worship! Here's the knockout blow........ it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve! In short Jesus says, "Get out of my face! If I cannot do anything I am going to worship" (paraphrase)! Have you made your decision yet? Have you decided that you will only serve the Lord? If so, your battle has been fought and your victory has already been won!
It was the greatest fight of all time. Ali was supposed to lose but someone forgot to tell him that. Foreman was bigger, stronger and reigning champion of the world. But, Ali had a fight plan that he developed in the ring. It was called the rope-a-dope. You see, Ali would lie against the ropes and take as many punches as Foreman could throw. And then he would release a fury of his own punches. Before long Foreman was down for the count and Ali was champion again. Likewise, Christians have a fight strategy too! After you have taken enough blows from the enemy you should throw some punches of your own! Hit the devil with trust in the Lord, sock him with forgiveness of those who have hurt you, jab him with thanksgiving every chance that you get, shoot him with a body blow of prayer and an upper-cut of fasting! Throw a fury of punches to his face of the truths that come from the scriptures. Bloody his nose and blacken his eye with the fact the tomb is empty and the cross is vacant. And when you are ready to put him on his back hit him in the face with an overhand right of worship! In fact, you should throw a few punches right now!!! Yes, you may have a rumble in your jungle, but you have victory based on the Lord's Word! Remember this, "it is written..."!!! Praise the Lord!!!
Your Friend and His Servant,
Dr. John R. Adolph, Pastor
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