"Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the
Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate
nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry." - Luke 4:1-2
On October 4, 2003, police raided Antoine Yates' seven-room apartment in Harlem,
New York. To their amazement there was a 425-pound tiger and a 5 and half-foot
alligator in the apartment. Yates had kept Ming the tiger and Al the alligator
in his apartment for years, raising them as pets. But soon Yates' mother became
terrified and moved to a suburb of Philadelphia.
As Ming grew, Yates, increasingly hard pressed to control the tiger, apparently
decamped too, to a nearby apartment. He continued to feed the tiger by throwing
raw chicken through a door opened just enough to keep a paw the size of a plate
from swiping through, neighbors said.
The animals were brought to an animal sanctuary and will eventually be placed in
a zoo. Yates was arraigned in court on charges of endangerment and possession of
a wild animal.
Limping, caused by a tiger bite to his leg, and with his arm in a sling,
resulting from when the tiger had knocked him down, Yates continued to profess
his love for Ming. Outside the courtroom Yates commented to the reporters, "I
never feared him at all. He was like my brother. He was my best friend. He's my
only friend, really."
Sin is a temptress. It appears to be our friend at first, but in the end it can
cause death. However, Christ was tempted in all things and did not sin. And
through His power, we too can overcome temptation. Today in prayer, thank Christ
that He was tempted and overcame sin and seek Him to overcome temptation in your
life.
"Every temptation that comes to me is packaged as a good." - Eugene Peterson
God's Word: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in
the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings." - 1 Peter 5:8-9
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2003, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN LUKE
pkennedy@devotional.com
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