| Genesis 5-7; Matthew 3:7-4:11; Psalm 3:1-8; Proverbs 1:10-19
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him 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 shall give His angels charge over you. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’
Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly 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 will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” (Matthew 4:1-11)
Everyone will go through a season of testing, and it will usually come at your weakest moment. Will we stand or will we crumble? Our success has a lot, excuse me, it has everything to do with the intimate level of fellowship we have with the Lord and how well we know His Word.
In the first temptation Satan thought he had Jesus with the food thing. I love how it says “after 40 days and nights He was hungry.” Ha, I always thought that was funny because I’m usually hungry after 40 minutes of a declared fast, you feel me. Anyway, Jesus had the revelation that God’s Word is more important and more life giving than physical food. If you have the Word stored in your heart you can make it through anything. Things of this world will never be able to solve a spiritual problem.
Job said it like this: “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me, I will come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; His way have I kept, and not turned aside. I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured up the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:10-12) Anybody out there think that Job might know what he’s talking about? Job, like Jesus, gave us the key to his survival and sanity. Even though he couldn’t “feel” God and didn’t understand why he was going through his trial he clung to God, continuing to seek Him and held fast to His Word. God’s Word is our spiritual food.
The next thing Satan hit on was to try and make Jesus force God’s hand. We never force God’s hand. Go ahead and jump off a cliff and tell God to catch you if He loves you. Splat. God loves you and He doesn’t have to be put on the spot to show it. This is God’s world, not ours. We fit into His sovereign plan; He doesn’t bend to fit ours. Again, Jesus used the Word and Satan did not dispute it. The Word is the only thing that will block Satan.
The last thing Satan did was to tempt Jesus with control and power. We must know that everything belongs to our Daddy. Don’t be deceived, Satan cannot give us what is already ours. Besides anything the devil gives you always has a string attached. If you’re into being a puppet then you do you. I’d rather be a free man in Christ and get my goods later. Jesus threw that Word on Him one last time. The oppression broke because Jesus stood His ground through the Word. The Father sent angels to minister to Him and He will do the same for us as well.
PRAYER:
Lord, help me to stand fast when I am going through times of trials and temptation. I pray to have Your Word buried deep within my spirit so the Holy Ghost can bring it up when I need it. I love You Lord and I will stand for Your glory. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. |
