12/27/07

Matthew 4: 1-11(NIV)  Words of Jesus written in red.

(1)  Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. (2) After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  (3) The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  (4) Jesus answered, “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  (5) Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple.  (6) “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down.  For it is written: “’ He will command His angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ “(7) Jesus answered him, “It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”  (8) Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. (9) “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”  (10) Jesus said to him, “Away from me Satan!  For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ “(11) Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.

That passage was so powerful.  Even as I write this I can feel the presence of the Lord in here.  But I must admit It did take me a long time to post this.  I have that problem with obedience and I know that obedience is better than sacrifice. So here goes:

If Jesus was tempted in the desert after fasting for forty days and forty nights, what makes you think the enemy will not try to tempt you?  What makes you anymore special than the rest of us?  At some point in our lives we have been or will be tempted.  Some of us are going through temptation right now!  Whether it’s a lust issue, gambling, etc, we are either going through or coming out of our trial.  1^st Corinthians 10:13 states that God is faithful enough to not let us be tempted enough beyond what we can bear.  When we are tempted, He always provides a means of escape and in the end He will get the glory out of it all. Hallelujah!  God would never put more on us than we can bear.  So when we go through it, just know we are going to come out of it.  God allowed it and also made a way for us to escape it.  Praise the Lord!!!!  Glory to your name, God!!!  What God is showing us in this passage is that no matter what Satan throws our way, we need to be like His Son Jesus and say, “Away from me, Satan.”  Let’s continue to give God all the praise in the midst of the enemy’s temptations.

Prayer:

Lord God, thank you for providing a means of escape when we are being tempted by the enemy.  Father, we thank you for not putting more on us than we can bear.  Lord we ask that you give us the strength to resist Satan like You gave Jesus on the mountain.  In Jesus’ holy and precious name,   Amen!

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