Matthew 4:1-4 - Jesus was led by the Holy
Spirit to a desert. There He was tempted by the devil. Jesus went without food for forty days and forty
nights. After that He was hungry. The
devil came tempting Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones
to be made into bread.” But Jesus
said, “It is written, ‘Man is not to live on bread only.
Man is to live by every word that God speaks.’”
After Jesus was baptized he was led into the
wilderness by the Holy Spirit. We are
told only that it lasted for 40 days and nights and that he fasted food and
water during his time there. It must have been a very intense time for Christ...as
he spent so much time alone. When he left this time of fasting and reflection
he would start his short ministry that would end with the greatest sacrifice
ever made for man’s future.
The three temptations of Jesus were picked
by satan carefully. He tested his
character three times with three things that Jesus would have struggled
with. His need for physical food was great
after his 40 days fasting….what kind of power Jesus held on earth was a
constant misunderstanding with all that would follow Jesus…and the wrong kind
of pride could have changed the timing of when Jesus took obedience to the
ultimate level in obedience on the cross.
I am reminded that temptation is a part of
God’s great plan. He uses it to
strengthen our faith…confirm the power he gave each of us in the Holy Spirit….and
give us all an opportunity to be obedient to what he has called each of us to
do. All we need is a library of Bible scriptures planted firmly in our heads….so
that when satan comes with his lies…we know the scripture better than he does. Each
of the lies satan tried to convince Jesus with were based on some scripture….but
Jesus knew the scripture so well that he blasted satan right back with the
truth in each one.
I admit that even though I read my Bible
daily…and write about some scripture each day…I have a long way to go before I
know the Bible as well as Jesus. I think
of phrase...and because God has allowed
such great technology in the internet…I am able to find a reference and use it
in my writing. Oh how I am reminded that I need to bury more of the whole word
in my heart like David says in the Psalms.
Father….thank you for the reminder that your
word of truth is all that I need to fight against any lie that satan tries to
use against my faith. Forgive me for not knowing your word nearly enough….but
thank you for making an allowance for my weakness in the internet so that I can
use it anyway. Help me to find a way to begin to memorize more of your word…so
that when I am not around the tools of technology I still have scripture to
fight satan off with. Amen.
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