#179: "It is written"

To combat Satan's seduction, Jesus relied on Scripture rather than some mysterious spiritual power unavailable to us. Jesus waged this struggle as a complete human being, and He used no "special resources" that we don't have.

Matthew 4:1-11

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.’”

Then the devil took Jesus up to Jerusalem, the holy city. He had Jesus stand on the highest part of the house of God. The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. It is written, ‘He has told His angels to look after You. In their hands they will hold You up. Then Your foot will not hit against a stone.’” Jesus said to the devil, “It is written also, ‘You must not tempt the Lord your God.’”

Again the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain. He had Jesus look at all the nations of the world to see how great they were. He said to Jesus, “I will give You all these nations if You will get down at my feet and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to the devil, “Get away, Satan. It is written, ‘You must worship the Lord your God. You must obey Him only.’” 11 Then the devil went away from Jesus. Angels came and cared for Him.

We effectively resist temptation in the same way Jesus did: by countering Satan’s seductive lies by shining the light of God’s truth upon them. If we are ignorant of God’s truth, we are poorly armed in the fight against temptation.

In the face of sicknesses, it is written “by His stripes, we are healed (Isaiah 53:5)”; financial challenges, it is written “God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him (Psalms 67:7)”; storms of life, it is written, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5)”.

We can’t wage war without being fully equipped with the word of God. This is therefore a wake-up call for us to arm ourselves with the word of God so that we can be more than conquerors.




Comments

  1. No war can be waged without proper kit!

    God bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank God for His Word. A very potent attack mechanism in fighting temptation

    ReplyDelete

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