40 Day Devotion, Day 3

TabletalkReader     February 14, 2018 in Religion 85 Subscribers Subscribe


461 Views
2 Stars
0 E-mailed
448 Visits
0 Comments
1 Bookmarks

Preparation: Luke 4:1-13

Strong Against Temptation
I can resist anything except temptation.
- Oscar Wilde
Most people would like to be delivered from temptation, but would like to keep in touch.
- Robert Orben
Temptation rarely comes in working hours. It is in their leisure hours that men are made or marred.
- N. M. Taylor
Does temptation ever bother you? Come on! Can I get a witness here?! Temptation is an act that looks appealing. It allures, excites and seduces. In the advertising world, it is a technique or strategy that makes everything look more attractive. There seems to be a conspiracy in the temptations that bombard us daily.
As we strive to be more like Jesus Christ in our daily lives, understand this: “We do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin,” (Hebrews 4:15). Here’s the point: temptation, in itself, is not sin. It is the yielding to it where sin enters.
How did Jesus handle temptation? Walk with me in the wilderness with Jesus. He was led there by the Holy Spirit and was full of the Holy Spirit. It is interesting that it was for 40 days that Jesus was tempted and fasting. Forty in the Bible is the number for testing:
• During the flood, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:14)
• Moses was on the mountain with God for 40 days (Exodus 24:18)
• The spies searched out the Promised Land for 40 days (Numbers 13:25)
• The nation of Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years (Numbers 14:34)
• Elijah ran from Jezebel for 40 days and 40 nights (1 Kings 19:8)
Do you get the picture? Forty days Satan tempted. Forty days Jesus fasted. There are times in my life when I can’t go 40 minutes without eating something. Jesus was hungry and there was no Chick-Fil-A, McDonald’s or Burger King anywhere.
Physically, Jesus was absolutely drained. Satan seized the opportunity and attacked in His weakest moment. He said, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” The “if” here is not an expression of doubt. Satan knew Jesus before he was kicked out of Heaven. But the devil likes to exploit us, so he needled Jesus, hoping He would slip up.
It would not be wrong for Jesus to perform such a miracle, but Jesus countered with an Old Testament quote from Deuteronomy 8:3. The satisfying of the physical needs are secondary to drawing strength from the Word of God.
Satan then switched schemes, showing Jesus what He could have if only He would worship him. Jesus did not dispute Satan about owning the world, but He cut to the chase again, quoting from Deuteronomy 6:13, “Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name.” Satan’s ploy was to entice Jesus to divert His mission, to take a short cut. In essence Satan was saying: “You don’t needto suffer the cross to obtain world dominion. Just worship me and it will all be yours!”
World dominion was in Jesus’ future plans, but He had other business to attend to tirst. This passage just blows me away. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning the shame, and set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” As much as the cross was for us, so also was the temptation of Christ and His response to Satan.
Twice defeated by Jesus quoting Old Testament passages, Satan tried his own hand at using Scripture. He quoted Psalm 91:11-12, “For He will command His Angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Satan did not misquote, but did misapply, the passage.
The primary interpretation and application is to the Believer, not the Messiah. Satan challenged Jesus to prove who He was once and for all. Jesus responded again from the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 6:16, “Do not test the Lord your God as you didat Massah.” At Massah, the people of Israel had quarreled and rebelled. Exodus 17:7 records how they questioned God, saying “Is the Lord among us?”
Jesus’ response to Satan was straight forward: “I am God so back off!” (my personal paraphrase). And Satan did back off , but only for a little while.
ANSWER THE CALL: DAY 3 Strong Against Temptation
Facts about temptation:
• Comes in our weaknesses
• Can come when we are filled with the Holy Spirit
• Can come when we are fulfilling God’s will
• Satan knows where totempt us
• The most powerful are those that involve good things
How to overcome temptation:
• Be filled with the Holy Spirit, meaning we must remove anything and everything that would hinder the Holy Spirit’s work within us
• Know your Bible and commit it to memory
• Don’t focus on the temptation, but the avoidance of it. If we focus on the problem, the problem grows. If we focus on the solution, the solution grows.
(To continue reading, go to my comment below.)

...Read More

To comment, this group.

Sign in to make a video comment.