For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone. James 1:13
When we are tempted to disobey GOD, we follow JESUS;
His weapon of resistance to Satan’s enticements are as powerful today as they
were in Matthew 4:1-11.
Our defense is still the divine power of GOD’s WORD.
The weapons we fight
with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power
to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4
Our enemy's attacks against us continue
to focus on the three areas where human beings have been the most vulnerable since the
Garden of Eden – unbelief, vanity, and worldly ambition.
Temptation to self-gratification and self-confidence.
The devil having failed to tempt JESUS to go doubt the
Father’s power by turning stones into bread to escape His appointed suffering,
next tries to entice JESUS into using that same righteous belief in the Father’s
protection for a vain and egocentric performance.
Then the devil took
him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “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. Matthew 4:5-6
But JESUS did not waver in His belief that He would be
sustained in the desert where He had been summoned by His Father for a specific
purpose and refused to place Himself in danger – and His entire ministry. Again
JESUS defeats Satan by the divine power of GOD’s WORD:
“It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord
your God to the test.’” Matthew 4:7
We too must stick to the script GOD assigned to us and not allow
ourselves to be swayed by the sin of self-gratification. Nothing we “do for GOD”
out of a carnal desire can be useful to the Kingdom.
As long as we follow where GOD leads, He will support and
preserve us in our assigned duty, whatever the danger or difficulty we may face. If we “test GOD” in matters to which we are not clearly called, He will
not give His support.
Recognizing that even JESUS can do nothing that the Father has
not sanctioned (“whatever the Father does
the Son also does. John 5:19), we
must be ever watchful that we do not put
the Lord our God to the test and abuse His grace.
We must believe that GOD’s sovereignty, wisdom and
omniscience are absolute; that GOD is GOD all by Himself; that His plan for us
is perfect, even when it’s painful!
Remember, it is better
to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing
wrong! 1 Peter 3:17
We must believe that no plan of the Father’s will destroy His chosen people but
will have a good and prosperous outcome for us. (Jeremiah 29:11)
We must believe that our Heavenly Father knows best!
“As the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts
than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
Prayer and Thanksgiving: Our good and faithful Father in Heaven, we thank
YOU once again for JESUS CHRIST, our HIGH PRIEST who is able to sympathize with
our weakness since He too has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without
sin. Thank YOU Father for the sword of the Spirit, the WORD of GOD and its
divine power against the enemy. Forgive us and cleanse us, LORD, from vanity
and self-confidence that cause us to act on our own carnal desires and claim it
for YOUR NAME. Thank YOU, JESUS, for
YOUR faithful example of how to truly honor and obey our Father’s will. We pray this in His NAME that is above every NAME, JESUS CHRIST our LORD. Amen!
Always by God’s Word and prayer,
Cecile
No comments:
Post a Comment