October 01 2024

Tuesday October 01

Our Resources for Temptations

Luke 4:1-4

1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' ".

I will never forget as a nineteen-year-old teenager struggling under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and making the excuse that why should I become a Christian if I can’t live the life that God demands that I should live in the Bible. The devil was deceiving me into thinking that the temptations for me as a teenager would be more than I could handle. For sure, shortly after I trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior, I was very concerned and fearful about facing all those youthful temptations.

But the next week after my salvation, on a Sunday night service at Landmark Baptist Temple in Cincinnati Ohio I heard a message where the pastor gave a verse from 1 Corinthians 10 that jumped out at me and gave me the assurance that I would be able to deal with any temptation that came my way. The verse was 1 Corinthians 10:13 (KJV), “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

This is the first verse that I say that I memorized, but honestly, I don’t recall even memorizing it because I so desperately needed this verse that it immediately stuck in my mind and heart, and I never forgot it. God will never allow any temptation or trial to come my way that I cannot bear or deal with because He is faithful, and He knows what I can or cannot handle. And God will make a way for me to resist the temptation. This verse gave me the assurance that I needed to begin my spiritual journey without the fear of failure, and faith to trust the Lord for whatever the devil attacked me with!

Here in Luke 4, as we study the temptation of Jesus by the devil, we find that God has also made available to us all the resources we need to overcome any temptation. We have at our disposal the same spiritual resources that Jesus used when He faced and defeated Satan. Remember Luke points out just before Jesus is tempted that at His baptism Jesus was praying (Luke 3:21). Prayer is a mighty weapon that we have been given in dealing with Satan. (2 Corinthians 10:4-6).

Jesus was assured of the Father’s love in Luke 3:22 when the Voice came out of heaven at His baptism saying, “You are my beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.” You and I have been given the assurance over and over again from the Scriptures that our heavenly Father loves us unconditionally. I could give many verses but here are several that comes to mind immediately: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1). And of course, John 3:16 is always a reminder that the love of God is so great that He sent His Son to die on a cross for us. Romans 5:8 tells us that God manifest and showed us His love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!

Jesus was fasting! Along with prayer, fasting is a neglected spiritual discipline that displaces the distractions of food and other things for a period of time so that we might focus fully on God’s grace and strength. This also allows us to tap into the amazing power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1) to guide us and lead us in “paths of righteousness”. And to give us courage to face whatever the devil might throw at us.

Jesus said, “It is written” and quoted the Word of God! We have been promised that God’s Word gives us the wisdom to discern what the Lord desires for us versus what Satan is tempting us with. I love 1 John 2:14; “...I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.” God’s Word strengthens our faith to stand (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Finally, we also have the resource of the Lord Jesus in heaven interceding for us! “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). And remember Jesus is the ultimate overcomer! “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

You can be an overcomer every day in Jesus too!

God bless!