The ‘sonship’ of Jesus is tested. The true enemy is revealed as the devil who lies and tempts; three times seeking to lure Jesus to act independently of his Father. The temptations are plausible, attractive and logical; there are echoes of Israel’s forty-year wandering in the wilderness all the while grumbling for bread, flirting with idolatry, and putting God continually to the test. But where Israel failed, Jesus will succeed; he remains true to God the Father by holding to his word.
• In what ways are you acting independently of God?
• What temptations are most common to you?
• What helps you to resist?
• Have you learnt to distinguish the attractive lies of the devil from the voice of God?
It never ceases to amaze me that there is such power in declaring the truth of God's Word - that we can disarm the devil's lies with the truth of Scripture. I am challenged again by the simple fact that unless we store scripture in our hearts and know how to use it, then our fight against temptation will be fruitless.
ReplyDeleteLast night we were looking at James 4 about being humble, and "resist the devil and he will flee from you" and we came back to Luke 4, being immersed in God's word and also spending time just to BE with God, not witha shopping list, rather to listen for His voice His kingdom come.
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