stalker

In a previous post, I said: 

The devil seeks to capitalize on our vulnerabilities as fleshly human beings. He adds temptations on top of our natural vulnerabilities to sin. He kicks us when we’re down. He seeks out the vulnerabilities of people, just like any predator would do. The devil sucks! 

Humble Confidence 

In competitive sports, I love it when I feel like we have the upper hand on the opponent; when we know their weaknesses and feel confident, we can exploit their weaknesses. It’s also a thrill when we feel confident in our ability to execute and gain victory.  The confidence feels good but beware; arrogant confidence can lead to a humbling downfall. 

This study of the temptation of Jesus has renewed my (humble) confidence in my battle with my flesh and with the devil. …for we are not ignorant of the schemes of the devil. 2 Corinthians 2.11b.  

Are you feeling more prepared yet? 

What have we learned so far? What are the schemes of the devil? 

• The devil targets our weaknesses in the areas of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. 
• He tends to focus on our most vulnerable areas of temptation 
• He prompts us and speaks to us (not literary) with added enticements to give in to the fleshly, prideful temptation. The battle begins in the mind! 
• He sometimes (mis)quotes scripture, as He did with Jesus, (Luke 4.10,11) to lead us astray from the truth. 

This all may sound a little ominous…maybe a little scary. But don’t worry. Have humble confidence. Why? 

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. 

I will strengthen you, surely, I will help you. Surely, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 

 

No Fear! 

We have the power and Sovereign protection of God. When we are in Christ, we cannot and will not lose the war. Additionally, in the day-to-day battles, we have the Word of God as our weapon to counter the temptations and give us victory. This is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, Ephesians 6.17. 

Victory in the Cage Match 

Here in Luke 4.1-13, Jesus revealed exactly how to effectively use the sword of the Spirit.  

When Jesus faced a specific temptation, he didn’t quote a mantra, or say ‘be gone devil’, or self-talk his way out of it. He said, It is written.  

Jesus didn’t quote random Bible verses. He quoted specific verses that countered the specific temptation He was facing. This is an example for us all to follow. 

Game Plan 

What’s our game plan? What’s our game plan that we will follow with humble confidence in order to live in victory?

• Know your specific weaknesses. Write them down. Be honest with yourself. Be specific. 
• Find and memorize Bible verses that specifically counter the temptation. 
• Enlist an accountability partner(s) and share your plan with them and ask for their prayers and encouragement. 
• When tempted, cling to God’s Word and his promises. Discuss with your accountability partner, if possible. 
• If you succeed, stay humble and thank God. If you stumble, acknowledge it to God and embrace His forgiveness. Then, get back up, humbly approach each day, surrendering yourself to God. 

Father, In Jesus’s baptism, we have an example of new life under Your blessings; when we are in Jesus, You are well pleased with us as well. What a joy to soak in Your forgiveness, Your blessings and Your grace. In Jesus’s temptation, we also see that we are in a battle. But we are not alone. Your presence and Your Word gives us a humble confidence that we might honor You in victory. When we momentarily stumble in our battle, we are grateful that we never lose Your forgiveness. Even when we stumble, You hold us and whisper words of love and grace into the ears of hearts. You remind us that in our weaknesses, You are able to show forth Your power. You assure us of Your love and re-energize us to go forth into battle as Your servants. All for Your glory. Amen! 

He became hungry…and the devil said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’ Luke 4.3 

And He led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here…He will command His angels concerning You to guard You. Luke 4.9,10 

I like patterns. My brain thinks in patterns and patterns help me compartmentalize and understand life. Patterns help us learn, process information and make sense of things. 

There is a pattern to the events of Luke chapter 4 where we are devotionally reflecting on the temptation of Jesus. Reflecting on this passage gives us a lot to consider when it comes to Living Scripture Daily. 

The Example 

Jesus came from being baptized, which models what happens to us when we are saved. We are washed clean of our sins; the Holy Spirit comes down and dwells within us and the Father is pleased. These events happened to me at the point of my salvation as a young boy and they happened to you as well if you have received Jesus by faith. 

Now that Jesus has been baptized, he continues His transition into public ministry by first fasting and praying alone in the wilderness. But He’s not really alone:  

The Father is with Him, the Spirit leads Him and the devil tempts Him.  

When it comes to dealing with temptation, it’s all about the depth of our passion and purpose to live a life that honors God; a life of love, submission and obedience.  

In baptism, Jesus modeled for us the beautiful picture of salvation; being completely justified by God and His work in our lives. We are once and for all, forgiven, cleansed and pure in the eyes of God. 

In the example of Jesus’s temptation, He models for us the pattern of living the victorious Christian life for the rest of our time on our earth. He deals with two fierce forces that we also battle as Christians; our natural, human flesh and the schemes of the devil. 

Pattern of 3’s 

Consider the three areas of temptation that we all face, I John 2.15: 

1. The lust of the eyes – what we see 
2. The lust of the flesh – what we feel 
3. The boastful pride of life – what we want

Those three forces have caused many to fall into deep holes of addictions and defeat. These forces have caused patterns of self-destruction that have led to broken lives, broken relationships, broken families and broken communities. 

These three forces will keep us busy for a lifetime in the quest of living the Spirit-filled life. But wait, there’s more… Add to these three forces, the whispers and shouts of the devil that tempt us even further. The schemes of the devil include pouring fuel on the fire of these three fleshly temptations. 

A+ For Jesus: Our Example 

The devil tempted Jesus three times using these three areas of temptation. Here’s what the devil did: 

The lust of the eyes – what we see – And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time… 

The lust of the flesh – what we feel – He became hungry…and the devil said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.’ 

The boastful pride of life – what we want – and He led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here…He will command His angels concerning You to guard You. The temple was a public place. The people would have witnessed the amazing miraculous Messiah. 

Jesus countered the temptations of the flesh by fasting: a spiritual means to gain discipline over our bodies and subdue the flesh.  

Jesus then resisted the temptations of the devil. We’ll look at His method of resisting the devil next time as we conclude this series on the temptation of Jesus. 

Father, we are reminded that we are in a battle. We are in a foreign land for now but our eyes are upon our home in heaven. While we journey through this foreign land as Your ambassadors of peace and mercy and grace, we need to be ready to fight. It’s a tough battle but You have given us humble confidence through your example. Along with your example, You have given us a strong arsenal of weapons to ensure our victory. Thank you that in You, we are more than conquerors, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen! 

And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You’, and ‘on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ 

And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It is said, ‘you shall not put the Lord Your God to the test.’ 

When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time. 

It’s time for Jesus to go into His public time of ministry; to fulfill the mission that He was born to accomplish. Jesus first went public and was baptized. He then was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for a private time of confirmation. The primary purpose of this confirmation was not a time of tranquility and meditation. It was to be tempted by the devil. 

Three Elements of Victory

There are three elements of victory for this 40-day run of the gauntlet:

• Fasting: I wrote of the benefits in my last post
• Walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit 
• The Word of God: and Jesus answered, it is written… 

Temptations follow us everywhere because we live in a body of flesh. Biblically, the word flesh usually refers to our propensity to sin. It’s always a battle. If we have the right mindset, fasting can make us keenly aware of the power of the flesh and drive us to prayer and dependence upon the Spirit. 

In addition to the temptations of the flesh, there is the added temptings of the devil. 

…for we are not ignorant of the schemes of the devil. 2 Corinthians 2.11b 

The devil seeks to capitalize on our vulnerabilities as fleshly human beings. He adds temptations on top of our natural vulnerabilities to sin. He kicks us when we’re down. He seeks out the vulnerabilities of people, just like any predator would do. The devil sucks! 

His schemes using come to us as speaking into our mind. In our text, it’s says all three times, and the devil said… 

Three Areas of Temptation

The devil appeals to the 3 main areas of temptation. Consider I John 2.15: 

1. The lust of the eyes – what we see 
2. The lust of the flesh – what we feel 
3. The boastful pride of life – what we want 

John says that these three temptations are of the world, not from the devil. The schemes of the devil involve tempting us and magnifying these three areas of temptation in our life.  

(There are three areas of temptations. The devil tempted Jesus three times. Is there a connection here? More on this later.)  

The temptation process goes something like this:  

1. our flesh, eyes or pride is tempted  
2. then devil speaks into our minds 
3. we mentally process and consider the temptation 
4. then we make a decision. 

Sin does not occur during the 1-3 steps of the process. Number 4 is the defining moment. Living Scripture Daily comes down to improving our ability to choose wisely at the point of decision. 

Next time, we’ll consider the amazing example Jesus gave us to win and be victorious at the point of decision. As a hint, remember that the devil spoke to Jesus with three temptations and every time Jesus responded with It is written… 

Father, the reality of the devil can be a little scary sometimes. Remind us that You are fully in control and that You will not allow the devil to tempt us beyond what we can endure. Lord, keep us from evil, strengthen our minds, fortify our souls, that we might live a life in You of victory and spiritual success. We are not victims but we do allow ourselves to sometimes be weak and unprepared. May we take up the armor of victory that you have given us and live! You came that we might have life abundant! And by Your grace, we are victorious. Amen! 

As I have mentioned previously, even though Jesus is fully God, He sets aside His right to use all His divine attributes and lives His life within a human body. As such, He grew in stature and wisdom. He went through a physical and mental maturity process similar to other Jewish boys and young men. 

Public to Private 

As He enters public ministry, He goes through the process of being baptized; declaring publicly His surrender to the Father as well as the filling of the Holy Spirit. After being baptized, the Spirit leads Him away from the public eye to the wilderness. Alone with the Spirit and the Father, Jesus enters a 40-day private confirmation process; an ordination as such. Part of the confirmation included extended fasting and prayer along with an unwelcome stalker, the devil. 

Jesus follows the guidance of the Holy Spirit to go into the wilderness to fast and pray. He is running a 40-day gauntlet, of such, into the service of God. He is prayerfully surrendering all to His Father and disciplining His flesh to prepare for the temptations He will face. 

Serenity Now 

It would’ve been nice to just have 40 days of devotional time with the Father. How wonderful it would be. Maybe enjoy a time of extended prayer and meditation to re-energize and rejuvenate the spirit in tranquility and reflection. But Nooooooooo. The stalker shows up and changes the mood from tranquility to temptation. I hate it when he does that…I’m just saying. 

Instead of 40 days of ‘quiet time’ with God, Jesus deals with two fierce forces that he will battle for the balance of his time on earth. These are the same two forces that we deal with as well. 

1. He battles and subdues the temptations of his human flesh, which comes naturally to every one of us who are human.  
2. He battles and subdues the temptations of an external force, the devil. The temptations of our own flesh are bad enough. Insert the added enticing whispers of tempting words from the devil and we have a force to deal with. 

For we do not have a high priest (Jesus) who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4.15 

In the midst of this fiery storm of temptation, let’s add a 40 day fast! 

Fasting

Have you ever fasted? I recently fasted 48 hours. It was more for general health reasons but the spiritual boost is certainly part of it as well. When fasting, it’s hard to avoid thinking about hunger. So, let’s turn the hunger pangs into something good.  Let’s use the hunger pangs as reminders. We will increase our communication with God significantly if we allow our hunger pangs to remind us of God. You stomach may feel empty but your soul will be full. Abstaining from food can become a spiritual banquet. Your fast from food can be a feast of Spiritual joy. 

Fasting can also remind us how much our flesh drives our thoughts and behaviors. When I say ‘flesh’ I mean both our physical bodies as well as our sin nature. When we feel the hunger pangs, we can also be reminded of how strong our fleshly desires really are. Allow the power of the hunger pangs to be an analogy of the power of sinful fleshly desires. It’s good to be reminded that we are weak and in need of Jesus always. We are weak, He is strong. 

Allow the hunger to push us toward Jesus with prayers for His strength. Strength to protect us, sustain us and give us victory over the fleshly passions of our lives. 

If our mind is set correctly to prompt rich interactions with God during our time of fasting, the aches can be a reminder to prayer…and pray often. 

Father God, I hate being tempted. I prefer tranquility. But I’m reminded today that in this world, we will have tribulations, trials and temptations. Cause my longing for tranquility to increase my thoughts and longings for heaven. The Promised Land is coming but for now, we are in this world to serve You and to serve others. The fog of temptation hovers over us and tempts us to sin rather than serve. But Your grace is sufficient. By Your grace, we ask that You protect us, sustain us and give us victory over the fleshly passions of our lives. Amen!