Truth vs. Satan

            I am truly impressed with Jesus’ success in fighting off Satan during his 40 day fast (see Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13).  Keep in mind that Satan’s strategy is to attack when he knows we are at our weakest.  That will usually be when we are spent either physically or emotionally or both. 

            When he approached Jesus in the wilderness, he did his best to play on Jesus’ supposed weakness(es).  But what he found was an insurmountable strength based solely on God and His Word that Jesus had improved upon during those 40 days.  He was not weak, then, but stronger than ever.

            “Turn these stones into bread” was an attempt to get Jesus to use His miraculous powers for a selfish purpose.  But Jesus knew that God would take care of Him and not let Him starve.  He was determined to fulfill this spiritual one-on-one time with the Father.

            “Jump off the highest point of the temple” was an attempt to persuade Jesus to attract attention to Himself with a “circus act” to impress the people.  Again Jesus used the truth of Scripture to trust in God to bring believers to Him on the basis of their faith, not a side-show.

            “I’ll give you all these kingdoms” was an all-out lie.  Jesus knew from Scripture that they weren’t his to give and that He, being God in the flesh, already owned them all.  It was an attempt to receive Jesus’ devotion and entice Him to rely on Himself rather than God.  But He knew that the Father had promised Him a kingdom that would influence the whole world and last into eternity.

            Jesus’ alone-time with God helped Him to see all of these temptations clearly. God and His Word were designed to do this for everyone. What do you think each one of us could understand and accomplish if we were to spend some quality (and quantity) alone-time with the Father? 

            ** Many problems wouldn’t seem so difficult. 

            ** Worries of the future wouldn’t cause so much stress. 

            ** Fears about whether or not we will be saved would vanish away. 

            ** We would actually have a life! 

And that’s just a short list that provides perfect ammunition against Satan.

            Increase your alone-time with God.  It doesn’t have to be a lot of time to start with.  Even a small amount of time spent with God would be more than what you’re getting right now.  And the benefits are beyond imagination.  You too can defeat Satan at every turn just like Jesus did.  You’ll see that spending time with God will open your mind to the truth - Jesus; a truth that Satan cannot defend himself against.

Doug