Friday 21 Dec 2018

December 21: Matthew 4:1-11

Key Verse: Matthew 4:4
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Devotion:
How many things in your life tempt you to do bad things? It is not always apparent just how much we do give in to temptations until we sit down and really think about what is going on in our lives. You will be surprised at just how many things we give in to each day... Jesus allowed Satan to tempt Him but what He did in return is what we should be doing – each time He was tempted, He used God’s Word to rebuke Satan; reminding Him of just whom is the author of the truth. Each time the devil tried to get Christ to do something through a lie, Christ exposed that lie through God’s truth.

Have you ever noticed that this temptation of Christ came immediately after He was baptised and declared as the Son of God? The evil one is going to try and attack us each time we do something for God because he does not want God to get the glory. Each time we feel like we have done something right for God, we can probably expect the evil one to do something. But as Christ reminded us, there is no temptation God will allow which we cannot endure. How many things God is actually protecting us from we shall probably never know!

When we come to Christ and He declares us to be one of the fold, we can expect to be sorely tempted by Satan; but we can rest assured we are safe in Christ’s hands. That does not mean temptation will not come our way because we will continue to see it every day. What it does mean is that our faith in God’s Word may well be put to the test. Christ gave us the example by showing that even He stood on God’s Word. He wants us to do the same and exercise our faith by showing we fully believe His Word! Yes, we will still be pulled aside by our own lust for earthly things all the time, but each time we stand up for Jesus, we are able to strengthen our faith again evil and for God. We may well provoke God to leave us to our own devices when we cannot see a way out... That does not stop Him from patiently waiting for us to depend on His Word again. Take the name of Jesus with you. Take the Word of God with you. It is your truth...

Points to Ponder:
How easily are you tempted?

How much do you recall God’s Word during temptations?