Resist… the DEVIL.
Do we SET OURSELVES
AGAINST THE DEVIL?!
Do we WITHSTAND the
DEVIL?
Do we RESIST the
DEVIL?
Do we OPPOSE the
DEVIL?
*******
How did Jesus resist
the Devil?
Mat 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
Mat 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty
nights, he was afterward an hungred.
Mat 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If
thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, IT IS WRITTEN, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God.
Jesus was confronted
by the Devil, they came face to face. The Devil spoke to Jesus outright making
demands of Jesus. The Devil knew it was Jesus, and yet he said this, 'IF thou be the Son of God.' Why? Why did the
Devil do this when he knew the answer already? What was his reasoning? He knew
he was face to face with the Son of God. He was TEMPTING, not just TRYING to
tempt Jesus, but TEMPTING JESUS to defend Himself. IF YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD,
they both knew that the Devil knew He was the Son of God, but the Devil isn't
ever content to be understated. He will play on every single emotion he can at
every opportunity. Yes, the temptation was to command the stones to change to
bread but, only IF Jesus truly was the Son of God. Only the Son of God could do
such a miracle, right? So if those hard stones made of stuff completely unlike
bread were altered then that would prove Jesus was the Son of God, right? Not
right. But according to the Devil if Jesus did that particular miracle for him
then He'd be proven right. It was a BOLDFACE lie. They BOTH knew that the only
thing that would happen if Jesus changed that stone into bread would be Jesus
LISTENING to the DEVIL, Jesus succumbing to the DEVIL'S tempting! Jesus giving
credence to the Devil's desires. Jesus
did NOT reply, that He couldn't change the stone into bread, He took it to
another level. He bypassed any discussion on the change that the Devil wanted
Him to make and went right to the HEART of the matter-
IT IS WRITTEN. Bread?
Man shall not live by bread alone.
Did the Devil say
anything at all about living by bread alone? No. Not a single word. So why was
He talking about living by only bread?
Jesus make the very
bold statement to reveal that BREAD is not important at all, physical food was
not important even though He, in His human form, was starving. Seriously, forty days and kept alive by God
miraculously, but NOT without feeling the extreme pangs of hunger. He hungered.
Yet, even if He were left to starve all the way to death, if it were by the
will of God - by God's plan whatever that may be, it was better than eating
with the Devil, better than giving place to the Devil in any way.
Man wasn't to LIVE
by food alone… but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
Not food alone- but
food with something greater than food- God's word.
He would starve
before He'd live by food alone. His Father had to give Him leave to break the
fast He was on, not the Devil. The Devil
wanted Him to give into the HUNGER, to ease His hunger while PROVING He could
do miracles that would in turn prove He was Jesus, the Son of God- something
that did not need to be proved at all.
Jesus wanted us to
know that EVERY word of God means more than ANY thing else, truly anything
else.
Is it any wonder
that so many people throughout time have died rather than give up the Word of
God?
The torture, the
agony, the sheer horror of the things people have had to endure because they
rather believe in God's word than the sensual, temporal things of this world is
beyond our full understanding. We need to question ourselves though, would WE
choose the Word over all else? Would WE? And if not, why not?
We must RESIST the
Devil so he will FLEE from us. May we
learn from our Savior, through His power learn to resist through our
submission, our full submission to Him!
More tomorrow by the
will, by the grace, by the love of our God!
In Jesus' name now
and forever, amen!
*******
Jas 4:7 Submit
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to
God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify
your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9 Be
afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and
your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10 Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up
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