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"For 40 days Jesus was tempted by the devil; he ate nothing during that time; and when 40 days had ended, he became hungry…
… then Satan spoke."
We are weakest when hungry, maybe for food, maybe for something we want or need; an answer to prayer, a word of encouragement, affirmation, perhaps companionship or a change. Be on guard, this is when Satan speaks. this is his opportune time, when God's people are hungry.
“If you are the son of God…and did God really say…”
Jesus didn’t have to prove his identity to the devil. The devil and the demons knew who Jesus was. But, Jesus was hungry. He was weaker than usual. Jesus was fully man, tempted in every way. He was no stranger to weakness. He wept, he had compassion, he sweat blood, he got angry. He experienced and expressed the full range of human emotions and wants. in fact so needy was the Christ, once he overcame and the devil fled, that the bible says, angels came and ministered to Jesus.
Even in his hunger, Jesus didn’t go through the back door, to take from God what was already his. He didn't utilize his power to prove his divinity, he didn't disobey in order to receive what God promised. who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. Phil. 2:66 (NASB) Adam and Eve, on the other hand, did try to go through the back door. They took from the enemy in attempt to be “like God”. They failed to resist when they were weak, when they were hungry, they listened to the enemy. Satan knew well who Adam and Eve were, just as he knew who Jesus was. So what was he really after? When he approached Jesus in the wilderness and Eve in the garden and today in our lives? What does he want? Adam and Eve didn’t need to eat magic fruit, to be like God, they only needed to disobey, in order for Satan to get what he wanted. Had they protected that authority it could have ended differently. They didn't cover their heads , but Jesus did, so we can follow his example when we are hungry and weak.
Rule 1: Do not engage the enemy
My son does amazing card tricks. After watching many, I realized, what the trick is. It’s not about what’s seen, it’s about making the audience believe one thing, while the trickster does something else. It’s all about creating a diversion.
in the garden, the devil created a diversion by planting, in Eve, a false idea: the fruit would make Eve like God. But sadly the disobedient act, made her like the enemy of God, and robbed her of the real authority that she had which was made in God’s likeness. This false idea distracted her from the real purpose of the devils plan– it wasn’t really about her being like God. Satan knew she already was like God. “Let us make man in our likeness, and let them rule over the creatures, multiply and be fruitful, and subdue the earth” Genesis 1:26-27. Satan’s real purpose was causing her to disobey God, so he could swipe that authority, and he succeeded. When Adam and Eve engaged the enemy, they gave him an opportunity. Then they accepted Satan’s carrot, man gave away his authority. Disobedience is always Satan’s goal. Disobedience is sin and sin is the door to the demise of man’s -God given authority, on earth. When we engage with the devil, we give him an opportunity. In the wilderness, Jesus did not have a conversation with the devil, he spoke the pure word of God, using it like arrows. He did not answer to the diversion, nor was he distracted by it. Jesus went right to the heart of satan's plan, and the Son's message, 'I will not disobey my Father, I will do what is written , not what is suggested.' Jesus did not give up his power by using it to feed himself.
Rule 2: keep yourselves from the things under the ban (sin)
Satan only wants the authority that God gave to man at creation, that same authority which Christ came to take back, which is why Satan tried to tempt him in the same way he did Eve. "If you really are the son of God." Satan’s carrot is power. If Christ disobeyed the word of God, by doing any of what satan tempted him with, he would have forfeited his Authority on earth. But, Christ overcame, and all authority in heaven and on earth became his. Matthew 28. Jesus said, “The devil has come and has nothing in me”. He was without sin. Sin steals our authority and our ability to stand and have victory over our enemy. ‘keep yourselves from the things under the ban or else you will not be able to stand before your enemies” Joshua 6-7
Like Christ, we do not have to prove who we are, in Christ, we do not have to defend our name, purposes, and positions. If the enemy has something in us or on us, we will not defeat him. But we also cannot be perfect on our own, only in Christ, the perfect spotless lamb, are we complete. Who came to destroy the works of the devil?
Jesus responded to Satan’s enticements to disobey, with the spirit and truth. He did not take the bait to debate his status with the devil. He did not argue his point or explain himself and he did not sin. We must remember, the devil knows the word of God, he knows what it says, he knows what it means, he knows what its purpose and power is. However, the word doesn’t make him righteous before God …why not? Because he doesn’t have the choice to obey it, or the authority to disobey it. He took some of man's authority and was able to defy God, but Christ took it back. Now he needs once again, man’s sin, in order to gain authority to wage war against God. And once again he will use power to deceive man, (read revelation). It’s not knowledge of the word alone that defeats the enemy, its knowledge and obedience. He desperately wants to steal our ability to choose, our power and our authority to obey.
Many Pharisees and scribes and religious leaders of Jesus’ time KNEW the Torah and the prophets, they were experts in the Mosaic Law, but it did not change them, because they did not obey it. Knowledge without obedience is limp. They had much authority, but they did not use it to please God, rather they used it to please themselves.
Rule 3: be baptized with the Holy Spirit, who gives the ability and power back to man to obey God and defeat the enemy with the words of truth!
Knowledge, understanding and obedience to God’s word are weapons against the devil and his schemes. Jesus had gone full of the spirit into the wilderness he made it 40 days without eating, and resisting temptation because he was full of the spirit. The Holy Spirit is the word of God in power, manifested in and through mortal man. The word is a sword, we wield it with knowledge /understanding and obedience. Jesus had to defeat the enemy in the flesh, and regain the authority in the flesh…on earth, because that is where the authority was lost.
The angels are subjected to God and his word without choice. Obedience doesn’t make them righteous for one simple reason, they have no free will. They have to obey, they were created and designed, programmed to conform. God made man with a will, with power to choose, with authority to obey or disobey, to trust or not, to love or hate, to walk with God or hide from God. Satan wanted that power, Satan didn’t covet that power, so that he could be righteous. He wanted that power so that he could choose to defy and rebel against God and God’s purposes. When Satan usurped the authority of mankind, in other words, man’s ability to choose right and wrong, he took on some of that authority, but fell from heaven. Sin will always cast us out of God's presence. Man was also cast out, at which point he worked the ground from which he came, and "ate bread by the sweat of his brow", I would suggest man also had to work hard at choosing obedience, which is why God struggled with man ever since, only a select few were able to walk uprightly until the Holy spirit was poured out through Christ on all flesh. Do not forget about the Holy Spirit we have been given access to, in Christ.
Rule 4: don’t be hearers only but doers of the Word.
Luke 10:18; "I was watching Satan fall like lightning …I have given you authority to tread serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy." God promised: the seed of woman (Christ) will crush the serpents (Satan’s) head/power/authority.
Satan knew man had something he wanted and the only way to get it was to deceive man into disobeying God, and the only way to keep it was to tempt the son of God to sin. The first Adam failed and forfeited his authority, the last Adam, came and the devil had NOTHING in him.
Beware when you become hungry, Jesus’ battle began when he became hungry, and the devil began to speak. This is the time when we need the word of God more than ever, and not just to know and say it but to do it. Our adversary does have some authority on the earth, which is why sin prevails so often. We must arm ourselves. "Be on the alert, be of sober spirit", and submit to God, those submitted to God are not subject to Satan. those who obey God's word are submitted.
James 1:22 - but prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves, for if anyone is a hearer and not a doer he is like a man who looks at his natural face in the mirror , and then walks away and forgets what kind of person he was (eve forgot she was like God ).
Luke 8:21- those who are part of Jesus' family are the ones who hear the word of God and do it, and the ones who hear his words and acts on them are like a man who built a solid house with a sure foundation. (6:46)
Deuteronomy 30: 16-20 "Love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments and His statutes and his judgments, that you may live, and multiply, and that the Lord may bless you in the Land where you are entering to possess. If your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other Gods and serve them, i declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing to enter. Choose life that you may live, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice and by holding fast to him."
Jesus declared the word and he did it. And the devil fled and Jesus prevailed. The devil departed when he had finished every temptation…until an opportune time. BE ON GUARD, your adversary, the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, resist him, firm in your faith. 1 peter 5:6-9
Rule 5: cover your head and the authority you have in Christ, by submitting to God.
When we do right we walk with God naked and unashamed, trusting him. When we do wrong we are afraid and hide. When we are submitted to God authority, we walk in authentic authority. We are less likely to fall prey to the devil. We acknowledge that although we have authority to choose, we choose God. We cover and protect the authority God has given to us. Satan cannot steal it, unless we our caught in disobedience and habitual sin. Be filled with the spirit and obey the word and know Christ. He is the way to victory, through obedience , understanding and knowing the word of God? Hide it in your heart, memorize it, meditate on it, use it and do it. Christ has taken back all authority on earth and in heaven and he gives it to those who belong to him. Be on the alert, prepared and when you are weakest, then he is strong! When you are hungry, he is the bread of Life. Submit to God. When we submit to the ultimate authority then he covers us, protects us, and fights for us. Can you imagine if Eve had run to God when Satan approached her instead of engaging with him. Let God fight those battles for you, for who can stand before him, but those in Christ.
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