Luke 4:1-13
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Peter Foster
Pastor – Concord CA
Observation: Jesus alone in the desert experiencing the fullness and struggle of silence and solitude. He faithfully honored His time alone to the point of vulnerability. At the end of His desert time, His potential struggle as a human being rose to the surface. These struggles pointed out by the one who would want to stop Jesus before He even started to honor the call on His life. Jesus faced it with a confident response. His answer came from the Word of God. He knew the truth, the Word of God, rooted in His heart. He was ready with an answer for every struggle the enemy would put before Him as the Son of God.
Action: Lord Jesus, as I follow You, may I be willing to experience the fullness of silence and solitude. As I find moments to be quiet and still, may you bring the hidden areas of my life to the surface that the enemy might use to hinder Your call on my life. May Your Word be written on my heart and give me the truth to acknowledge and surrender that struggle to you.
Jesus – in my desolate times in the wilderness, when the evil one waits for me to weaken, tries to outlast or trick me….You are ever faithful, ever ready, ever eager to guide me through darkness into Your Light. When I am tempted by power, career, relationship, glitter, or my own way, quicken me to Your truth.
You Alone are my Lord. You Alone I worship. You Alone I bow down to.
You, God Alone, are faithful and just, generous and kind. Beginning and End.
Hear me this morn oh Lord; Gait my feet with Yours. Beat my heart with Yours.
Keep my eyes fixed on You, Oh Truth and Light. Thank You.
I ask this in Your Great Son’s name. Amen.
1. God says he sees my fear. I am afraid that in spite of reading, listening to, and studying his word, when the lying tempter comes , I will draw a mental blank and fail in responding. He says “depend on me”, “trust me”.
2. I will put worry aside and trust his provision.
Observation: Lord Jesus, I see that You were hungry, but that You resisted the natural temptation to eat because that natural temptation was being manipulated by unnatural motives. You didn’t do a good thing became the motives behind doing so were bad. I see that I often do the opposite. I often do good things from bad motives.
Action: I know that at some point today I will be tempted to do a good thing from a bad motive. I will follow Your example by doing nothing except what the Father wants when and why He wants it. I will test both my action and the motive behind it by His word.
love it
Really well said Doug – thanks for this great word for me today.
Jesus is being tempted to take short-cuts of self-sufficient independence away from the long suffering of trusting dependence on His Father.
Today I will refuse to abandon what I know to be the right way–Your way–when it doesn’t seem to be working to end my particular struggle. I will resist my own creative short-cuts and hold on until You finally appear with manna from heaven. Help me persevere!!
Observation: What always strikes me about this passage is that the enemy has been given authority over the kingdoms of the earth. Like in a country that has been overrun by an invader, we live behind the lines. Will I resist or become a collaborator?
Action: I will fight the urge to resist in inappropriate ways, returning mistreatment with mistreatment. I will act in kindness even as I am mistreated. I will not get judgmental but seek to understand and let love rule the struggle.
oh good Marty
Observation: I see the enemy who comes with doubt, “if you are.” Those ifs would be empty if he didn’t draw them from my attention to my circumstances. There is not temptation to turn stones to bread if i am not hungry. Jesus, You were not taken by those ifs because Your attention was more upon Your relation to the Father as His son than You were upon your circumstance of intense hunger. Identity gave you power to stand against the if. Then the enemy makes promises. The enemy always makes promises to give something better. You knew Who brings all things good and trust in Him. The enemy again comes with the if, “if God really loves you .. . . then God would . . .”
Action: Who i am. Who cares for me. And pretending to be God saying “if God really . . . God would,” are all sources of distraction for me. Today, Valentines Day, I will renew who I am as His son. I will remind myself Who loves me. And I will tell the enemy, I will not put God to a false test as though I know better than God. I will trust God is in the battle against the evil and is waging war to bring good to my life and those who seek good and justice and love.
Lord Jesus, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Help me to keep your word sacred in my heart in a world full of temptation. Amen.