Luke 4

Luke 4 is the familiar story of Jesus being tempted by the Devil.  Jesus “left the Jordan” and His baptism and went into the wilderness for “forty days and nights”.  He was tested by the Devil.  During that time he “ate nothing and when the time was up he was hungry”.  Now that doesn’t seem like a very fair way to beging the testing but that was the situation.  I can’t imaging going 40 hours without food, actually 40 minutes is a stretch for me some days.  But Jesus is hungry.  What happens?  Check out how the Devil attacks: “The Devil, playing on His hunger…..”.  Here is our first clue about the enemy guys.  He knows our weaknesses and will attack there first every time.  He knew that Jesus was extremely hungry so he offers the opportunity to turn a “stone to turn into a loaf of bread”.  Now that had to be very appealing after 40 days.  Jesus teaches us the how to respond in dealing with the Devil.  “Jesus answered by quoting”.  The key is for us to deal with the enemy with the truth – the Word of God.  Scripture teaches us in Psalms 119 that we need to memorize God’s Word so we can deal with temptation just like Jesus did.  “How can a young man keep his way pure?  Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against thee”.  We need to have scripture memorized and ready when Satan comes calling.  It is our defense – it is the “Sword” as Ephesians 6 tells us.  But if we don’t have it readily available – if it isn’t memorized and in our heart – we won’t have the power and protection at our fingertips.  So we need to be in the Word and memorizing it.  The second test was about power as Satan offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth if he would just worship the enemy.  Again Jesus says no and quotes more scripture.  Satan doesn’t quit and makes one more run at Him, this time telling Him to jump and allow God to catch Him.  Jesus again quotes scripture saying “don’t you dare tempt the Lord your God”.  Three times Satan attacks and attempts to cause Jesus to fall.  Three times the enemy comes after the areas we are all weak in – power, passion and position.  Three times Jesus responds with God’s Word from memory.  Three times the Sword of the Spirit – the Word of God – defeats Satan’s push to cause a fall.  We can deal with temptation and the attack of the enemy.  The key is being prepared and ready which means we are in God’s Word, that Word is in our hearts, and we are alert to the prowl of the enemy around us.  One last thing to learn here: “The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity”.  Satan doesn’t give up guys.  If you aren’t being attacked right now, don’t get lazy or too comfortable.  He is waiting for weakness and he will come at you again.  He has one motive – to “kill, steal and destroy” your life and witness.  Learn from Jesus example here.  You will do battle.  Don’t fail to be ready!