Luke 4-7.5.22

Scripture

Luke 4:1-12

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 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.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 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. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

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. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you

to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Observation

Even during EXTREME testing and trials, Jesus responds to Satan’s tempting with answers from scripture.

Understanding

“He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.” This might be just a bit of an understatement! Satan saw what he thought was an opportunity – a time when Jesus was weak. Jesus wasn’t physically ready for battle. His body was probably on the brink of shutting down. But, he was prepared ahead of time. Did you notice that in every response he references scripture – “It is written.”

When faced with trials and temptation, how do we respond? Are we prepared for those immediate, unexpected temptations that come up when we weren’t expecting them? How about the times when we are overwhelmed with the circumstances going on in our lives and we are tired and weak? Let’s be prayed up and filled up with scripture in advance so we are prepared.

Life Application

A while ago, I was struggling with anxiety. After letting it go on for a while, it was getting worse, not better. I decided to battle it with the word of God. I looked up scriptures, wrote them on sticky notes, and put them in places I would see them every day. I memorized them. I wanted to be prepared for the times when my heart would start racing or when I would wake up in the middle of the night panicking. God’s word is true and in those moments of panic, I needed to remind myself of that. There are still times I need to pray and quote scripture to help calm myself. But Psalms 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”

Let’s get prayed up and filled up with scripture so we are prepared!

-Debbie Dunn