The More Things Change

Read: Matthew 4

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Matthew 4:1

Examine:

Interestingly Satan's temptations of Eve in the Garden of Eden correspond to those of Jesus in the desert. Satan appealed to the physical appetite (Gen 3:1-3; Matt 4:3), the desire for personal gain (Gen 3:4-5; Matt 4:6), and an easy path to power or glory (Gen 3:5-6; Matt 4:8-9). And in each case Satan altered God's Word (Gen 3:4; Matt 4:6). Satan's temptations of people today often fall into the same three categories (cf. 1 John 2:16).

(from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright. All rights reserved.)

Apply:

The more things change the more they stay the same. Satan's tactics have only shifted with the culture. His methods have adapted with the times but the heart of his tactics are still the same. The defenses Jesus modeled are just as affective now as they were then. I need to learn from them and apply them.

Pray:

Father,

I want to know Your Word and use it to filter my decisions. I see that in Jesus during the first temptation. Your Word was alive and active in His heart and His mind. He made it part of His daily life and it was the grid He used to evaluate the choices He made with His life. I pray for Your Word to be the same for me today. Hide it in my heart, burn in my mind, and leverage its use in my life.

Jesus had total clarity regarding Your call and timing in His life. In the midst of the second temptation there was no gray area in Jesus' understanding of His calling or Your timing. I pray the same for my life today. It is so easy for me to get confused regarding Your calling and timing. There are times that I seem to live in a gray area and it is not so easy to know what is Your will, what is my will, and what is of the devil. I pray that You would lead me to a place of total clarity and understanding of Your will and timing for my life.

Perhaps the most difficult of tactics Jesus used to counter satan was His complete and total desire for Your glory above His own. Jesus was willing to deny Himself anything and everything in order for You to get glory. This is a matter of the heart that lies beyond my power to achieve. My spirit is willing to go there but I am just too weak. Increase my hunger for Your glory. Help it to be the bread and wine of my life. Allow it to become the thing I celebrate, the reward I seek, and the victory I savor.