Faith And Temptations
Faith and the Temptations
Faith is the substance that we hope for. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. When we say that we have a constant battle with the faith we believe in, it means a spiritual battle against principalities, powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world within our minds. Mind is the battlefield of faith; we mustn’t lose focus. The enemy of our faith is denied sleep to get our attention until we give up and bow down. They do not know what is in our minds, so the fight is better in silence and prayer, calling the name of the LORD and asking the Spirit to help us if we feel we are losing the battle. Remember that the Spirit within us is on call. He is always available anytime we need His assistance.
If we are going to do the battle in our own way, we can try, and if the effort does not work, it will most likely not work if we do not use the right word of God. When Jesus Christ was tempted three times, he used the word of God, and the tempter fled. He started with, “it is written”— Matthew 4:1–11. “The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:11-17). God’s word is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and Spirit… (Hebrews 4:12). If we are equipped with the word of God, the adversary will look at us and never touch us. That is why they use the mind as the arena of faith to control us.
As the last effort to fight a good fight of faith before we ask for help, try to sing a praising song to the LORD, a love song even in our own lyrics. Make something up, serenading the LORD. Our body is the temple of God, and the Holy of Holies is in our hearts. We are not doing this because of pride but because we want the word of God to live in our minds, make the word active in our work, and walk under the guidance of His Word. When we start calling on the name of the LORD, always count on that He will fight for us. We should never underestimate the power of the scriptures to counter the adversary.
This is how Jesus responded to temptation; Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3 and Deuteronomy 6. Matthew 4:1–11—there is no New Testament yet because the testator happened to be alive; Jesus was born of a woman under the Law and obedient to follow the Law.
1st temptation- It is written, ‘man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ 2nd temptation- Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ 3rd temptation- “Go, Satan! It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'” God set an unattainable standard. How are we with His commandment? Referring to how much we follow the Law. We cannot achieve holiness and righteousness with God’s standards; if we say we could, it might be just a word and not work. God is faithful to His word that He would not change, but He could change the circumstances so we could meet His high standard to serve as an example to the rest of the world.
To God is the glory. God bless everyone.
Published 9/28/2023 FB