Standing against temptation in 2011: Part-1
Where is God going to take me in 2011? Sometimes I think I’d love to know the future. I tell myself I could plan better and prepare better if I knew what was coming. The truth is I’m better off not knowing the future. God takes us down difficult paths in order to prove His sufficiency and to purify us. If I knew what was coming I’d almost certainly avoid those hard roads and dark valleys. We humans have two major drives. One is to pursue pleasure and the other is to avoid pain. Neither one of these human drives leads us along the difficult road of discipleship and trust in God.
God cannot be tempted with evil and He tempts no one with it (James 1:13), but the road we walk with Him is beset with temptations all sides. How do we walk in victory? We walk in victory by knowing, living, and often quoting God’s word. Jesus shows us how in Matthew, chapter 4.
Here are some temptations we’re sure to face in 2011. I’ve gathered them from Matthew, chapter-4. I’ll share the other two in future posts:
1. Tempted to rely on our own ability (Matthew 4:3-4)
Jesus had the authority and ability to turn those stones into bread, but He quoted Deuteronomy instead: “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
What would have been wrong with Jesus changing those stones to bread? After all, He had been fasting for 40-days. What could be the harm? The harm is that Jesus would have been obeying Satan’s command instead of God’s, His actions would not have been prompted by the Holy Spirit and done in faith, and He would have been relying on Himself instead of The Father. Satan is going to tempt us in these same areas.
I think of the “Word of Faith” teachers of our day who tell us we’re “little gods” who have the authority to speak our will into existence. They tell us to proclaim healing for our bodies and tell us to speak to our wallets and command them to get fat with cash in the name of Jesus. They tell us that a prayer for “Thy will to be done” is a faithless prayer that insults God and diminishes our Christian authority.
Jesus demonstrated the opposite is true. Jesus told His disciples that He always did His Father’s will and He prayed “not My will, but Yours.” (John 8:27-29 and Matthew 26:39).
The Enemy will tempt you and me to operate in our own strength this year, but God calls us to pray to Him and trust Him for our provision. He sent angels to minister to Jesus after the temptation was done. Expect no less from your Heavenly father when you stand strong against the temptation to trust in yourself completely. Pray hard, work hard, do what honors the Lord, and trust God for the outcome.
