A Nugget from New Life Network

Scripture for the Day – June 26, 2019

Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. (John 8:28)

Have you ever considered that the three temptations of Christ by the devil in the wilderness may give us some great insight into how the devil attacks us personally and what he’s after? For the next three daily devotionals we are going to look at each temptation to see how they relate to us.

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:1-4)

One of the enemy’s first tactics is to try to cause us to doubt who we are in Christ. If he will try to plant doubt in the mind of Jesus by saying “if thou be the Son of God” then he will definitely do it to us.

What is fasting and prayer all about anyway? It’s all about communicating with God. It’s about hearing His voice better. It’s about taking authority over the screams of the flesh so we can hear the voice of the Father.

If you talk to any trained military person you will find that one of the most strategic and effective things you can do to your enemy in a war is to cut off or garble the communication between the enemy troops and their high command. How would we feel if we had been fasting and praying for forty days and forty nights? Our flesh would be screaming. It would be saying, “Get me some food, NOW!” We have to remember that Jesus was the Son of Man and not just the Son of God. He was tempted in all the same ways that we are tempted and felt the same way we feel.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

We see over and over again in the scriptures where Jesus expounded on the importance of hearing what His Father was saying and doing what His Father said to do.

For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. (John 12:49)

This guiding principle of hearing the Father clearly has not changed. It is still critical for believers to hear the voice of the Father through the Word of God and through the Holy Spirit who was sent to teach us and guide us. We must not let the screams of our flesh, which may originate through such things as hunger, lust, addiction, greed, etc., drown out the voice of the Father. You have an adversary, and he will try any way he can to cut off or garble your communications with God.

He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” (John 10:3-5, NLT)

So we see that the tactics of the enemy are to first try to get us to question who we are in Christ. The second tactic he will use is the cries of the flesh to override or garble our communications with God. We cannot let that happen!!! We have to recognize that the Spirit and the flesh will always be in conflict with each other and we must take authority over our flesh. God will talk to us if we have ears to hear.

 

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