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Luke 4:9-13: Tempting, but...

Jesus has twice resisted the accuser in the desert. The Devil doesn’t give up though. Jesus was led to the desert by the Spirit. He has been resisting temptation through quoting scripture. So you know what Satan does? He quotes scripture too. He whisks Jesus away to the top of the Temple in Jerusalem and says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you, and on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone (Psalm 91:11-21).”

This is a religious temptation. The Devil quotes the Bible saying that God’s angel will protect Jesus; so go ahead and sin. How many times do we hear this: ‘Go ahead, it’s okay, you’re not hurting anybody;’ ‘Just once;’ ‘No one will care;’ ‘God will never leave you; He won’t mind if you do that;’ ‘Go ahead, we all sin all the time’…? These excuses are temptations the Devil uses to try lead us away from God.

This is his culminating effort to tempt Jesus here and this kind of temptation can get us all if we don’t rely on God’s Word and Spirit. How many times has the Devil tried the same lines on us when we are contemplating sin: ‘just do it, you’re not hurting anyone and besides we all sin all the time’?

It’s not true. We know we don’t all sin all the time so don’t believe it when you hear it. We don’t actually need to sin. We do actually need not to sin. The Bible says be holy (1 Peter 1:15, Leviticus 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7), be perfect (2 Corinthians. 13; Colossians 1:28; Hebrews 11,12). The Lord will help us do this: He will do it in and through us (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) as we rely on God and His Word the way Jesus does here. Like Jesus says, Luke 4:12, quoting Deuteronomy, “don’t put the Lord your God to the test”…don’t Sin!

James 1:12 echoes, ‘blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.’

Don’t give up; remain in the Spirit. Even if you slip up, remain in the Spirit and as you do you will find that you will read the scriptures, trust in God, endure the temptations, and persevere. Remember what is recorded in Luke 4:13: “When the Devil had finished every test, he departed from him –until an opportune time- Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee.” And it will be the same with us.

When are some times you have resisted the impulse to sin? How did the Lord deliver you? 
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