A few weeks ago, I wrote a post in “A Taste of the Living Bread” on John 6 Ministries (in Mt. Pearl, NL) Facebook Page. It was an excerpt from the Introduction of my book, “Our Father: A Personal Journey of Discovery into the Lord’s Prayer.”
On Page xiv, I wrote, “Throughout our pilgrimage, may we determine to “lay hold of,” which is “to boldly take hold of” all that our heavenly Father has awaiting us, as we choose to trust Him every step of the way.”
I’ve been thinking about how God wants me to take hold of His Word, His Promises and the future that HE has planned for me. That inspired me to write my thoughts on “How to be Victorious in a Spiritual Battle.” This is the first of several articles that I will write on that topic. Each article will focus on a specific Scripture from God’s Word where He gives us guidance that we need, in order to live the exceptional lives that He desires for us.
The enemy of our souls, Satan, will oppose God’s plan for us any way he can, but God’s Word has a lot to say about how He wants us to deal with this opposition from the evil one. God has taught us, and equipped us, to be victorious in any battle we have with Satan. The focus of my first article on this topic is Luke 4:1-13 (NIV), where we read about Jesus’ Temptations in the wilderness. That portion of Scripture says,
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
What can we learn from this passage of Scripture?
- Jesus properly identified the source of His temptations as the devil, Satan. Our inclination can be to blame a certain person(s) or situation for causing our temptations and trials. However, God’s Word tells us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)
- Jesus knew His identity as God’s Son. Luke 3:22 says, “and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” We need to be confident that we are God’s beloved son or daughter, through the Spirit of adoption. (See Galatians 4:4-7)
- Regardless of how we ‘feel,’ we need to stand firm on God’s Word, like Jesus did. He ‘felt’ hunger, but didn’t give in to it.
- Jesus didn’t give any consideration to Satan’s temptations. He dealt with them directly and immediately. He stayed focused on what God’s Word says, instead of being influenced by His emotions, or Satan’s lies.
- James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” So we know that God did not tempt His Son, but Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, where he would be tempted by the devil, Satan. Jesus faced the temptations, overcame them, and gave us with a perfect model of how we should deal with temptations that we encounter, and be victorious over them.
- God allowed this time of temptation for a purpose. It was just before Jesus’ ministry began, and prepared Him for future confrontations with the enemy. In the same way, those battles/temptations in our lives can be part of our training for whatever God has planned for us.
- Satan intended the temptations for Jesus’ harm, but God intended them for good. We should always keep our eyes on Him, trust Him and His goodness.
- If we choose to stand against and resist Satan, he will flee from us (See James 4:7), as he did in Luke 4. He left Jesus “for an opportune time.”
- Satan is a liar, but he isn’t a quitter. So, we should expect an ongoing battle with him – not just a “one time thing.” When we find victory over him in one area of our lives, he will surely move on to attack us in a different area of weakness. Instead of wearying us, the ongoing battle should strengthen our faith that, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4b)
- Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong to cause these temptations. Likewise, Satan will tell us that our trials are our fault, but that is not always the case.
- God’s words are truth, but Satan tried to tempt Jesus to doubt them. He’ll try the same thing with us. He’s been using that approach with humanity since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, when he said to Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) [Emphasis mine]
- It’s important that we know the truth about what God really says in His Word. Then, we are less likely to be deceived when Satan distorts what God actually said. God’s instruction to Adam is found in Genesis 2:16-17, which says, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” [Emphasis mine]
God’s plans for us are good, but Satan’s plans are to harm us in any way he can. As we develop the daily practice of knowing God’s Word, spending time in His presence through prayer, and remaining steadfast to obey His instructions, we’ll walk in victory through Jesus Christ in ways that will astonish us.
