The Temptation in the At His Feet Bible Study gives us a new insight and perspective on the way Jesus endured temptation.
Being tempted is something all of us are faced with on a daily basis.
If Jesus was not exempted from temptation, every child of God can be sure to go through a trial of temptation.
Often, but not always, the temptation can be connected with addiction and addiction can be divided into many categories.
Understanding temptation and what God says about it in His Word will assist us to face, endure, and overcome it when it comes.
It is my sincere prayer that you would clearly hear the voice of the Holy Spirit ministering to you through this article.
How The Tempter Tempted Jesus
Jesus was tempted by the tempter to tell the stones to become bread to what he answered from Scripture, ‘man shall not live by bread alone, but from every word of God.
Secondly, the devil told Jesus to throw Himself down from the temple, quoting Scripture that God will give His angels charge over Him.
Jesus answered him with Scripture saying, you shall not tempt God.
Lastly, the devil took Him to a high mountain where they could see all the world’s kingdoms and told Jesus that if He would fall down and worship Him, he would give all these things to Him.
Jesus told him to flee from Him, saying it is written that You shall worship and serve only the Lord your God. The tempter flee from Jesus and angels came to minister to Him (Matthew 4:1-11).
The First Temptation
The First Temptation – Not trusting God and trying to take matters into your own hands.
After the Desert Season, came the temptation, the test.
The devil knew that he must make use of the opportunity at the end of Jesus’ fast, and desert season when He was tired and hungry to launch an attack against Him.
This was a very strategic attack in an attempt to defeat God’s plan for Jesus to overcome the powers of darkness on the cross.
Jesus could effortlessly turn the stones that were all around Him in the desert into bread.
In doing so He would use His powers and abilities for His own gain.
The gifts and talents God gave to us should not be used for our own self-serving gain, but to serve God and others with them.
To give glory to God and His Kingdom with them.
We are not prohibited to use our God-given gifts for compensation, but our motivation and passion for using them should be to serve God and others with the end result that it should bring glory to God.
Jesus knew His loving Father would provide for Him without using His powers to perform miracles.
He was submitting Himself to His Father and trusting Him to provide for Him what He needed.
By depending on His Father, He trusted God to fulfill all His needs and desires.
Jesus knew Isaiah 49:10 and that He shall not hunger and thirst.
He knew that in order for Him to live, He shall not live only from food, but from God’s words (Deuteronomy 8:3).
The Second Temptation
The Second Temptation – Tempting God.
After the devil was defeated in his first attempt trying to convince Jesus to turn the stones into bread, he changed his strategy a bit.
The temple where he took Jesus stood at the top of Mount Zion.
He told Jesus to jump down from the temple, into the valley and promised Him God would instruct His angels to come to His rescue.
I do not believe that if Jesus caved into the temptation from the devil God would allow Him to fall unharmed to the ground.
Therefore, Jesus’ quotation from Deuteronomy 6:16 that God should not be tempted should convince us not to make compromises with the devil and the things of the world.
Jesus knew that to make compromises with the devil He would be deceived, mock God and that He indeed would reap what He sowed (Galatians 6:7).
It would be a mockery to God to put oneself consciously and deliberately in a life-threatening situation and then anticipate that He would rescue you from it.
The Third Temptation
The Third Temptation – Turn your back on God, and worship the devil by clinging to the things of the world.
The devil knew that God’s main purpose for Jesus was to save the world from the powers of darkness.
If he could persuade Jesus to worship him he would instantly destroy God’s plan that no one should perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).
By promising Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory his strategy is for Jesus too long for the things of the world, not the things of God.
God wants us not to be wise in our own opinion, not to set our minds on high, worldly things, but to associate ourselves with the humble (Romans 12:16).
It is not God’s will for us to lay for ourselves treasures up on the earth, but in heaven, because where our treasures are, there our hearts will be as well (Matthew 6:19).
Jesus knew very well that He could not long for the things of the world because the result would be that He would become like the world.
Jesus already had a promise from God that He could ask Him and He would make the nations His heritage and the ends of the earth would be His possession (Psalm 2:8).
In our times of temptation, we should hold fast to God’s Word, trust in Him, and submit ourselves to Him to give us the best outcome and solution without having to make compromises with the devil and the world.
From the example set to us by Jesus, we can use Scripture to defeat satan and overcome temptation.
Application: To overcome temptation must nourish our souls with the spiritual nutrition God gives to us from His word (Deuteronomy 8:3) and use the Sword of the Spirit to overcome the tempter (Ephesians 6:17).
Prayer points: In prayer we need to surrender and submit ourselves to God, to resist the devil, and he will flee from us (James 4:7). Pray that you would not be led into temptation and be delivered from the evil one (Matthew 6:13).
Promise: God, who is faithful, will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can endure, but with the temptation will give us a way of escape to enable us to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Additional reading: Matthew 4:1-11; Isaiah 49:10; Deuteronomy 8:3; Deuteronomy 6:16; Galatians 6:7; John 3:16; Romans 12:16; Matthew 6:19; Psalm 2; Ephesians 6:10-20.
31 Scriptures To Pray Against Addiction may assist in helping you get new insight into temptation.
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Everything in Him, unto Him, and to glorify His Holy Name!
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