Your Devotion is Your Victory
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. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Matthew 4:1-11
Before going into war a strategy, a plan for victory must be developed. Only after completing a plan are you ready to go into battle. The first word in verse 1, then, suggests that Jesus, following His baptism, on a forty day fast, led of Spirit, was now ready to go and overthrow the kingdom of satan. Just as Jesus had a plan for defeating satan; satan had a plan for Jesus’ defeat. How was the devil to defeat Jesus? His plan was to seduce Jesus into sinning against God by having Him go against God’s word. Had Jesus at anytime yielded to the temptation of making the stones into bread (verse3), casting himself down from the pinnacle of the temple (verses 5, 6) or worshiping satan himself (verse9), he would have been in violation of the word of God and shown His allegiance to, and agreement with the words of satan.
My friend, you have an enemy who is very subtle and seductive. Satan’s strategy is not just to defeat you, but destroy you. He uses a false light called darkness to tempt men of their own lusts. He uses the false light of darkness to attract those who have darkness in them. And you won’t know you are in darkness unless a true light comes. Jesus is that True Light. He has no darkness in Him at all (1 John 1:5). His total devotion to God gave him the victory over satan. In doing so Jesus showed us that we can do the same. Let us follow after His example of being totally filled with the light of the word of God. Let us be completely consumed and devoted to His will and purpose thereby achieving 100% victory 100% of the time.
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. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Matthew 4:1-11
Before going into war a strategy, a plan for victory must be developed. Only after completing a plan are you ready to go into battle. The first word in verse 1, then, suggests that Jesus, following His baptism, on a forty day fast, led of Spirit, was now ready to go and overthrow the kingdom of satan. Just as Jesus had a plan for defeating satan; satan had a plan for Jesus’ defeat. How was the devil to defeat Jesus? His plan was to seduce Jesus into sinning against God by having Him go against God’s word. Had Jesus at anytime yielded to the temptation of making the stones into bread (verse3), casting himself down from the pinnacle of the temple (verses 5, 6) or worshiping satan himself (verse9), he would have been in violation of the word of God and shown His allegiance to, and agreement with the words of satan.
My friend, you have an enemy who is very subtle and seductive. Satan’s strategy is not just to defeat you, but destroy you. He uses a false light called darkness to tempt men of their own lusts. He uses the false light of darkness to attract those who have darkness in them. And you won’t know you are in darkness unless a true light comes. Jesus is that True Light. He has no darkness in Him at all (1 John 1:5). His total devotion to God gave him the victory over satan. In doing so Jesus showed us that we can do the same. Let us follow after His example of being totally filled with the light of the word of God. Let us be completely consumed and devoted to His will and purpose thereby achieving 100% victory 100% of the time.
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