Temptations

All that glitters is certainly not gold. Don’t allow the enemy to distract you from TRUE abundant living that Jesus Christ promised all his followers. The enemy has a way of tempting many believers into a false sense of accomplishment, when in actuality, they are skating dangerously close to the ledge of a potential pit fall. In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted of the devil. Now, the key to these versus is that Jesus was led BY the Holy Spirit. Thus, it should be understood that God will allow the enemy to tempt believers so that He may establish the solidarity of our faith in the Son. That’s powerful! It’s time for Christians to put up or shut up! Stop blaming everything that happens and/or seemingly attempts to detour your life from the plan God on the devil. No, maybe the Holy Spirit has been instructed by the Godhead to allow you to be led into temptation to genuinely gage your faith. Are you really practicing what you preach? Was your plan really God’s plan?

Be not deceived because the enemy makes his temptations look so appealing that they may even resemble the will of God! As you reference the story in Matthew you will notice that with each temptation; there were three in all, the enemy would continue to take Jesus to higher elevations in the wilderness the “show” him what was available to him if he would just bow. (Side Note: Why would God want you to elevate in the wilderness when He wants to deliver you out of the wilderness!!!) However, thank God that Jesus was no fool, and was well equipped by the Father before he was even summoned to go into the wilderness. Notice that it was not until AFTER Jesus was baptized, had fasted and prayed for forty days and forty nights, that God considered him prepared to be tempted.

Therefore, understand that God will never leave you uncovered before you go into your wilderness in life! The question is when the enemy starts showing you everything you can have, quoting eloquently the words of Scripture, are you competent and rooted enough in the Word of God for yourself to not bow? The only way to defeat a Bible-quoting devil is to have the Word written in your heart. For this reason alone, Jesus had the power to make the enemy leave his presence!

Don’t bow people to the advances of the enemy, no matter how fool proof his plan appears. Be not deceived, he is the father of ALL lies and his sole mission is to steal, kill, and destroy. Be ye steadfast and unmovable, fully anchored in the Word of God! And know that after the battle God always sends His angles to minister to you and keep you uplifted!

Be blessed good people.

Nikki D