DAILY FOUNTAIN DEVOTIONAL GUIDE Wednesday, January 10
WATCH RESTEEM WITH YOUR FRIENDS
TEXT: Matthew 4:1-11
- Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
- And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
- Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
- But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
- Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6. and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
- Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” 8. Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
- And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
- Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ 11. ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
In our text today, we see three temptations the devil confronted Jesus with: the temptation of power abuse (“...If You are the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread); the temptation of presumption (“...if You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down...”) and the temptation of prosperity (“...all these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me”). The purpose of the temptation of power is to test Christ’s attitude towards every opportunity to be temporarily satisfied; the aim of the temptation of presumption is to test how He would handle spiritual growth; the purpose of the temptation of prosperity is to divert his object of worship from God to things.
These are critical temptations; and Satan mostly tempts us in our mind. We need God’s word in us to overcome temptations. “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I may not sin against thee” – Ps.119:11. We also need to check our appetite and value system. However, the devil tempts you this year, let the word of God richly dwell in you, by His grace through prayer, you shall win all the way.
Prayer: Lord, help me overcome all the temptations of the devil.