A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (June 18, 2015)
And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. (Luke 4:1-3)
The devil’s primary weapon against us is to get us to believe a lie. He is the father of lies and he is constantly trying to get us to question our inheritance and calling. Notice in our scripture for the day how the devil even tried to put doubt into the mind of Jesus (If thou be the Son of God). The devil knew He was the Son of God! His goal is to get you and I to back off or stand down from the Word of God through doubt and unbelief or through any means he can, including political correctness. He will do whatever he can to stop the Word of God from coming out of your mouth.
If you are going through a wilderness experience right now it may help to look at how Jesus responded to the devil in the wilderness. Take note that he said all these things. He spoke them out of His mouth!
1. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God (Luke 4:4). The devil will always appeal to our fleshly desires and needs such as food, money or sex. You and I are to be led by the Spirit and the Word, not our carnal appetites.
2. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve (Luke 4:8). The devil will always try to get you to believe that the grass is greener on the other side. Don’t bite! It is artificial turf.
3. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Luke 4:12). The devil will always try to get you to think more highly of yourself than you ought. Don’t go there! Stay humble.
This is what I love about this encounter with Satan. When Jesus left the wilderness He still knew exactly who He was and what He was called to do and He declared it publicly in Luke 4:18-19:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book,
The book is closed!! It is finished!! We belong to Him and no devil in Hell is going to tell us any different. The same anointing that was on Jesus now abides in us and we will not back up, slow down or shut up until we go to be with Him or He comes to get us. We will not be silenced and we will not be ashamed of the Gospel. AMEN!!!
It is time to stand up! It is time to recommit and recharge. It is time to finish this race!
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. (1 Corinthians 9:24)
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (Psalm 1:3)
