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Jesus
fasted for forty days. Afterwards, Satan tempts Jesus in the desert with
three requests. The last two are obvious sins. The 2nd
request
was that Jesus throw Himself down from the top of God's temple to see if
God would rescue Him. Jesus said.
Matthew 4:7
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
The 3rd request
is that Jesus worship Satan. Well, we are told in the ten commandments to
have no other Gods, so this is an obvious sin. Jesus told Satan.
Matthew 4:10
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.
However, what about request number one? That He turn stones into bread,
but this is not a sin. After all,
Jesus did turn water into wine. In addition, He multiplied food for a
crowd on more
than one occasion.
Why did Jesus not comply with the 1st request
that He turn stones into bread?
Matthew 4:7
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
This request may seem innocuous. However, we need to understand Satan's
purpose. Often a man who wants to seduce a lady will ask first to kiss her hand
and that is not wrong. However, it can lead onward to doing things that
are wrong.
Christ could have rationalized that He was hungry and needed to eat
food, but instead He chose to confront Satan who is always trying to
destroy us.
Matthew 4:8
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of God.
While it is true that Christ could have used his abilities to cause the
stones to become bread, He did realize that Satan had ulterior motives in
this simple request that seems as if it is full of innocence. A wise man will
often be suspicious or wary. Please remember that our adversary destroyed
Adam and Eve with food as a sin.
Let us be guided to the truth by our God who is the one light in our
universe.
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God
tells us to fight Satan and he will flee from us.
James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. |
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Our Lord wants us to win. Good must oppose evil if there is going to
be success.
Please put on the full armor of God so we gain victory over the evil
one.
Ephesians 6
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Pray that we may soon be walking the streets of Paradise where Christ reigns.
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