Matthew Chapter 4. With God's help, we can do this.
Verse 1 says, “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
This, in and of itself, is an amazing statement. God will at times lead us down a path of the unknown. The wilderness was an isolated place of the unknown: including wild animals or robbers! In other words, it would have been a little scary. But Jesus was there for 40 days and nights without food. And going without food for one meal can cause us to fail in temptations. We become cranky and on the edge and our level of tolerance decreases.
Three times Jesus was tempted by the devil and three times Jesus combated back by quoting God's word.
The first temptation had to do with food, which was no mistake by the devil for he knew Jesus would be very hungry. Satan knows our weak spots. If we are having a bad day and going through anxiety, fears, stress, or depression, he tempts us with our weaknesses and calls it pleasures. Food is pleasurable to eat so he tempted Jesus with it. Like Jesus said, we can't live on food alone. Spiritual food is more important than anything this world has to offer. So let us be consumed with God's word.
When we hit these down moments in life some are tempted with pornography, some with alcohol, some with drugs, some with a can of chocolate. I know it sounds funny, but it's easy to consume ourselves with something in this world to fill the darkness in our lives. God wants to be our number one go to person. We need to trust him to bring what is needed in our worst situations. Trust him to bring what is needed rather than giving in to temptations.
For the second temptation the devil tempted Jesus to do something that would actually destroy him, but the devil used Scripture to support his temptation. This makes me think of some who are in Ministry and focus so much on money that they end up doing a terrible job in meeting the needs of people both physically and spiritually. Don't get me wrong, we need money for Ministry, but when one begins to use Scripture as a means of getting something for their own benefit rather than the benefit of the Kingdom then we bring destruction upon ourselves and give God a bad name. We can't put God to the test for selfish gain. It only leads to destruction.
The last temptation was for Jesus to worship the devil in order to receive all the kingdoms of the world and all its splendor. Jesus again uses Scripture and reminded the devil that we are to worship and serve the Lord God only. Sometimes it's easy to pursue the things in this world for all its attractive splendor. As a result we end up patting ourselves on the back and say look at what I did. Instead we must pursue and do all things for the glory of God. If we have something it's because of the Lord and we should use it for his glory and not our own Glory.
It was after Jesus's victory over temptation that we see him empowered by God for the start of his ministry which included preaching and healing.
It was also then that he began to call his disciples. The first four people he called to follow him they did so immediately. They were willing to leave their jobs and family to follow the Lord. What is God calling us to give up so that we can follow him completely?
Lastly, as he healed the sick and the diseased, news spread quickly and drew in numbers of people from all over. This resulted in many people following Jesus. What is the message we give to our peers and family? Is the message we give compelling people to enjoy the pleasures of this world or are they compelled to follow Jesus?