Satan's Tempting

If we look at the story of Satan's attempt to tempt Jesus in the desert in Matthew 4:1-11, we can learn some very specific strategies that Satan will use to tempt us into sin in various areas in our lives. Please take a moment and read through this section of scripture. It will bring better clarity to the things I am about to share on this topic of temptation.

Satan tempts us by...

Exploiting our greatest area of weakness

Satan’s first attempt to tempt Jesus was to start with the place that Christ was the most vulnerable, His weakest spot. Jesus had just finished 40 days of fasting and scripture tells us He was hungry. Let’s be real here, just like Jesus, we too would be most vulnerable in this area of food after a 40 day fast! And some of us might not be so steadfast in refuting the temptation like Jesus did. I am quite sure I would waver in this particular area myself. Jesus’ response was straight from the word of God. “Man does not live on bread alone.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) Jesus did not argue with Satan. He simply presented him with the written word. Satan will always start his attack at our weakest point. Rightfully so, why would an enemy try to attack their opponent at their strongest point, where their walls are the highest and thickest? A thief will not show up to our house in broad daylight with a warning phone call announcing that he is coming first. No, they will come in the moments when we least expect it, in those moments that we are not prepared for, at our weakest moments. The enemy will always look for the weakest link and attack there first! In this example food was Jesus’ weak spot. For others of us it could be in the area of jealousy, controlling our tongue, being critical, unforgiveness, not remaining in a spirit of thankfulness, being diligent, remaining in God’s word, praying, or some other area. Satan is not dumb. He knows our weaknesses and is ready, willing, and able to exploit them in the worst possible way.  

Distracting us from God’s plan/taking the easy road

In the second attempt, Satan tries to make Jesus think there is an easier road that He should be walking on, a “quick fix” so to speak. As you have heard me say before “there are no shortcuts in the kingdom,” despite what we might wish for at times. Satan tries to tempt Jesus into jumping off the the temple. I want us to think about this for a moment. Why would Jesus be tempted to throw Himself off of the highest point of the temple? Satan proceeds to quote Psalm 91:11-12. Proving that yes, even the devil knows what the word of God says. Satan knew that the hearts of many of the people were anxiously awaiting a majestic king to arrive from the clouds of heaven. In jumping, Satan was hoping that God would send his angels to rescue Jesus. The people would have seen Jesus coming down from the top of the temple arriving in a cloud of angles, the majestic king they always wanted. This in turn would have some extreme ramifications. If Jesus had jumped a couple things would have transpired. The religious people would have gotten what they expected and wanted, Jesus would have never suffered on the cross, and our sins would never have been covered by His blood. Satan would have won. This was the shortcut Satan was hoping Jesus was going to take. Satan tried to convince Jesus that God was going to protect Him no matter what. Jesus knew that supernatural protection only comes by staying in the will of the Father and His Father had not told Him to jump. Proving that Jesus never did anything without the Father’s permission. In response Jesus simply relies “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Deuteronomy 6:16

Planting a seed of doubt

Wrapped up in Satan’s second attempt was also another ploy he tried to use to tempt Jesus. It is all wrapped up in one very small word in Matthew 4:6. In fact, this word is only two letters long, but it is a word that provokes a whole lot of doubt to crop up in our minds when we mall it around long enough. The devil strategically uses the word “IF" in an attempt to plant doubt in the mind of Christ. Had Jesus taken the time to contemplate that two letter word He may very well have found Himself in a whole different situation entirely. I don’t know about you, but this little word “if” has sent my mind onto some very long winding rabbit trails of unnecessary doubt all because I began to allow this tiny little word to take root in my mind. This word “if” can be a major weapon in Satan’s arsenal when it comes to planting doubt in our minds. It is Satan’s desire to plant doubt in our minds because he knows that a seed of doubt can grow and like weeds in a garden, just one seed can take over and destroy the plans and purposes that God has for our lives. One seed of doubt can create a multitude of problems when we nurture it.

Appealing to our pride

Satan’s third attempt at tempting Jesus was to appeal to his pride. Pride can be one of our biggest stumbling blocks. We can get so hung up on the things we want and completely miss out on the things God desires for us. By this point Satan has seen that his first two attempts have failed, so he resorts to outright lying. Satan had no power to give Jesus the kingdoms of this world, and yet he still promised that it could all be his “if” Jesus would bow down and worship him. If Jesus had spent any time catering to His pride, then this surely would have been His downfall. We so often desire to have positions of authority, titles attached to our names or to be recognized for our accomplishments. Jesus did not desire any of that. The only glory he wanted to be associated with was the glory that was given to His Father! So in response, Jesus simply replies “Worship the Lord and serve him only.” Deuteronomy 6:13

These are just four things off a long list of things Satan uses to lead us down a path of temptation. I share these things because all of them I have personally struggled with at one point or another and I have no doubt that they will continue to be areas I have to guard my heart and mind from. If Satan has tempted you in any of these areas, or maybe all of these areas, know that you are not alone. The Lord doesn’t leave us to fight off Satan for ourselves without any help.

Scripture tells us…

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

“...for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Lord Jesus, I thank you that you have set such a beautiful example for us to follow in combating the temptations of Satan. Help us when the missiles are being launched at us to combat them with your word just as you did with Satan in the desert. Help us to be steadfast and unwavering in our battle. We know that Satan is out to rob, kill and destroy your work in our lives. Help us to keep our eyes and minds focused on you and not the things that Satan is trying to get us to focus our attention on. We know that he is only trying to distract us from the beautiful plan you have for us. Quicken our minds to be able to refute the attacks of the enemy with your word. Help us to resist the temptations that are being hurled at us.

Peter's Miraculous Escape

The Lord is never short on his end of performing the miraculous. I was reminded of this fact while reading in Acts 12:1-18 about the Lord delivering Peter from prison. I would like to take some time and retell this account because as I was reading I was greatly humbled by the power of God’s hand in Peter’s life.

Peter’s Story

If we start at the beginning of this story we find that King Herod was out for vengeance for those who belonged to the church. It was his desire to bring much trouble and turmoil into their lives. He managed to have several captured and even had James killed. This only fueled the fire of his hatred for the followers of Christ even more, because when he saw that this act pleased the non-believing Jews he proceeded to hunt down and apprehend Peter as well. Herod made it a point to arrest Peter during the Feast of the Unleavened Bread because in doing so he knew that the city would be filled with more Jews than usual giving him the opportunity to “please” more of the unbelieving Jews. Herod also made it a point to have Peter well guarded. He ordered 16 guards for this one man. I find it rather ironic that Herod never took into account that Peter had an entire army of fellow believers earnestly seeking the face of God on Peter's behalf. The earnest prayers of the believers proved to be powerful and effective because the night before Peter was to stand trial, the Lord moved with a supernatural vengeance (Romans 12:19).

The Miraculous

I want us to get a clear understanding of the conditions Peter was under so that we all understand just how supernatural this situation really is. Here is Peter, being watched by 16 guards, sleeping between two soldiers, bound with chains, and more than likely naked. We know this because when the angel appeared he told Peter to put on his clothes and sandals. When the angel appeared several miraculous things happened that I want us to try to wrap our minds around. First of all, not one of the guards saw the angel, nor did they see the bright light that was shinning in the cell. The angel woke Peter from his sleep and his chains fell off. Let’s think about this, those chains falling to the ground surely would have made a loud crashing and clanging sound, yet no one heard a sound. Are we grasping the vastness of this miracle yet? Peter was told to get dressed, and where his clothes and sandals came from is yet another part of the supernatural realm because surely they were not lying next to him folded up in a nice neat stack! The miraculous only gets more intriguing from here because Peter and the angel simply walked out of the prison. The gates to the city opened by themselves, Peter did not forcefully open a thing. Can I just say, when God opens doors we don’t have to do a thing in the natural to open them? He does the opening, all we have to do is the same thing that Peter did, walk right through!

Let’s pause just for a moment to realize something here. No one saw them or heard them. Not one guard had any clue that any of this was transpiring right under their noses! I have to be honest here. If it were not for the fact that we serve a miracle working God and the fact that this is His character, His very nature, I would have read this account and doubted each and every word of it. Who escapes from prison with 16 guards standing over you every second of every day? How is it possible to walk out of a prison cell when you are bound by chains that you don’t have the key and fully clothed to boot? How do gates and strongholds swing wide open without us forcefully pushing our way through?

God’s character

This is just the kind of God we serve. A God who takes the impossible and makes it a reality. We serve a God who takes the prayers of the church and launches them into action, sending angels, breaking chains, and setting the captives free. Wow! How liberating this is to my mind! I am so thankful that our prayers are powerful and effective. We serve a truly miraculous God! It’s mind-boggling to think about such miracles and to try to comprehend the supernatural. This is where our humanness ends and our faith must begin because our human nature can not and will not ever be able to understand in full the miraculous workings of our God. We must simply learn to live a life of vigilant prayer and to stay consistent in our faith in the character of our God. He is never going to let us down. Things might not go the way we think they should, but he is still the same yesterday today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)!

Lord, thank you for the supernatural wonder-working power that is in your hands. We are so blessed to serve a God who is characterized by manifesting the impossible. We know that if you can break off the chains, open the prison doors and set the captives free in Peter’s life, then you will do the same for us as well. You have not stopped working out the miraculous in our lives and in the lives of those around us. We are so thankful for the biggest and most powerful supernatural event that can ever take place in the life of a human, salvation. Help us to seek your face in prayer and walk through the open doors that you swing wide open for us. Thank you for the miracles you show us each and every day.  

The Faithfulness Of God

There are times in our lives that the circumstances we find ourselves in are far and above anything we can control ourselves. This is where we must learn to take our eyes off the circumstances that we find ourselves in and place our faith in the God who is in control of it all.

A time of testing

About three years after my husband and I were married, I was finishing up my second year of teaching and my husband was finishing up his first year of teaching. We were so excited about the things God had in store for us because we had just found out that we were expecting our first child. Little did we know that what lay ahead of us was going to cause our faith to do some stretching. Within the next couple of days I had gotten news that I was not guaranteed a teaching position the following year because of some cutbacks in the school district. Okay, no big deal right, at least we had my husband’s job. In the amount of time it took me to have that very thought, my husband came home to tell me that his job had been completely eliminated. His district was trying to consolidate jobs in order to find ways to save money, which meant no more job for him. As if this were not enough to make an expecting mother stay up all hours of the night worrying, my car broke down. This was not an ordinary break down either. I’m talking towing it to the garage break down. I’m talking the type of break down that you begin to contemplate if you are going to send the car to the junkyard type of break down. So let’s just do a quick little overview of what we were looking at, shall we. Here we are, a baby on the way, neither one of us have a job, no health insurance, and we are down to one car. Talk about putting my heart in the hands of God here! Somehow, despite the chaos of all of these things swirling around there was the strangest peace through it all. I can remember sharing my story with another teacher of the challenges that our family was facing. I ending the conversation with “I don’t know how, but it’s all going to work out.” The look I got from this other teacher was one of “Oh, I hope you're right, you poor thing.”

The God of the impossible

We serve a God who does not look at the circumstances we are in and stamp them as “possible” or “impossible.” We serve the God of the impossible. So in those moments that “impossible” comes up in our lives all we have to do is look at the Lord and not at the impossibilities staring us in the face. Our God is so much bigger than what is in front of us. He can handle it! We need to have faith that He can handle it. Faith by definition is believing that God is going to stay true to his character despite the circumstances we find ourselves in.

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

Not only is the Lord able to begin a good work, but He is able and faithful to complete it! I think this is probably one of the reasons why I had such peace about everything in this season. I knew the Lord was going to do a good work in our lives. He was going to be faithful to carry out this good work to completion. He was not going to leave us hanging on for dear life. He was not going to leave His children begging for bread (Psalms 73:25). I had no need to worry, no need to fret. It was my responsibility to cast my cares and my worries upon Him (1 Peter 5:7).

God’s Faithfulness

In this time of uncertainty in our life, the Lord opened up some doors that we were not looking for, and showed us favor in ways we did not expect. At the conclusion of my school year I was told of some job opportunities for the following year. After some discussion with my husband we had both decided that once our little one was born it would be best if I stayed home. This was a desire of my heart and God in His faithfulness has a way of giving us the desires of our hearts. Since I was due in January I applied for a half year position and ended up getting a half year reading position. Ironically enough, I was filling in for another teacher who just a baby. The position’s ending date lined up perfectly with my due date. I could not have planned things any better if I tried (thank goodness I didn’t try). This is why it is so important to trust the Lord that He knows what He is doing.

As far as my car, thankfully with some help from family, we were able to get it fixed without breaking the bank too badly. I want you to know something very important about the significance of having two vehicles. God knew that we would need two vehicles because God was about to open yet another door for our family.

My husband’s school district had called him up and asked him to come in to interview for a middle school math position. Here is where the doors are not only blown wide open, but they are blown entirely off their hinges! My husband was a certified health and physical education teacher. Upon graduation, he decided that it might be a good idea to take some of the other teacher’s certification tests to see if he could get certified in other areas. He chose to take his middle school math test and passed. Now, you need to understand that he holds a middle school math teaching certificate, but never went through any formal math training in terms of teaching it. This is significant because for a school district to consider an applicant for a position they have to be deemed “qualified.” By this point you all are probably wondering the very same thing my husband and I were both wondering at the time he got the phone call from his district for this interview. “Why in the world would they hire a certified teacher who did not go to school for that certification?”  This is why we must take our eyes off our circumstances and put our eyes on the one in control. 

The Lord gave my husband such favor with his district. He walked out of his interview feeling as if the Lord had just taken over his tongue. He felt as if the Lord had given him the right words to say and the right way to say them. He later found out that they hired him for this middle school math position for several reasons. Not only did his interview go well, but they had sent his entire first year of teaching getting reports from others in the district of his good rapport with students and great relationships with the faculty and staff he worked with. In other words, they saw the potential of greatness in him. They looked past what was recorded on paper and looked at his character. How many job opportunities do you know of that are filled based on a person’s character? God in his faithfulness gave my husband great favor with his district. The doors that had been closed were blown off their hinges so that we would be provided for. I am so thankful that the Lord takes care of us, especially in ways we least expect them.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1  (KJV)

If you have been following my blog, or you know me personally then you already know that this life example was such a small thing in the area of testing my faith. The testings have since increased in scale, but I will have you know that God has held up His end and stayed true to His character with each and every testing! He has never let me down! NEVER! And guess what? He NEVER will. The beauty of it all is that He is NEVER going to let you down either! He is a faithful to all of His children, even when we are not faithful to Him. God’s character of faithfulness does not change just because we miss it. He remains faithful even in those moments that we are not faithful to Him. That is such a humbling thought to me, to know that God does not change, His faithfulness remains steadfast!

Thank you Lord for your faithfulness to us. Thank you for showing us time and time again through our testings and the trials that you are faithful through it all. Give us eyes to see your faithfulness in the midst of the trial and not to lose heart in those moments.

To read more on the faithfulness of God visit: Facing Our Giants, Blind Faith, My By Faith Shoes, The Example Of Esther, Joseph’s Journey, and My Testimony

"Shooting" The Wounded

There is an old saying that states: “Only Christians shoot their wounded.”

Have you ever been “shot” by a fellow Christian? The interesting thing about this is that when we get “shot” by someone outside of the four walls of the church we can brush it off and justify it by saying “since they don’t know Christ, they don’t know any better.” It seems to be easier to forgive and move on. But when we are “shot” by a fellow brother or sister in Christ brushing it off proves to be a bit more challenging. We have a tendency to hold our brothers and sisters in Christ to a higher standard, and rightfully so. But, when we are “shot” by one of them it can make the pain that much harder to take. I recently had a situation happen in my life that caused such disappointment in my heart I didn’t even know what to do with it. All I wanted to do was justify myself, but the Holy Spirit would not allow me to walk down that path at all, I just needed to keep quiet on the subject matter and allow the Lord to work out “all things for the good” (Romans 8:28). In light of this, I was forced to do some searching. “God, what should I do? How do I respond?” I was reminded of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:39 “to turn the other cheek.” Along with this verse, the Lord reminded me of a previous post I had written entitled “Our Defense Mechanisms.” Yet again, the Lord is bringing me back around to test me at my words. In that post, I had challenged you all to copy that list down, know it and then when a situation arose you would know what to do. I was faced with one of two choices, I could take this list and apply it to my disappointed heart and crushed spirit, or I could throw out all that God had taught me. Somehow, sticking to the word of God seemed like the better of the two choices here. So, I found myself pulling out that list “How to treat those who hurt us” and doing some warfare with it. In light of this particular situation, I found my list was missing one key element that I needed for healing to take place in my heart in this particular situation. Now, I realize that this list was written in light of our enemies, but it really can be applied to any situation in which we are hurt by someone, be it a fellow Christian or not.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

• Respond with forgiveness

Paul is writing this letter to the Christians of the church of Ephesus. He is not addressing how we should treat the nonbeliever. There are many other portions of scripture that address forgiveness where the target of our forgiveness is not so specific, in other words, we are called to forgive the sinner as well as the saint. But in this particular case Paul is clearly addressing Christians so we can see that our responsibility to our brothers and sisters is kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. What a challenge forgiveness can be sometimes, especially when part of us wants the other person to “feel our pain.” Forgiveness can often be a huge exercise in the area of faith. We are called to forgive even in the face of being “shot” by other Christians. We are to forgive in those moments of disappointments. We are to forgive when our brothers and sisters do not act like Christ. We are to forgive when it hurts. We are to forgive in those times when we feel justified for holding onto our grudge. We are to forgive when we want the other person to “pay.” What it all boils down to is this... We can not control the behavior of others, but we can control the way we respond to them, and our response should be the way Christ would respond, with forgiveness.

The other area of forgiveness that we must also take into consideration is not just in the area of forgiving others, but we must also forgive ourselves. We mess up, miss the mark, and fall short of the glory of God each and every day. We can choose to hold those mess-ups over our own heads and allow them to weigh us down or we can choose to lay those things at the foot of the cross and extend the hand of forgiveness to our own heart. I don’t know about you, but I personally find it harder at times to forgive myself than to forgive others. I have a tendency to carry around my shame and guilt and much like a broken record, I keep replaying these moments of mishaps. The Lord desires forgiveness for our hearts just as much as He desires forgiveness for the hearts of others. He wants us to walk around in freedom, not under an umbrella of condemnation. Forgiving ourselves is one of the keys to walking a victorious life in Christ.

I choose this day to rehearse the things on the list, “How to treat those who hurt us,” and I choose to walk in forgiveness both for the one who did the “shooting” and for myself. I do not know the outcome of the situation, but I know that when I do my part the Lord is ALWAYS faithful to fulfill his part at the perfect time. He is never late. And whatever the circumstance He will work all things for the good (Romans 8:28).

Lord, I thank you that you are in control of all things. I thank you that the situations we find ourselves in you knew about long before we ever saw them coming our way. You know how to work out all things for the good. Your word says that you know the plans you have for us. You have plans to give us a hope and a future. I thank you that whatever “wounds” we may acquire on this walk with you that they are not meant for our harm. You desire to work in us a Christ-like character, and in order to become more like Christ, we have to walk through the tough things of life. Help us in this area of forgiveness. It can be so hard at times, but we know that when we walk in forgiveness we are becoming more like Christ. Help us not to rehearse those moments we mess up. Help us to forgive ourselves just as freely as you forgive us. Thank you for being patient with us as we learn to walk in your ways each and every day.  

Related Posts: "Our Defense Mechanism," "Hurts," "Extending The Hand Of Forgiveness," "Testing My Words," and "Echoing The Heartbeat Of God"

I Desire

I woke up one morning thinking about all of the things I desired to be in my life. I began to write them down just as fast as they came to me. It was like a river flowing from my heart. I had trouble keeping up with the thoughts that were flooding my heart that particular morning. I just thought by sharing this list with you it might spur you on toward thinking about the desires God has put on your heart.

I Desire

I desire the type of relationship with my Lord that drives me to think about Him the very moment I wake up and not stop thinking about Him until the very moment I fall asleep at night.

I desire to praise my Lord with my innermost being, with all that I have, all that I am, and all that I will become.

I desired to be a daughter of the living God one who gives back in obedience. One who loves with every ounce of her being the Father who created her.

I desired to put on the full armor of God each and every day so that when the flaming missiles of the enemy come they will not penetrate, they cannot hurt, they will not harm any portion of my spirit, my heart, or my soul.

I desire that each day I open my Bible to read the word that I'm going to receive a fresh understanding, and a fresh revelation of who God is.
I desire to be continually aware of the character of Christ that is being poured into my life in order to be formed into the woman of God that I have been called to be, to bring glory and honor to His name.

I desire the word of God to dwell in me so richly and when the battles come there is no mistaking whom I serve.

I desire to pray with a fervency that never runs dry, to enthusiastically look forward to speaking to my Father each and every day.

I desire to know the Lord more intimately each and every day, not to grow lazy in sowing the seed of God’s word in my heart, but to know my God more today than I did yesterday, to love my God more today than I did yesterday, to see my God more today than I did yesterday and to hear my God's voice more clearly today then I did yesterday.

I desire to be jealous for the Lord just as He is jealous for me.

I desire to run and not grow weary to walk and not faint.

I desire to be a wife fully supportive, fully loving both towards my husband and towards my Heavenly Father.

I desire to have the type of  marriage that is flowing with a love for the Lord, a love for one another, and a love for others.
I desire to hold the the hands of my husband up in prayer, to lay him at the feet of Jesus so that He can work and move in his life freely without any limitations on my part.

I desire  to have the types of relationships I see in so many of the precious couples who set a beautiful example of biblical marriage.

I desire to be a mother full of love, one who is tenderhearted and compassionate towards her children.

I desire to be a mother that is overflowing with patience, one who nurtures a spirit of peace in the home.

I desire to be an example of what Jesus looks like, acts like, and sounds like to my children each and every day. I desire to be the mirror of Christ.

I desire to be a daughter full of wisdom hope, love and compassion.

I desired to be a daughter quick to see the needs, quick to respond, and quick to meet those needs.

I desire to be a sister who supports in prayer and who loves through her actions. One who rejoices in times of rejoicing and who mourns in times of  morning. One who is flowing with an abundance of love.

I desire to be a friend quick to listen slow to speak and slow to become angry.

I desire to be a woman of faith full of hope and overflowing with love and compassion.

I desire to be a neighbor who cares. A neighbor who meets needs. One who takes the time to talk with and cares for those around her.

I desire the types of relationships that are ever flowing with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.

I desire to stand with the family of God in such a way that a I become inseparable, immovable and unshakable.

These are just a few of my hearts desires. I pray that by reading this list you too will be will be inspired to fan the flame in your heart, to fulfill the things that God has for you in each of your relationships. I pray that you are going to begin to see the things that God has for you, the people He wants you to influence, the places He wants you to go, the things He wants you to do, and the character He wants to build in your heart. May this little list influence you to grow in your heart a desire to go deeper with the Lord each and every day.