Resisting Satan's temptations (Part 2)

You can see part 1 here.

Temptation 3

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’

What is Jesus tempted with?

Here he is tempted to test God. Once again Satan asks him to prove that he is God's son, the messiah. Satan asks him to prove that the promises of the Old Testament are about him. This wasn't in itself a bad thing - to prove that he was God, but once again it would involve taking things to his own hands and not waiting for God's perfect timing.

Satan is tricky. He often will tempt us Christians by making something seem right from God's word. He'll make us think: "Lying isn't sinful, because the commandment just says that we shouldn't give false witness against our neighbour", causing us to ignore other bits of God's word like Colossians 3:9. He did it to the Pharisees in Mark 7:9-13.

How does Jesus respond? He counters simply with God's word and doesn't do it. 

What do we learn?

• We need to rely on God's timing, not our own
• We need to know our bibles well to both respond to Satan's temptations and know when he is tempting us by taking verses out of context.
• We need to be alert and on guard - Satan is crafty, we are slow.
• We shouldn't test God. We should just put our faith in him, trust that he is good and that he will keep his promises. 
• Satan knows that he is tempting us with evil, he doesn't need us to explain God's word. When we are talking to people it is good to explain how verses fit together, even when they sound like they contradict. With Satan we need to just fight him with God's word, not our own. 

What was the Result?

"When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time."

Satan lets up for the time being, but he doesn't give up. He is stubborn and persistent, he is like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour, and he waits for the right time. He is crafty and we need to be on guard because he is good at what he does. He is the father of lies (John 8:44) and he's been lying since the beginning.

James 4:7 says: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." God always keeps his word and if we resist Satan he will flee from us. He has no power aside from what God allows him to have, and he cannot tempt us beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). That means that we can resist him and that he Will flee from us when we do. 

He may not flee straight away. He may tempt us a lot, he may make it very hard for us, but he will flee - not because we are strong (we aren't), but because God promises it and God never breaks his promises. Nevertheless: Stay on guard - he is always looking for opportunity to attack us, God's people.

How do we resist him? We submit to God. We know and obey his word. We live entirely for him, not ourselves. Most of Satan's temptations here came down to not trusting God or his timing. Likewise with us, they are usually about not trusting that God's way is best. He tempts us to put ourselves in God's place.

I hope this study has been helpful to you - I enjoyed looking into it and thinking through it a little.

How are you resisting the devil in your life? Are you submitting to God?

God's timing is perfect

Luke 2:1-7

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Let's just take a look at this passage for a moment. I think I have half a weeks worth of posts to make out of it, but here's the first one:

God's timing is perfect. And it isn't always what we want.

Have a think about this scenario. Mary is pregnant. Not just a little pregnant, but without research I'd assume she'd be nearing the end of her

Pregnancy. And Caesar decides to call a census. How is this God's timing? Well if we believe that God is in control (and he is) then it is under his control, and it also fulfills his word.

As a result Mary and Joseph have to travel to Bethlehem to register. I don't know where they were before this, but Mary is nearing the end of her pregnancy and is now forced to travel, on foot or maybe on donkey to another town, possibly quite some distance away. 

Without ever being in that situation, id guess it would be pretty stressful, pretty hard and pretty inconvenient.

But wait, it doesn't end there. God's perfect plan not only calls them to move at such a stressful time, but to move while everyone else is

Moving too. This is good for the sake of protection on the journey, but when they get there there is no accommodation.

I've been on a few family holidays, and it's stressful enough when you've booked a place but can't find it. Joseph with a very pregnant Mary not only couldn't book a place (there were no telephones back then) but they couldn't find anywhere to stay. Not a single place.

Stressful, hard and extremely inconvenient.

Then, according to God's perfect plan, that's when Mary goes into labor - in a stable, probably with animals around, probably in a pretty unhygienic position.

Yet we have a perfectly sovereign God who not only knows everything but controls everything. 

Life won't always be easy. Maybe it won't even often be easy. Maybe it's never easy for some. But God is always in control, he never forgets or breaks his promises, and he Never lets us be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) 

There are so many lessons to learn in these verses, so many things I want to talk about - Gods faithfulness, the fact we never hear Joseph or Mary complaining, etc.

But here's what I want to say today. No matter what is going on in life, no matter how stressful, hard and inconvenient it is, God is good, he is in control and if you are a Christian you can trust that he not only has it under control but that he works in everything for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). 

God has a plan, and he accomplishes that plan in his perfect timing. He never promises that it will be easy or nice, but it is good, he is faithful and we can trust him completely.

One more brief glance at this event. It was undoubtedly hard, stressful

And inconvenient. But through it God didn't simply fulfill some of his promises. He began his work to bring  about the salvation of every person who puts their faith in him.

Are you trusting in God's perfect timing? Are you trusting that he will do what is right and good even of its not what is easy for you?