IT IS DONE!

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said …” Matthew 4:1-3

It is important to state that although Jesus was led by the Spirit into His wilderness for the testing of His faith, He was not tempted by God. My commentary states that since the beginning of time God has tested the faith of His children, giving Satan a window to tempt us in our faith. ‘Satan tempts us in order to make us fall; God tests us in order to confirm our faith or prove our commitment to God.’ p. 39. With that being said, let us return to the wilderness to draw application to our lives. The second important note is that Jesus did not use any supernatural powers to fend off the evil one. He faced Satan toe to toe in the power of God instead of the strength of man. We are told that Jesus didn’t eat for forty days and was hungry when Satan came to him.

Who is hungry and weary in their wilderness? What sealed child of God is facing their circumstances with a depleted heart and empty strength? Once we are a child of God Satan can neither ‘snatch us from our Father’s hand’ (John 10:28), nor can he possess us, since we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. ‘Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.’ 2 Co. 1:21-22. Satan can only frustrate us and topple our faith in God, not our security in God. Like with Jesus, Satan comes to us at our weariest to rob us of our faith and confirm to God that we are not ready for our blessings. Since the beginning of time, Satan has convinced us that what God has promised is neither believable nor our reality. Gen. 3:1 states that Satan said to Eve, ‘Did God really say…? And she took the bait!

What bait are you taking today instead of believing God for His promises and faithfulness? Why do we give Satan such a stronghold in our beliefs? Satan has proven to be against us in every circumstance, and God has proven to be for us, and yet we doubt, worry and live our lives in anguish over things to come. We have to learn to not take the bait of Satan so that we can be successful in our times of testing. God is going to bless us according to our faith so may we all pray to God for the ability to stand toe to toe with Satan in our times of testing.

When Satan says ‘Did God really say…?’ may we respond with ‘It is done!’