Have you ever encountered the devil?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

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, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

” `He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
(Matthew 4:1-11 (NIV))

Have you ever encountered the devil?

Have you ever encountered temptation that was so enticing that it was hard to resist?

How did you react? Did you resist?

Chances are that, being human, we have all failed this test miserably on many occasions. Was the end result what the temptation promised that it would be? Is it ever what we expect it to be?

Jesus gave us an example of how we are to face temptation and resist the devil.

What did Jesus do in the face of temptation?

He quoted passages of scripture. He quoted the Word of God as His defense against the temptation. For every circumstance that the devil threw His way, Jesus responded with scripture that put the devil in his place. Finally, Jesus told the devil to leave Him alone. He told Satan that God’s Word instructs us to worship and serve God only.

Satan left!

Do we have the ability to resist Satan in this manner? It looks like it requires a few things of us.

1. We must know God’s Word and what it instructs us to do.
2. We must not retreat from God’s Word and its instructions.
3. We must be consistent in our knowledge of God’s Word and its application.
4. We must expect to be victors over our temptations.
5. We must not be afraid to tell Satan to leave us alone!

Do we, individually and corporately as the Body of Christ, possess the ability to do these things? Can we resist what the devil puts in our way? Can we resist the things of this world?

I pray that we do, for if we don’t, are we truly part of the Body of Christ!

Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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