October 15 Read Luke 4:13
Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
When the devil was unable to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, he finally gave up and left. But notice the scripture says “he departed until an opportune time. What do you suppose that means? You see, the devil is patient. He knew there would be other chances to tempt Jesus – and there were. In fact, the devil tempted Jesus to remove Himself from the cross, by saying “if you are the Son of God, save yourself.” And yet, Jesus resisted the temptation.
The lesson here is that temptation is not a one-shot deal. You will be tempted over and over and over. AND… the more you resist temptation, the MORE you will be tempted. Satan hates it when you resist him and refuse him. If thinks for one minute he’s losing you to Christ, he’ll try even harder to get you. While it may become easier to resist the temptations as you grow in your faith in God, it doesn’t mean they will stop coming. It just means the devil will become more creative, clever, and sneaky to try to get you.
See, Satan really doesn’t have to worry about those people who constantly give in to his temptations. But he does have to worry about those who follow Christ, because they are liable to convince others to follow, and that’s the last thing He wants. So, whom will you serve? Whom will you please? Choose wisely – choose God. Just say, “Get behind me, Satan!”
October 16 Read Job 1:6-12
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant, Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
It is good to look at other people in the Bible who were tempted by the devil and see how they handled it, since we could be “tempted,” ourselves, to just say, “It’s easy for Jesus to resist Satan, because he is the Son of God and not a mere ordinary everyday human being.” Well, Job was an ordinary human, and man, was he ever tempted! All sorts of things happened to poor Job, and you can read them all for yourself.
Because he was human, Job did question why God would let all of these bad things happen to him. He begged and pleaded with God to give him death and end his suffering. And his family and friends encouraged him to “curse God and die.” But he never gave in to the devil. He took every test he was dealt. And in the end, he cried out to God and said, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” And the Bible says all of Job’s losses were restored to him, along with his health, wealth, and prosperity. He lived a long time and died a very rich man.
October 17 Read 1 Chronicles 21:1
Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.
Suppose you were planning a party with some friends. You were in charge of inviting people, but your friend was in charge of the refreshments, and he/she told you there would be plenty of food there – chips, soft drinks, desserts – even pizza and sandwiches. Before the party, you talked to a few friends and decided there might not be enough food, so you ordered some more pizza, expecting your friends to help you pay for it when it arrived. When the pizza came, your friends were upset, because there was already plenty of food, and they refused to help you pay for it, and you didn’t have enough money, so you had to call your parents and borrow some more? How would you feel? Would your fellow party hosts be happy with you? Would you feel their anger and disappointment?
That’s just how it was for David in this scripture. He listened to the devil and ordered a census of all of the people in Israel so he could see how many people he had who were eligible for the military. Now God had already told David He would handle this for him, but Satan convinced David to go ahead and do it himself. And it was one huge mess. In fact, God was so mad he offered David a choice of three punishments – three years of famine, 3 months of defeat by his enemies, or 3 days of plague. David begged for mercy, but God sent the plague, and it cost him seventy thousand men!
Was it worth it? In the case of David, it most certainly was not. In the case of the party, it isn’t as extreme, but it could make your life pretty miserable for a while. So the next time you are tempted to listen to the voice of the devil in a situation, think on David and his census, and then rethink your situation.
October 18 Read Zechariah 3:1-5
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will cloth you with rich robes.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they out the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.
Zechariah was a prophet, and this was a vision that he had – a dream, if you will. In it, he saw the high priest, Joshua, standing before the Lord, and Satan was there, tossing all sorts of nasty accusations at Joshua. The Lord basically told Satan to get lost, that Joshua was special to Him, and He was going to reward him by forgiving any sins he had committed and robing him in “clean garments.” In many ways, this was a foretelling of how Jesus would wash away our sins and make us new and clean as Christians.
Has anyone every made ugly accusations against you? Maybe these accusations were all false, but perhaps some people believed them, just the same. How did that feel to you? Were you tempted to toss ugly accusations or comments back? Were you tempted to fight? I know that has certainly happened to me, and there was a time when I might have actually let Satan have the victory and answered my accusers. But that is not what Christ did, and that is not what we should do.
The next time you are tempted to issue a retort for false accusations or insults and hurts people have done to you, remember this scripture passage, and how the LORD will take care of the vengeance, and if you surrender to Him, and let Him have this situation, He will exchange the dirty garments of your hurts and disappointments – and sins – for clean robes and a clean turban. He has promised, as He promised Joshua, that you will be given places to walk among high priests. And I promise you, Satan will get what he deserves. Don’t let Satan have the victory over your life… resist temptation and cling to Jesus.
October 19 Read Acts 5:1-3
But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back a part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and he brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
Have you ever promised to give something to someone, and then you decided to keep part of it for yourself? Maybe you had some photos you took of you and a friend at a party, and you told your friend you would share them, but at the last minute, you decided to keep one of the “best” ones for yourself. You still had the negatives and could have made more copies at any point, but you decided that he/she wouldn’t miss this one photo, and you kept it out for yourself.
Now, this is a minor thing, you may think, but it speaks to your heart and your honesty. You told your friend you would give him/her copies of the photos you took. Then, for whatever reason, you kept a few for yourself and didn’t give them all away. Remember, the Bible says that God will not trust you with big things if He can’t trust you in the little ones. And once you start giving in to temptation in small, seemingly insignificant matters, it will get easier and easier to give in on large issues. Satan doesn’t need much – just a teeny tiny corner, and he can infiltrate our hearts. He loves this! Don’t give him the chance… be faithful in ALL things, no matter how small they may seem.
October 20 Read 1 Corinthians 7:5
Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
This scripture was written for husbands and wives, but I think it could also be directed at us with regard to any friendship or relationship with others. There are times when we need to be alone, to spend time all by ourselves with God, reading the Bible, praying, and just meditating in His presence.
But, we also need fellowship with other Christians. If we don’t spend time with other believers, we may be tempted to sin in some way. Other believers encourage us, uplift us, and help keep us accountable to God.
So, spend the appropriate time by yourself in communion with God, and then go look up a friend or family member who is also a Christian and spend some time with them. Don’t give Satan a chance to catch you off guard!
October 21 Read Genesis 3:6
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband, and he ate.
We all know this scripture. It’s the temptation of Eve by Satan. He showed her the beautiful, tasty apples, and she ate one, and then she showed it to Adam, and he ate one, too. This was the beginning of the sin of man, because God had told them specifically NOT to eat this fruit, and yet they listened to Satan, who told them it would not hurt anything – that actually God was just being selfish and not wanting them to do this because He knew that once they ate the fruit, they would be smart like God!
Every day, in a thousand ways, Satan tempts us. He shows us little “apples,” and says, “It won’t hurt a thing!” And he is very, very convincing sometimes. “It won’t hurt anything if you skip that class.” “Nobody will know.” “That’s not really that bad of a curse word.” “Everybody else is doing it!” Call out to God and ask Him for strength and protection. Ask Him to help you resist Satan at every turn. He will do it! He is waiting for your call!
©Debbie Robus 2004
No comments:
Post a Comment