Hello and welcome. Our quiet time today is from the book of Luke 4:1-13, popularly known in the scriptures as the temptation of Jesus. But I term it the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life 1 John 2:16. Today we shall be looking at the lust of the flesh.
The bible says in Luke 4:1-2 that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The bible says that in those 40 days he did not eat anything. I guess it is safe to say that Jesus was humanly weak. I know I would, even when I fast for a day, I get weak during the course of the day. Sometimes I get cranky and have to withdraw so that I do not start responding from my flesh. But in the case of Jesus he was not only hungry (Luke 4:2), the bible says that he had the devil to contend with full time.
I am pretty certain that the devil was mighty pleased to tempt Jesus. But then I wonder why because he knew that Jesus was the lamb who was slain or did he? I believe Jesus agreed to it to set an example for us as believers. As believers in Christ, Jesus is our model and if he could be tempted, then we can be tempted. Also, he was tempted when he was weak, while it alludes to physical weakness, weakness can be in diverse aspects of our lives. It could be physical, emotionally, psychological, even spiritual when we have not been communing with the Holy Spirit. So the thing here is to be very careful as the devil can take advantage of our weakness.
Also, the bible says that the Holy Spirit was the one who led Jesus away to be tempted. Now isn’t that strange. Most times, we would think of the Holy Spirit as leading us away from temptation not towards it. But I guess it goes to show that God wants us to not only grow through the trials that come with temptations but also to be refined, build perseverance and be confident in him. This way we can become effective in the kingdom but he is always with us Matthew 28:20 every step of the way. He helps us to grow and be strong in him and in the power of his might. The Bible admonishes us as such in Ephesians 6:10-13 In fact, Ephesians 6:12 warns us that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against Satan and his army. As a result, Ephesians 6:13 tells us that we should put on the whole armor of God, so that when the devil decides to strike, we will overcome him.
I translate this to mean that God wants us to grow and be confident in him Romans 5:3-5. This is evident in fiery trials and tribulations we go through that seems like we may become surmounted. We can get tempted to give up but the bible urges us not to give in and after we have done all we can do to stand, to still stand (Ephesians 6:13). God wants us to be strong in him because he is able to carry us, he wants us to trust him because he is able to help us overcome any issues in our lives Isaiah 41:10; 2 Timothy 1:17. He wants us to be confident in him.
Pretty much like the eagle and how it teaches its eaglets to fly. The eagle flies high with the eaglet and then leaves the eaglet to learn how to use its wings by leaving it to fall. After a while the eagle flies back and carries the eaglet back on its wings. This way the eaglet learns to use its wings to fly, but in the process, trust is built with its mother too. So when we are going through tough and trying times, we should see it as God teaching us to use all that he has given us to grow (fly) in character and learn to trust in him. This way, when stiffer challenges come our way, we will be confident to stand in him and overcome.
Now that we know, that God lets us be tempted by the devil, what kind of temptations do we face or encounter in our lives.
Lust of the flesh – Luke 4:2-3, says that Jesus was hungry and in Luke 4:3, the devil said to him to command the stones to be changed to bread. Not only to change stone to bread but show off his power in a prideful manner. So, why change the stone to bread? to show that Jesus could fulfill his own needs outside of God. There are a lot of times we are often faced with this temptation. Things we want that satisfy our flesh, it could be a need such as money to buy food, or shelter and it seems that God is not meeting our need nor is he listening to us. It could be a need such as a life companion that seems long overdue with no prospects on the horizon. Are these needs of their own bad? No, they are not, but how we go about fulfilling them is where the temptation comes in.
The devil mainly comes when we are weak (Luke 4:2) and then tries to take our attention off of God to other means. He can make us start looking to ourselves, or other people that God has not sent us to. By so doing, if we get what we want one time, we will start to think that we are sufficient by ourselves. After a while, this deception makes us more self dependent. We become dependent on ourselves, our wisdom, our skills and our abilities. But this is a deception Ephesians 6:10; Genesis 3:1-5. God wants us to depend on him for everything.
Why? Because he made us and knows what is best for us, when it is best for us and how it is best for us. When we look to our own ways, the tendency is for us to drift further and further away from God, which is a great deception from the devil. Inevitably it means that we grow closer and closer to the devil as we can become prideful in our own ways and more trustful in our flesh. We learn the ways of the world and start to compromise our integrity more and more, until we become someone we no longer recognize. This is a snare and leads to no good. That is why the bible says that the arm of flesh shall fail us (1 Samuel 2:9; Jeremiah 17:5; Psalm 118:8-9. Thank God, Jesus defeated the devil using scriptures, which is the way we too are meant to use scriptures. So it is important to be grounded in the word of God, both to know God, and to be victorious over the enemy when he attacks us.
We will look at the lust of the eyes in our next post. But if you are not born again. Then permit me to share the gospel with you. The Bible says that we are separated from God because of sin. The Bible also says that God loves you and me so much that he sent his son Jesus to die for us John 3:16. If you receive him, you will have salvation that is eternal life and you will be reconciled back to God. But if you reject him then nothing but eternal damnation awaits you which is not God’s plan for you.
Why you may think do I need God, particularly as we like to do things our own way, and go along the path that we believe is best for us (Romans 3:23). Because the bible says that God created man for himself (Genesis 1:27, Ephesians 2:10, Revelations 4:11). We are made in God’s image not to live our lives for ourselves. If we are honest, doing things our own way has often resulted in an emptiness that we unable to fill. That emptiness is made for God alone to fill, for us to live our lives for him the way he planned it lies the true path to fulfillment.
If you would like to know God, you can say this simple prayer, “dear God, forgive me of my sins, I admit that I have rebelled against you by being the lord of my own life. Please come into my heart and help me know you, in Jesus name”.
That’s all, if you say this prayer, you are automatically grafted into the family of believers. Let me say welcome to the family where your life will never be the same again (courtesy of the Holy Spirit). I encourage you to get into a bible based church the Spirit will lead you to and enjoy your new birth. God bless you. I love you.
Please contact me! I will be glad to hear from you.