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Luke 4:13: And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Jesus had just been baptized and was "full of the Holy Ghost". He was at a high point spiritually and emotionally. The Spirit had just descended in the form of a dove and the voice from heaven had just confirmed God’s pleasure in Jesus. Then wham! Jesus is placed in a position of testing. A place where his responsibility of stewardship for the increase of his anointing would be put to the test.
Satan attacked where he believed Jesus would be most vulnerable, but Jesus recognized the subtleties of the attack and resisted the temptation of the enemy. But notice that the Word of God indicates that the enemy did not quit and leave Jesus alone permanently. The Scripture verse above declares that the devil departed FOR A SEASON. He would return again, and again, always attempting to thwart the God given destiny of Jesus.
In ministry, it is interesting (and often saddening) to see people cycling through the same personal difficulties over and over again and instead of recognizing the spiritual attack, blame another person or people, or a circumstance over which they have no God given control. Never recognizing that the enemy is waging an assault on them in the wilderness.
This often occurs soon after we believe that we finally have victory over an area of weakness in our lives. Things are going really great and then just like Jesus, wham! We are confronted with the same or a similar event that caused us great distress in the past. We are tempted to believe that a brother or sister in Christ has taken advantage of our "good nature", or they just "plain don’t like me". Yet, just like in the past, we go with our feelings rather than risk having the light of truth expose our error. So, relationships are severed, divisions in the church develop and we become hurt, frustrated and bitter. Worse yet, the enemy convinces us that we are better off being alone.
Jesus was given the ability to recognize the spiritual attack and so are you and I. Jesus was required to take godly action in the battle and so are you and I. Jesus was aware that the devil would return to try to deceive him again, and we also need to have that awareness. Each of us has areas of weakness that gives the devil an area to gain access to our lives. By first recognizing that our problems are not caused by external circumstances or "other people" we are able to focus better on what the Word of God has to say about dealing with the issues and the people in our lives.
As painful as it may appear to be to deal with Scripturally, (another deception) we each need to separate people and things from our focus of "the problems we are having". People and things are not our enemies. If you are angry with someone, Scripture clearly provides resolution, and leaves no hurt or bitter feelings between people. If you are in a financial mess, Scripture has clear solutions to the problem. But you cannot do it standing alone. The Bible declares that there is wisdom in the council of many. (But not in immature or Biblically ungrounded people). An unwillingness to accept godly council and holding you accountable to "anyone but God" is the formula for failure, and repetition of the same mistakes over and over and over and over and over again.
Making Jesus Christ Lord is more than just saying a prayer, it is allowing the Holy Ghost to lead us into the wilderness to be tested, made strong in the faith, so that we may become more conformed into the image of Christ. |