What are you being tempted by? What are you trying to stay away from right now? What is your resolution for this season?
The truth is that we all are tempted and need resolve to these things. Being tempted is not a sin. Jesus himself was tempted. How He handled it is what we need to pay attention to.
In Matthew 4, the tempter came and did 6 things. Jesus did one. It was the 7th and the most powerful thing that gave Him authority, wisdom and strength over the tempter. It is no coincidence that the number 6 is the number of man (incomplete in perfection because of sin) and 7 is God’s perfect number of completion. Look at the order and what satan did to tempt Him. This is the same tactic he uses in our lives still…
- Satan will come to you first and say things to your mind. This is how he enters. He will question your identity in order to deposit doubt. He speaks empty lies and deceit.
- He will take you to places of compromise, so that you will seek your own power over the power of God. He will take you to a place where the approval of man is more important than the approval of God. This is so you will serve and hold the spirit of “the fear of man” higher than the spirit of God and His will.
- He will say twisted things that are not true. He is crafty and will use the word of God to deceive you by questioning and twisting it’s truth. He counterfeits everything that is of God and dilutes it, poisons it and contaminates it. He has no ideas of his own, so he uses God’s original word, truth and plan to deceive by calling good evil and evil good. It’s gradual and it is to desensitize you.
- He will take you to a place that leads you to lay down all morality, what is good and what is right, so you will pick up the the ways of the world, the sin of the flesh and ultimately worship to him. His goal is for you to idolize the world, it’s sin and the desires of your flesh. It is his counterfeit creation of death instead of life. The true creation and light is through the one and only true creator Elohim. Satan’s desires to be like God and wants to be worshipped by God’s creation. It is all self-serving and he uses us a puppets to seek retaliation for being cast down out of heaven. He intends to steal, kill and destroy us as vengeance against God. Where do you think the unholy fire of vengeance comes from? It is evil and fueled by hatred. He will take you farther than you ever intended to go, it will cost you more than you ever expected to pay and he will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay.
- He will show you things that are very enticing. They are appealing to your flesh. They look harmless and even glamourous on the outside. They seem full of glory and elevation, but on the inside there is death, destruction, rot and cancer. It is the slow shedding of all life, goodness wholeness, love, peace, joy, kindness, patience, thankfulness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. The glory and worship of the world and the sin of your flesh will rob you of all the Holy Spirit gives you! James 4:4 says that “friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Whoever wish to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
- He will speak lies of false-hope. He will make promises he doesn’t intend to keep. He will tell you that you “have nothing to lose” and your gain is a limitless indulgence to sin, the world and self. He will tell you to live for the moment. It won’t matter. Indulge! He promises happiness he cannot give. There is nothing good in him. His promises are only to entice you into sin and trap you into believing there is no way out. This is mind control and this is where real warfare is! The hopelessness of no way out is where he wants you. This is where he will promise that if you take your life, all the things he has trapped you in will end. This is his ultimate goal and lie!!
- You must tell him to go! Matthew 4:10 says, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go satan!’ For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” This is the perfect authority of God almighty that you have in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit and His word. It is Jesus’ completion of death and resurrection life that we can command the devil to go in Jesus’ name and he has to obey. Holy Spirit will fight on your behalf and win battles you cannot fight on your own, but you have to want to be free and be willing to fight. His word is your weapon! It is truth that has the ability to separate the darkness from the light and to give you power, wisdom and insight that the tempter wants to keep you from. “Submit, therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee.” James 4:7
The Walk 