Cairo: Jesus in Egypt & God's Unusual Leaning
God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a...
2 min read
Admin
:
Jul 15, 2018 11:00:00 PM
Temptation is hard. That’s because the lies of temptation sound so convincing. When Jesus stood on the pinnacle of the Temple, He faced temptation with a wisdom we also can apply.
(Photo: Temple Mount southwestern corner. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)
Some believe the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem represents the pinnacle where Satan dangled temptation before Jesus (Luke 4:9). Satan is the best marketer in the sin business.
A recent phone call reminded me of this.
When I answered the phone, the voice on the other end gushed: “Congratulations, Mr. Stiles, you’ve just won an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii!”
“No thanks.”
“You mean . . . you don’t want it?” Silence.
I hung up. It was a short conversation! Why? A solicitor never calls to give anything—unless he or she ultimately gets more back in return.
I have discovered the devil is the same way. Satan knows how to market to people. He’s been doing it a long time. From the beginning, in fact. He can stretch a thin skin of attractiveness over a heap of dung and convince you to climb it. The devil uses the lies of temptation as a down payment. He knows he gets back double for his investment.
He loses nothing. You lose it all.
Only after you enter sin’s doorway will you see that the facade that looked so enticing is actually propped up by a few two-by-fours. One strong wind will collapse the whole thing down on top of you.
What Satan accomplished in the Garden of Eden with Eve and Adam, he tried with Jesus as well at the pinnacle of the Temple. He stirred up doubt about truth of God’s Word or the good of God’s intention.
He tries the same lies of temptation with us.
Satan will offer us all the kingdoms of the world if we’ll only bow down and worship him. The tempter provides—for our destruction—alternatives to God’s best.
He hurls fiery darts at the essentials of our faith, including:
The solicitation is that you can have what you want right now rather than in God’s timing. Jesus’ response to Satan reveals that as a lie. Our Lord stood firm by believing God’s Word over the quick and easy substitute offered by the Adversary.
More than likely, God has been working on your heart in a certain area, but temptation has offered you reasons to refuse God—or excuses to justify yourself. Maybe it’s:
Probably, you have at least one area in your life God is calling you to change—and you recognize that it is right to do so.
All excuses aside, what really could be more important?
Tell me what you think: What helps you the most to stand firm in moments of temptation? To leave a comment, just click here.
Click here to leave a comment.
God seldom gives us all we need to understand, but He always gives us what we need in order to obey. The story of Jesus in Egypt as a boy offers a...
Roads are often built for one reason, but God uses them in our lives for another altogether. The Appian Way in Rome proved this so in the life of the...
Two gardens in the Bible, Eden and Gethsemane, provided the settings for two choices that brought opposite results. The Bible wildly contrasts these...