Today's Passage - Luke 4:3-12

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 4:3-12   The devil said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.'...  The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  And he said to him, 'I will give you all their authority and splendor...  So if you worship me, it will all be yours...'  The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.  'If you are the Son of God,' he said, 'throw yourself down from here.  For it is written: "He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully..."'  Jesus answered, 'It says: "Do not put the Lord your God to the test."'   From the scripture passage that describes the temptation of Jesus, we can see that preparation is needed in order to face temptation.  Holy Spirit led Jesus to the desert for 40 days so that He could prepare in the spirit, for Jesus did not eat because He wanted to fast and pray.   In spiritual warfare, fast and pray is a good exercise for preparation.  Matthew 17:21 recorded a case when disciples could not cast out a demon, and Jesus clearly told them that such kind of demon will not be cast out without fasting and prayer.   Fasting is not begging God for something, but it's for equipping ourselves to face warfare.  Fasting normally has a specific purpose, like when Jesus was preparing for the temptation.  We need to come before God and seek Him with a pure heart; we need to set aside things of the world so that we can hear God's voice.   Additionally, filling by the Holy Spirit is also a critical part of the preparation, as we see that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to pray in the desert for 40 days.  The devil tempted Jesus in two ways: deception and accusation, which I character as Satan's left hook punch and right hook punch.  In verse 3 and 9, the devil said twice "if you are the Son of God."  Jesus was obviously the Son of God, but the devil's scheme was to make Him have doubts about it, just like how the devil tempted Eve by saying to her "did God really say..."  In verse 9, the devil quoted Psalm 91:11-12, but omitted a part of it, because God never told us to jump down a cliff, but rather God just said that He will guard us in all our ways.  The devil was trying to deceive Jesus by distorting God's word.  "If you are the Son of God" is also an accusation, as the devil was questioning how Jesus could be the Son of God and how was it possible for the Son of God to be so weak.  The devil often accuses and tempts us to have doubts about our status as children of God and that we are not worthy of God's grace.  We are indeed unworthy of God's grace, but we received His grace completely because God's mercy came to us.  May God help us to understand the deception and accusation by Satan, and to know how we can resist the devil in our daily life.           Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I once again come before you with thanksgiving.  I pray blessing on all brothers and sisters; if any of them is encountering temptation by Satan through deception and accusation right now, in the victorious name of Jesus I rebuke all the work of the devil.  I proclaim that they will receive freedom in the spirit and defeat the enemy by the truth.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!