Have you ever taste something that seemed so good, but when you proved it, it wasn't at all ?
When you're hungry and the urge to eat strikes, anything that's within reach for your immediate goal of eating can be considered, but as the saying goes, "those in a hurry eat raw."
That food that seemed so tasty turns into a big frustration when you try it. The first few moments you don't even notice the real taste, everything seems fine, but after a while the message your taste recognition system sends to the brain is hard to swallow!
Before beginning his ministry, Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted. As a test of his trust in God, he was tested in his faith.
"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, - If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread". The Gospel according to Matthew, Chapter 4 verse 1-3
Desert is a place of loneliness, necessity, lacking, it's where you show what really deep in your heart is.
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert, in other words he was there by God's will, it was heaven's plan for his life.
In fact, it's not easy to go through a situation that can be described as a desert, it often happens to us. Hunger stage" brings anguish and weakens us, and that's when the tempter arrives. At the height of the need, the idea, proposal or opportunity to put an end to that anguish is tempting.
Vulnerability to the situation is the chance for alternative proposals to thrive in our hearts. Have you ever noticed that the most tempting and "irrefutable" opportunities come along just when you need them most?
The temptation to resolve your situation independently of God's will hits hard at this time.
And how did Jesus respond?
Jesus answered: "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Verse 4
He was aware that this desert situation was God's will for his life, and he had to submit until God himself released him, as in fact happened later.
Notice the strategy Jesus uses to win, he uses the word, "(...) man shall not live by bread alone (...)" is a quote from the book of Deuteronomy
"Remember how the Lord, your God, led you all the way through the desert for forty years to humble you and test you, to know your intentions, whether you would obey his commandments or not. So he humiliated them and let them starve. But then he fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors knew, to show you that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." Chapter 8, verse 2 and 3
Passing through that desert on the way to the place promised to Israel meant trusting in the promise that God would take them there as he had said. Trusting in God's word regardless of the circumstance, the need and before seeing the actual conclusion, that was the purpose, to trust that God knows what he is doing and will do what he has promised
James, the brother of Jesus, writes in his letter to the brothers:
"My brothers, consider it a source of great joy that you are going through various trials; then you will know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. But perseverance must be complete, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Chapter 1 verses 2-4 NIV
Desert works on our character, makes us mature and prepares us for God's purpose for our lives. And every child of God will go through one or more deserts in life, that's a fact, the question is when the Lord himself leads you into this time of "famine" will you be prepared?
We estimate that Jesus began his ministry around the age of thirty, so it was at this time that the temptation of the forty days in the desert took place. He was victorious over the opportunity to end the famine early and overcame two other temptations using the word as his foundation against tempting proposals, so when it was over, it was over and he was served by the angels.
He was prepared, he had the word of God in his heart. Jesus' victory in the desert over himself (his hunger, his natural needs and desires) and over the temptation that the enemy threw at him began much earlier, when he filled his mind and heart with the word, it was the word that gave him victory.
If that's how it was with him, how do you and I expect to overcome the temptation of the deserts without filling ourselves with the word of God?
I've heard many stories about people who knew God and succumbed to the temptation to turn any opportunity into a solution to satisfy their needs, regardless of God's will. As well as becoming entangled with darkness, it didn't take long for them to discover that that bread was stone and couldn't satisfy.
Needless to say, they didn't spend any time in the Word, they lived their Christian lives in such a shallow way that it was easy to succumb to the tempter's proposals.
Make no mistake, you and I are no better than anyone else, only a life dedicated to being filled with the word of God will be able to overcome temptation, because it is the word constantly within the mind and heart that will act at the necessary time.
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