Fighting the battle where the battle belongs.

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil." {Matthew 4:1}

Is the devil coming at you spiritually to destroy you with anger, stress, lust, or any other trick he may have to lead you into alcohol, drugs, gambling, sexual sin? These are lies that satan has man to believe will ease the pain.

Stop! It's only going to destroy you, and the people around you, that you love. That is what satan wants.

I once tried to ease my pain also with alcohol, anger, and sexual sin. It only led to destroy me and my family. It was the example satan used through others around me to destroy me. There is a better Way, and a Way that brings success.

GOD gave us instructions through Christ Jesus on how to be victorious in this battle with our enemy. (satan). We must turn the attack back at satan. We must not do this alone however. GOD promises us in scripture that HE will be beside us in this battle. Notice in Matthew 4:1 earlier that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. The Spirit had his "flank" as He went into the battle, or the wilderness. It states that Jesus was going into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil (satan). He knew that He was going to fight. But He had confidence knowing that GOD through HIS Spirit was with Him. Jesus was not going into the battle alone. He had the whole armor of GOD on, every piece that the Apostle Paul talked about later in Ephesians 6:10-18. Jesus didn't waste any time after His baptism to take care of the battle. He knew it was coming. It was His fight to fight, with GOD, and no one else's. He didn't include His mom, friends or family. He wasn't going to subject them also. He saddled up with GOD, and went to the battle in full battle rattle. We must not include our loved ones in anything satan is throwing at us. It is our fight that we have to fight against satan with GOD at our side.

"For forty days and forty nights He fasted and became very hungry." {Matthew 4:2} Jesus knew that through prayer and fasting, it would enable Him to fit into the whole armor of GOD. If we are bulging at the waist with our own pride, it is hard to put on the belt of truth and the body armor of GOD'S righteousness {Ephesians 6:14} required to do battle.

Jesus by praying and fasting was building His strength spiritually for the battle. The devil doesn't care if you go to church on Sunday or go to your bible study during the week, he doesn't want you to pray and/or fast. Prayer is a direct line between you and GOD that is critical. Especially when you pray scripture.

"During that time the devil came and said to Him, 'if you are the Son of GOD, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.'" {Matthew 4:3} The devil was aware that Jesus was hungry. We experience that also in our battle with satan. How many times do we hear from the "experts" to leave your marriage if you aren't happy. When we turn on the T.V. to watch a sporting event, all the commercials lead us to believe that we truly aren't enjoying the game unless we have a beer in one hand and a piece of artery clogging pizza in the other.

Jesus being and knowing the Word {John 1:1-5}, responds victoriously in this attack. "But Jesus told him(satan), 'No! The Scriptures say, 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of GOD.'"{Matthew 4:4} Jesus stood firm in this attack by satan by tightening His belt of Truth. {Ephesians 6:14} Jesus is Truth.. so He fought back with the Truth, confessing the truth in scripture. Jesus fired back with "People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of GOD." This was found in Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses was writing to the second generation of Israelite adults after the Exodus. A great read, I highly recommend it! So if we read scripture and know it, satan and/or people he uses can't deceive us. Read the bible people!

"Then the devil took Him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, "If You are the Son of GOD, jump off! For the scriptures say, 'He will order His angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone.'" {Matthew 4:5-6} Again satan trying to use scripture against Jesus.

How many times do we hear false teachings about what GOD teaches us in the bible? We often hear from non-believers..."Abraham committed adultery," or "Jesus turned water into wine." The devil will try to turn scripture around to benefit his agenda. Don't fall for it. Jesus shows us how to defeat the little weasel again in verse 7: Jesus responded, "The scriptures also say, 'You must not test the Lord your GOD.'"  Again Jesus refers back to Deuteronomy, chapter 6:16: Moses taught "You must not test the Lord your GOD as you did when you complained at Massah." (Soon after GOD rescued the Israelites from Egypt, they were in a place with no water. Instead of asking GOD for help, they complained and quarreled. This is where GOD instructed Moses to strike a rock to produce water. Moses named the place Massah, which means "test". {Exodus 17:1-7} ) Again, read and know your bible.

Next the devil took Him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 'i will give it all to You,' he said. 'if You will kneel down and worship me.'" {Matthew 4:8-9} It always seems more green and luscious on the other side of the fence. I have learned through my life experiences that it is only that way because there is more fertilizer there. Television is full of shows that glorify grand theft auto, robbery, blue and white collar crime. The devil wants us to believe that getting wealth by doing the wrong things is the best and easiest way. But as the liar that he is, he doesn't tell you that it won't last. And he fails to show you that you will be sharing a cell with bubba in which your impact for GOD'S kingdom will be limited to the inside of a prison. Again stealing you from your loved ones. Though GOD can turn a stay in prison for good, it shouldn't be your goal.

Jesus in verse 10 finally hands satan the victory blow, "Get out of here satan," Jesus told him, "For the scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your GOD and serve only Him.'" Jesus commanded and confessed to satan that He wanted no part of him. We must do the same thing, in our speech and our actions, when we are around others and our families, or when we are alone. Jesus taught in John 14:6.."I Am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

By showing others Jesus, and confessing Jesus to others, people and satan will see that you have Him in you. They don't know it because of the lies satan has given them, but there souls desire to be close to Him. They won't understand why they want to be around you. When you do this, you are serving Him. Which leads to victory and my conclusion. (LOL! Finally you are thinking)

Matthew 4:11....Then the devil went away, and the angels came and took care of Jesus. Wow! I don't know about you, but I need the angels to take care of me. I have learned that the world's and satan's ways of dealing with things don't work. I am good at messing everything up, if it is up to me. GOD teaches us in Matthew 4:1-11 how to deal with those things that the devil throws at us. We must accept Christ Jesus into our lives and accept what He did for us on the cross so we can have His Spirit. {Matthew 4:1} GOD will then be on our flank through His Spirit in the battle against satan.

Next we have to open up that line of communication with GOD through the Spirit and in Jesus's name through prayer, satan can not penetrate it. The little weasel will try to distract you, so get alone with the bible. Read it and pray, so you will know it. Then when satan and the world comes at you with lies and destruction, you will know the truth by GOD'S word.

Confess it and show it as Jesus did and satan will flee. In Christ Jesus, He gives us that power. May He Bless you and keep you....Chris {Psalm 91} P.S. read your bible!

"When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse.  So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders.  'I have sinned,' he declared, 'for I have betrayed an innocent man.'

'What do we care?' they retorted.  'That's your problem.'

Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.  The leading priests picked up the coins.

'It wouldn't be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,' they said, 'since it was payment for murder.'

After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter's field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners.  That is why the field is still called the field of Blood."  Verses 3 - 8

Power, greed, fame, and fortune are the goals and focus of those who are determined to be in control at all costs.  Depending upon the degree of a person's power-driven achievements in life will in a great degree reflect the absolute lack of conscience and loss of soul to satan. 

The well known British historian and moralist, John Action (1834-1902), made a statement that has traveled down through time:  "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Great men are almost always bad men."

The Lord Jesus always knew that Judas, the thief, would ultimately betray Him into the hands of the Pharisaic Priesthood.  The Lord also understood quite well that Judas was stealing donations from the ministry for his own pleasures.  Despite all of these "faults" the Lord never stopped loving Judas and ministering to him.   Judas was accepted by the Lord Jesus Christ without question, or reservation.

• Let me give you a thought for your consideration for this week:

Do you know a person who has a history of a "dominant sin"?  This strong-hold is a life threatening weakness in their personality.  Perhaps they simply cannot tell the truth and constantly exaggerate their purported achievements.  Maybe they have a problem with stealing things, or a pornography addiction, violence, alcoholism, drugs, profanity, arrogance/self-promotion at the expense of others.  You know what I'm talking about. 

• Eventually this satanic controlled strong-hold will ultimately destroy them and perhaps a number of victims as well.  It's called demonic control that leads to full possession.

Why in the world did Judas ever agree to compromise the security of the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples unto death?  What made him approach the Jewish chief priest with a plan to assist in the murder of an innocent man?

"Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, one the twelve disciples, and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them."  Luke 22, Verses 3-4.

Judas had a demonic strong-hold that controlled his life.  He could float "in and out" of his sins of greed, self-indulgence, and stealing.  In the end however when satan deems these strong-holds to be in his best interests, he will ultimately destroy his victims.  Satan's total and complete mission in the time remaining on earth is to possess, control, destroy, and kill as many people as he can. 

Think about the Army psychiatrist who walked into a room full of troops awaiting deployment, pulled out a handgun, and killed a number of unarmed troops.  We all read the accounts in our newspapers and shook our heads in confusion.  Why did he do this?

How about the college professor who was denied the recognition of tenure and did the same thing to her colleagues two weeks ago.  Why?

Satan controlled Judas because of his sins.  Judas enjoyed his sins and ultimately, when the timing was right, Judas led an armed group of men to betray his Lord.  After the Lord Jesus was condemned to death, Judas realized what he had done and the absolute depth of his sin.    

'I have sinned,' he declared, 'for I have betrayed an innocent man.'

Have you ever seen a person who has committed murder and later on has absolutely no recollection of their actions?  The college professor who recently murdered her colleagues had a similar reaction at the time of her arrest.  She clearly told the police when they handcuffed her for these murders that the victims were still alive and that the police had made a big mistake. 

The Lord Jesus Christ has taken away our sins.  The ultimate price has been paid on the Cross at Calvary.  That is NOT the problem.  We have a way to dump our sins and the satanic control of our lives.   The problem is that we like our sins.  We enjoy the temporal pleasures that our sins provide us.  We like Judas, will steal away into the dark recesses of our lives and allow satan to slowly kill us.  In the end, when our sins have eventually taken their final tolls in our lives, we look back and see the damage that we have allowed to occur in our life and others lives as well.

It is impossible to control satan and our sins outside of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ died on the cross that we could dump the sins that will ultimately kill us.  All we need to do to achieve victory in our lives is to submit to the Lord.  Call upon Him as our Lord and Savior and be free of satan forever. 

It is absolutely critical to understand good friend that unless we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, then satan owns us.  He is dedicated to killing you as quickly as he can so that you will forever joint him in the Eternal Lake of Fire.  You can read all about this in Revelations, Chapter 20.  Satan knows his time is short and he is going to kill as many people as possible before he burns for all eternity. 

• Sin is control.  
• Sin is death. 
  
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• Only the Lord Jesus Christ can protect us from sin and eternal death.  These are the absolute facts of eternal life.  They cannot be disputed. 

Love ya!   

Tom