Standing on the Living and Powerful Word of God!
Everyone who truly loves and treasures the Word of God knows and understands the thrill of “finding” something in it that even though you’ve read it COUNTLESS times before, you NEVER “saw” it the same way and are absolutely amazed that you could have ever missed something so significant. Well, that’s what happened to me last night when one of the FAM members, Dawn in Illinois, posted the following message in The Family Room on the private site:
When the devil tries to attack with negative thoughts about our spouses and our circumstances, we have to learn to speak the Word back to him. I had previously read Luke 4:1-13 and I knew about Jesus being tempted, but when I read it today, I had a new understanding. Jesus was tempted and his mind was attacked by the devil, but he fought back with the word of God…and the devil fled away from him. But the devil knew the scripture as well, and he tried to use it to tempt Jesus to jump off of a mountain! And Jesus fought back with scripture. I hope this is a blessing to someone that might be battling negative thoughts. We don’t have to, because we can fight those thoughts with scripture just as Jesus did in Luke 4:1-13.
The Temptation of Jesus
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.'” 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, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'” 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; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'” Jesus answered, “It says: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Wow! I could easily write a book on all that comes to my mind as I read this NOW; yet there’s no telling how many times I’ve read the same passage before! When Dawn originally posted this, she didn’t include the last verse, and I thought “Well, why in the world did she leave off the part about the devil fleeing and the angels coming to attend to Jesus?” So I went to get that to add to the post and boy was I surprised, because verse 13 here just says When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Yet, Matthew’s account of this in Matthew 4:11 says Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. And for some reason that’s the picture that’s always stuck in my mind, which is not wrong; it’s just not ALL of the story! And what a significant “rest of the story” this is!
As stated in yesterday’s post, the more awesome miracles we see God performing in the restoration of marriages and families, the more attack by the devil FAM members seem to be experiencing; especially those sharing their awesome praises and Restored Marriage Testimonies. And if I’ve said or written it once; I’ve probably said and written at least a thousand times how VITALLY important it is for us to TAKE OUR THOUGHTS CAPTIVE AND MAKE THEM OBEDIENT TO CHRIST AND THE WORD ( 2 Corinthians 10:3-6)! But I have to confess to occasionally feeling a bit frustrated by how difficult it is for some to grasp just how simple and powerful that is and that WHEN AND IF we DO it, the devil loses EVERY time. And then Dawn came along and expressed what I’ve tried so hard to get across in such a simple and clear fashion that it seems like everyone is hearing it for the first time! Now that’s the Holy Spirit at work! And she has it one hundred percent right…we don’t have to battle negative thoughts, because we can fight them with the Word of God the same way Jesus did, and when we do, the devil will flee! BUT it’s obvious that he’s going to come back again…at “an opportune time!” And that means we have to be prepared, which is why the Word is so important to us; it’s one of the most important weapons of our warfare! So it’s definitely in our best interest to make sure we know and understand the Word of God; as Jesus told the devil in Matthew’s account, we don’t live on bread alone, but on EVERY word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4)! And since we know that the devil is stalking around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:5-8), we also need to do what we’re supposed to do to avoid giving him those “opportune times!” And that’s where God’s promises of blessings and rewards when we just trust and obey Him (Psalm 37:4-6 and Proverbs 3:5-6) and humble ourselves under His mighty hand come in; they protect us from the wiles of the devil and keep us under the shelter of God’s love and protection. And that’s why we get God’s results WHEN we DO things God’s way! So get serious about studying and understanding God’s Word and you will be blessed and encouraged as you learn to effectively stand on the power and promise of God’s living and powerful Word for the full and complete restoration of your marriage and family!