Overcoming Tailormade Temptations. Part [11] 12/23/2023 Evening thought)

Luke 4:And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

[The Desire of Ages pp 119] The word of God was Christ's assurance of His divine mission. He had come to live as a man among men, and it was the word that declared His connection with heaven. It was Satan's purpose to cause Him to doubt that word. If Christ's confidence in God could be shaken, Satan knew that the victory in the whole controversy would be his. He hoped that under the force of despondency and extreme hunger, Christ would lose faith in His Father, and work a miracle in His own behalf. Had He done this, the plan of salvation would have been broken.

We cannot turn stones into bread, even if we tried, and therefore, if Satan could get Jesus to use Divine power to deliver Himself when faced with hunger as we mortals often face hunger, then Jesus would, by so doing place victory entirely out of reach for the human family.

The reason for this is that Jesus would be using ways and means that are not inherently available to any of us, and if Christ were to go that route it would’ve been a virtual admission on God’s part that it is not possible for human nature to control the impulses and clamors of the flesh. And then, if this is the case, then there must be an original flaw in God’s creation of man, thus making it virtually impossible for him to overcome, and by extension, placing all the blame for Adam and Eve’s failure, squarely on God.

Deuteronomy 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night” and God bless!

Overcoming Tailormade Temptations. Part [10] 12/22/2023 Morning thought)

Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Now we turn to Jesus, who was also the target of 3 tailormade temptations, only in this instance, satan doesn’t have any historical archives of observations of latent tendencies as he did with David. Therefore, his strategy must of necessity be different, although the temptations will also be tailormade to suit the Person of Christ.

Throughout the ages, the devil correctly observed, and concluded that the way to a person’s mind is often through their stomach, and throughout each successive generation that has come upon the face of action, he has had almost 100 % success, starting with Adam and Eve, continuing with Noah and many of God’s people throughout history.

And since Christ, in His mortal incarnate state has to eat at some point in time, it’s just a matter of satan prepping the time and place, so as to tackle Jesus at His most vulnerable point. To ask Jesus to turn stone into bread, when Jesus was not hungry would have no impact, or appeal whatsoever.

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!