The Essential Weapon

Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Matthew 4:11

It is important to notice that in this account of the temptations of Jesus, our Lord meets each temptation with the same weapon. It is the same weapon available to us all. He retreated immediately behind the Word of God. The minute he did so, the battle ceased. This is very important. Our continuing struggle comes because we are so reluctant to take our stand on God's revelation. We feel the force of the devil's alluring lie that we will gain something by this action or thought or attitude that is tempting us. We think if we don't do this thing, life is going to pass us by — we're going to lose something. And if we do it, we will gain a hidden kingdom which will be a satisfying and blessed experience. But when we retreat to what God says is the truth about it, we discover immediately the end of the struggle. This is the way to confront temptation, not with our weak, failing humanity, but with the power of the Word of God himself. When Satan finds himself up against that, he turns tail and runs.

I have a sign hanging on the wall in my study that captures three truths that oftentimes have been a source of deliverance for me in times of temptations that come daily, as they come to you.

• It is written. Proof enough. God has told us the facts about life.
• It is finished. Provision enough. On the cross, the Lord Jesus has done all that needs to be done to break the power of temptation in our lives.
• It is I. Presence enough. His indwelling life within us is constantly available to us in order to break temptation's power.

This is a radical, revolutionary thing. There are few who seem to step out into this kind of living, but wherever it is attempted, strange things begin to happen. Not that life becomes suddenly spectacular and people go around doing miracles, but in the quiet, daily experience of life, in the decisions that commonly come every moment to everyone, there is a quiet trust in the wisdom of God to meet each decision, and things begin to work out in unexpected ways, with unusual results. Extraordinary things follow ordinary activity, as God begins to work in human life. This is the secret of human life, as our Lord is demonstrating it, making it available to us as we by faith receive Jesus Christ, that his life may be lived again in us.

Thank you, Lord, for giving me everything I need to resist temptation. Your living word, your finished work on the cross, and your presence in my life are all I need.