The Importance of Lent and the Temptations of Jesus in a Christian’s Life! Pt. 2.

19 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew 4:10.         Get thee hence, Satan (away with you): for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Ah mih people, like the good Lord has given us another day of life on this wonderful planet Earth! And though we’ve spoiled it, so that life now is oftentimes tough, we’re still thankful to be here, alive and kicking, rather than unalive below ground. (smile) And thankfully too, there’s no more dangerous precipitation like we had yesterday; just a cold, somewhat cloudy day. And we can live with that.

There’s also one other thing we cannot complain about this year, that’s SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), when we suffer symptoms like low energy, sleep problems, appetite changes, and loss of interest because of a lack of sunshine. For this year we’ve gotten quite a lot of sunshine with the cold weather, so we can’t complain. (smile)

Now let’s get to our topic for today, the continuation of  the importance of Jesus’ temptations. So, yesterday we saw where immediately after He was baptized by John the Baptist, He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, fasting for forty days and nights, then the devil came and tempted Him. All of it to build His faith, mental and emotional strength for the rather difficult journey He was about to embark on in His preaching ministry.

We saw too that when Jesus was terribly hungry after fasting, the devil tempted Him in that supposedly weak area, by saying if He was the Son of God, He could make bread from the stones around Him. But Jesus rebuked him with that famous statement: ‘It is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ (Matt. 4:4)

But that did not deter the tempter. The Bible tells us: ‘Then the devil taketh him (Jesus) up into the holy city, and sitteth him on a pinnacle of the temple. And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt (test) the Lord thy God.’ (Matt. 4:5-7)

Wow friends! The devil quoting scripture! Anyway, the scholars offer these explanation re those verses. ‘The second temptation took place in the holy city (Jerusalem) on the pinnacle of the temple, which towered above the Kidron Valley. Evidently Jesus was transported there by Satan’s power, and this time the devil quoted Scripture  (out of context) in order to get Him to sin and ultimately shake His faith in the Word. Satan used Psalm 91:11-12 urging Jesus to cast thyself down. Again Jesus replied with Scripture (Deut. 6:16)  that he was not to tempt God by such a presumptuous action. The very passage of scripture quoted by Satan actually goes on to promise God’s ultimate victory over him!’

So my brethren, we see that Satan also knows the Bible and can use it in devious ways to his advantage. That’s why we must know our scripture too, so when he tries to bamboozle us with it, we can quote like Jesus: ‘It is written.’ And here’s the scripture the scholars talk about that refers to victory over Satan in Ps. 91. ‘Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder (cobra): the young lion and the dragon (serpent) shalt thou trample under feet.’ (Ps. 91:13. The serpent there refers to Satan.

And the verse that Jesus quotes in reply to Satan is that spoken by Moses to the Israelites: ‘Ye shall not tempt (test) the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.’ (Deut. 6:16) That’s when they were in the wilderness with no water and they complained against Moses and God, and God had Moses strike the rock and produce water. (Ex. 17:1-7)

Then we come to the last of the great temptations. The Bible says: ‘Again, the devil taketh him (Jesus) into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan (away with you): for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.’ (Matt. 4:8-11)

But the boldfaceness of Satan! Imagine it nuh! He telling His Creator to bow down and worship Him, when it should be the other way around! But that should not surprise us, because it’s also the way some of us behave towards God, expecting Him to do as we desire instead of us doing His will.

And the scholars offer these explanations: ‘The third temptation takes place on an exceeding high mountain. The mountain is clearly real in the text, though its exact location is unidentified. Despite the grandeur of this temptation, nothing in the passage itself indicates that these temptations were only in the mind of Christ. Clearly, they are depicted as real experiences that actually occurred in the human life of the Messiah. That Satan, the usurper, would attempt to give the kingdoms of the world to Jesus, the Messiah, the rightful King, is the height of absurdity!

For Christ to fall down and worship Satan would have been to acknowledge the Devil’s lordship over Him. In His direct rebuke, Get thee hence, Satan, Jesus clearly asserts His lordship over the old serpent whose head he will soon crush. Matthew’s statement that Satan leaveth him shows that his order of the temptations is the chronological one. (cf. Luke 4:1-13).’ 

And that reference to Luke’s gospel, simply shows he has the last two temptations in a different order. And for our information, the quote Jesus uses in that last temptation could come any number of verses, such as, Deut. 6:13; 10:20; Ex. 20:1-5. Now, with all of that wonderful information under our belt, let’s go home declaring and thus activating our Thursday Blessings, so generously bestowed on us by the Lord to enable us to do His earthly work.

As one strong and sincere voice: ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! 

I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

And having made that declaration, we’re now duty bound to go out and use those undeserved blessings to help others, just as generously as the Lord bestowed them on us, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…Satan is a wily one…but he’s no match for us…when Christ dwells within us…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   21 February 2023 Matthew 4:7.

21 Feb 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Matthew 4:7.       Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt (test) the Lord thy God.

And it’s a cloudy Tuesday morning after our Family Day holiday, with a winter storm on the horizon. But let’s hope that we used yesterday to rebuild the dying embers of the family unit that’s oh so important to the smooth, safe and steady running of our society, and not simply as a day to party hearty. But yuh better believe that a lot of hearty partying will going on in places like Brazil and T&T because today is the biggest, as well as the last day of the Carnival festival, and everybody will come out to play their biggest and best mas today. For come tomorrow that sacrificing, self-denying season of Lent begins. 

And it never ceases to amaze and amuse me how one day we have no qualms about anything, anything goes, then next day, we so pious and holy and trying to be like Jesus as He spent forty days in the wilderness fasting and praying. Now, the sad thing is that I’ve been hearing that many people no longer even celebrate or recognize the Lenten season; every day is just like any other. What’s next eh? 

At least with Lent in our spirits, we had some vestige of God still remaining, but when you remove that too, then there’s nothing at all. Oh, we do celebrate Easter and Christmas, but even those celebrations have become so commercialized and secular that many supposed believers don’t even pay much attention to the spiritual aspects, but like the unbelievers use them as simply another chance to get their jollies on. 

And why is Lent so important to believers eh? Because it’s a time of spiritual cleansing of removing ourselves from all the frivolity and idolatry of the world. A lot of Lenten activity is based on fasting, but I believe the most important aspect is actually seeking God during those times of fasting. Fasting by itself means nothing. As one commentator on the Got questions.org website puts it: ‘Fasting is a practice found throughout Scripture. A fast in the Bible is usually a voluntary, total abstinence from food for a set time for the purpose of devoting oneself to seeking God. Fasting denies our flesh what it wants so that we can focus more clearly on strengthening our spirits.’ 

And therein lies the rub: just denying the flesh doesn’t automatically bring God closer. It has to be a conscious decision to turn to God during those times of turning away from fleshly pursuits. And there is no better example of that than Jesus, who, as soon as He was baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist, and He heard the voice from heaven saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,’ (Matt. 3:17) was immediately led away, by none other than the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to fast and be tempted by the devil. 

The Bible tells us: ‘Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.’ (Matt. 4:1) Can you imagine that? One minute being feted as being a wonderful Son, then next sent to endure severe hunger and temptation. But there was good reason for Jesus’ fasting and temptations. It was preparing Him for his public ministry and all the tough times He would have to undergo while thus involved. 

And I like how the Got questions.Org commentator explains it. He says: ‘During those forty days, when Jesus’ flesh was at its weakest, He endured relentless temptation from Satan. Satan offered Him alternatives to God’s plan, compromises that would satisfy His natural desires, and attacks upon His very identity as the Son of God (Matt.4:3). Jesus used the Word of God, not His own strength, to defeat those temptations and remain victorious over sin. He demonstrated for us that fasting can strengthen us spiritually when we use it to draw closer to God.’ 

Now that’s the basic benefit of fasting; giving up some of the flesh to help us draw closer to God. When there’s not a whole lot of fleshly stuff bothering us, then we can indeed get closer to our heavenly Father. And believe me it’s ever so important to do that on a regular basis. I’m not talking about just regular praying, but times when we get downright spiritual, so hungry for the things of God, that we just drop everything else and sincerely go searching for Him. That’s when we lay out our whole heart and soul before Him; empty ourselves and ask Him to cleanse, to rejuvenate us, to heal our brokenness, and give us new strength and faith to keep on keeping on in His holy will. 

And there’s one very important thing to note about Jesus’s time of fasting and temptation. When the devil tempted Him, He quoted the scriptures in rebuttal. For example, when Satan commanded Him to make bread out of the stones, He simply replied: ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.’ (Matt. 4:4) Now that scripture can be found in Deut. 4:3. 

Then, when the devil took Him up to a pinnacle of the temple and told Him: ‘If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt (test) the Lord thy God.’ (Matt. 4:6-7) And that can be found in Deut. 6:16. 

Now that’s the way we ought to counter the devil’s temptations, with cutting words of scripture, then He leaves us alone for a spell, but only for a spell, because once we’re alive, he’ll keep coming back with more temptations. He doesn’t give up, and neither should we.

 Note what the Bible says after the devil took Jesus up on a high hill and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and promised them to him, if He would bow down and worship him. Jesus staunchly reprimanded him. ‘Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.’ (Matt. 4:10-11) And again that answer of Jesus can be found in either Deut. 6:13, or 10:20. 

But friends, we cannot get rid of the devil for a spell with scripture unless we know the scriptures. That’s why it’s ever so important to read, meditate and learn them. And I believe that this Lenten season is an excellent time for us to hunker down with the Good Library and devour its monumental wisdom. It will do us more good than we can ever ask or imagine! 

Now, for those of us who are sincerely on board with Jesus, let’s go home declaring (steups!!!) our Tuesday Mantra, letting all and sundry know to whom we belong, lock, stock and barrel. As one voice: ‘In God’s eyes, I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with my immediate neighbours, as well as with the whole wide world! Glory be!’ 

And it’s now our bounden duty to go out and do just that; share the amazing LOVE and friendship of Jesus with others, so that they too can come to know and LOVE Him like we do! Much LOVE!

…the weak and willing flesh…must be countered by a strong and resolute spirit… 

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ