FAMILY VALUES: Faith (Notes, 5/29/2022)
You can tell what the enemy fears about your life by recognizing what he attacks.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1-9 (NIV)
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
The first temptation was to question what God said.
Many Christians would never deny the word of God. But they would deny their ability to hear from God.
1-2From the moment of his baptism, Jesus overflowed with the Holy Spirit. He was taken by the Spirit from the Jordan into the wilderness of Judea to experience for forty days the ordeal of testing by the accuser. He ate no food during this time and ended his forty-day fast very hungry. 3It was then the devil said to him, “If you are really the Son of God, command this stone to turn into a loaf of bread for you.”
Luke 4:1-13 (TPT)
4Jesus replied, “I will not! For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Life does not come only from eating bread but from God. Life flows from every revelation from his mouth.’ ”
5The devil lifted Jesus high into the sky, and in a flash showed him all the kingdoms and regions of the world. 6-7The devil then said to Jesus, “All of this, with all its power, authority, and splendor, is mine to give to whomever I wish. Just do one thing, and you will have it all. Simply bow down to worship me, and it will be yours! You will possess everything!”
8Jesus rebuked him and said, “Satan, get behind me! For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Only One is worthy of adoration; therefore, worship only the Lord your God and love him supremely.’ ”
9Next, the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, set him on the highest point of the temple, and tempted him, saying, “If you really are the Son of God, jump down in front of all the people. 10-11For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘God has given his angels instructions to protect you from harm. For angels’ hands will hold you up and keep you from hurting even one foot on a stone.’ ”
12Jesus replied, “It is also written in the Scriptures, ‘How dare you provoke the Lord your God!’ ”
13That silenced the devil’s harassment for the time being. So he retreated until an opportune time.
