Convenient Temptation

this was my Bible study for Tuesday and just wanted to share it….

Satan’s smart enough to make temptation convenient.  We don’t have to get off the freeway, make a U-turn and drive back three exits in order to enjoy the pleasures it promises. 

Jesus was met by satan after forty days of fasting.  Jesus had already been through forty days of withstanding the temptation to eat, to drink, to take courage for Himself from food.  After that forty days of successfully handling temptation, satan came to push the issue further.  Stones, conveniently  placed, could easily be turned to bread. 

Satan knows our schedules, our needs and our predicaments.  He knows when we’ve been up too many nights in a row and our tempers are on edge.  He knows when we’re lonely.  He knows the details of our marriages.  he wars with us over our desires and even when we make a decision to leave him behind, he stays right with us.  Surprised, we practically trip over him in the process of getting to God.

We need to be prepared to face temptation.  We can expect it to be convenient.  When we see it up ahead, we need to keep on driving. 

Passage:

Luke 4:1-13

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered.

And the devil said unto Him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind Me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.

And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence:

For it is written, He shall give His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee:

And in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season.

 

Additional Scripture Readings:

1 Corinthians 10:13

2 Peter 2:9

 

 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

 

if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

2 Peter 2:9