Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

As we study the life of Jesus, we are continuously reminded of His holiness, divinity, and the authority of God to perform miracles on Earth. However, in Luke chapter 4, we are reminded of Jesus’ humanity, something that I often find difficult to wrap my head around. Jesus was led into the wilderness, just as we often are, and He was faced with hunger and temptation. The devil tried to use the situation Jesus was in to tempt Him into using His authority without God’s direction. The devil tempted Jesus to challenge God’s direction in order to fulfill His current needs.

Rather than dismissing the temptations and turning away from the inclinations altogether, Jesus allows for recognition and counteracts by quoting scripture. This is good news for us! This allows us to recognize that we do not face temptation alone. Jesus Himself faced temptation in the direct presence of the devil, but because He went into the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit, as seen in Luke 4:1, He evaded the temptations by staying faithful in God’s direction and Word.

We are human. We make mistakes. We are messy. We find ourselves at rock bottom. The devil uses “opportune timing” to find us at our weakest points and throw whatever he can grasp at to try to get us to turn away from God. But Jesus shows us that filling ourselves with God’s word and leaning on His direction will allow us to persevere in any circumstance.

Reflections:

• Are you currently facing temptation?
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." Ask God to provide you with a way of escape.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Family Application: Luke 4

Author: Jana Whittington

Have you ever said the phrase, “I am starving”? I have! I can’t miss more than one meal before my stomach starts growling! Today we are reading from Luke chapter 4 about a time when Jesus was in the wilderness, and He had not eaten anything for forty days and forty nights. Imagine how hungry Jesus must have been! Satan came to Jesus when He was in the wilderness and tempted Jesus to sin. Do you know what it means to be tempted? It means you want to do something that you know you shouldn’t do.  

Jesus was hungry and Satan tried to tempt Jesus with food. Jesus fought the temptation from the enemy by quoting the Bible. Jesus reminded Himself of what was true by looking to God’s Word. Satan wasn’t done trying to tempt Jesus though. He tried three times to tempt Jesus! Jesus quoted scripture to fight the lies that the Devil was saying. He used God’s Word as a weapon against temptation. Even Satan couldn’t stand up against Scripture, so he finally gave up. The Bible is not just a book of stories, it’s our greatest weapon against evil. 

This story reminds us of some very important things. It assures us that Jesus is with us and knows what we are going through. When hard times or temptations come our way, we can remember that Jesus has been through all of it Himself. He faced hard times and overcame them so that He could understand our struggles and help us through them. Jesus assures us that nothing will come our way that will be too tough to handle if we lean on Him.  

• Prayer: God, help me not give in to temptations. Thank you for the Bible! Please help me read it and trust it! We love You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.