You Already Have The Number One Weapon Against the Enemy
All of us encounter temptation at some point. Becoming a Christian doesn’t eliminate the problems in our world and it doesn’t mean that we suddenly have no struggles or challenges that we will face in our life. The difference, though, is that we have the greatest weapon inside of us to conquer the temptations we face: the Holy Spirit!
It is through the Holy Spirit that we can see real spiritual and physical breakthrough. We can even stand up against the temptations placed in front of us by the enemy.
Luke 4:1-4 tells us:
“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. And the devil said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.’ But Jesus answered him, saying, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
Did you know Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil? The enemy waits for just the right time to tempt, taunt, and trouble your spirit. But the beautiful part of this scripture is found in verse one. Jesus, being filled with the “Holy Spirit” - that’s your defense, your weapon of warfare. Being filled with Holy Spirit.
God has a way of, and reason for, allowing us to go through temptation. It causes us to depend on His resources and teaches us that Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.
First John 4:4 tells us: “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
Jesus knows your struggles and trials firsthand. He can bear witness with our temptations. He is our Mediator, our Go-Between, our Messiah. I believe the reason the Spirit of God led Jesus to be tempted was so we could see firsthand the power of our ability to conquer the enemy. Hebrews teaches us that our High Priest (Jesus) was tempted, yet without sin.
Hebrews 4:15 also reads: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, yet because He was filled with the Holy Spirit, He could speak back with power and authority, quoting scripture: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ” Do you have a scripture you like to quote back to the devil? It is important that we feed ourselves with God’s Word and follow His Holy Spirit in all circumstances. With Him and through Him, we can overcome all of the enemy’s schemes.
To read more from Tammy Hotsenpiller’s Fasting With God, visit MyCharismaShop.com