Satan tried to command Jesus what to do. (Matthew 4:1-11, NKJV)
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- The truth is Satan can only try to control you and deceive you.
- Satan can confuse you but he can’t command or control you unless you allow him.
- If we focused as much on spiritual food as we do physical food, we would have more victories and less defeats.
One of Satan’s greatest temptations is to get us to doubt who we are in Christ.
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- He wants us to doubt the power of the Holy Spirit in that lives in us.
- He wants us to doubt that we are the child of God.
- It’s not our place to tempt God to do the supernatural just to prove He is God.
Satan tempts is to chase after the riches of this world over relationships with Jesus and others.
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- Relationships need to be more important than riches.
- Right worship will always win over temptation. (1 Chronicles 16:4-5, 8-11, NCV)
- If we learn to resist the devil, he has to flee. (James 4:6-7, NKJV)
- If you don’t surrender to Christ and worship Him, you will surrender to chaos because you chose to worship something else.
- You are free to choose what you surrender to, but you are not free from the consequences of that choice.
When we are often tempted by Satan the most:
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- When we are after a mountain top experience.
- Right before a great trail.
- Right before a great service for God.
- When we are at our weakest physically and mentally.
- The more a person seeks to serve God, the he can expect to be tempted.
- Spiritual strength and maturity do not exempt a person.
How Satan often tempts us:
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- Satan tempted Jesus to prove He was the Son of God.
- Satan often tempts us to try and get God to prove Himself to us instead of accepting Him by faith.
- Satan tempted Jesus to meet His personal and physical needs by using His own power instead of depending on God.
- Satan still tempts us to try and use our own power to meet our personal and physical needs instead of depending on God.
- Satan tempted Jesus to trust in His way instead of God’s way.
- Satan still tempts us to trust in our way more than God’s way.
- Satan tempted Jesus by:
- Tempting Him to use His power for personal reason.
- Tempting Him to prove His deity by the spectacular.
- Tempting Him to prove His deity to compromise.
- Satan tempted Jesus to prove He was the Son of God.
Jesus overcame the temptations.
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- He spent time alone with God before the temptations came.
- He made sure He was led by the Spirit.
- He relied upon the Scripture (God’s Word).