The Gospel is simple, not always easy, but very simple. You are called a “believer” because you believe the things that God has spoken, pretty simple. We don’t get to pick and choose which things we believe or don’t believe in the Gospel. Kids naturally believe there Dad, we get the pleasure of doing the same. Let's not shout what He whispered, and whisper what He shouted.
We can get more done in a day of believing, then we can in a lifetime of trying to work it up on our own. In Matthew 8:10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. (ESV) Jesus was marveled because the Centurion simply heard the word and let it birth God’s reality in him, which is what the very definition of the word for faith is in the Greek, pistis- faith is God's warranty, certifying that the revelation He inbirthed will come to pass (His way), Stong’s Concordance. The centurion had heard of the works of Jesus and His words and it birthed God’s guarantee that was in the revelation.
It is that simple. Believe Him! Believing brings freedom, the ultimate freedom. Perfect peace of mind, Isaiah 26:3 The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You (NASB). A mind at peace hears God speak. Being able to remain in His peace that passes understanding will birth many of God’s promises in your life, every single promise that you will find in scripture goes to the believer. Promises don't just go to the "Christian", they go to the believer. The one who believes His promises and abides in Him, that person will see His promises come about. The amount of His promises in your life, or unfolding in your life, reveals what you believe about Him.
Matthew 4:1-11 holds endless revelation on identity and believing. Jesus wasn’t shifted by the voice of the devil. John 10:5 “They won't follow a stranger's voice but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it." (Message) Jesus wasn’t just spouting off something He read from a Christian book, He was and is the Christian book! John 1:14 The Word became human and lived among us. We saw his glory. It was the glory that the Father shares with his only Son, a glory full of kindness and truth. (GWT)
In Matthew 4 the Father leads His Son into a conflict, “The Holy Spirit will lead you into a conflict, but only one that you are equipped to win,” Bill Johnson. In Verse 2- And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. (NKJV) The enemy goes right for your weakness, or course he does he is a cheap-shot and a criminal, but God's strength is on powerful display in our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:10).
Verse 3- And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." (NASB) “If You are the Son of God”, the devil revealed his hand here, as he always does. If he can get you to question who God says you are he is winning. John 8:31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who believed in Him, "If you continue in My Word, then you are truly my disciples of mine; 32 and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will make you free. (NASB) The only power the enemy has is the power we give him, you are free from the lies of hell when you know Truth.
Now look at something here. The devil is extremely stupid! He has a very low IQ. The enemy is trying to trick the “Bread of Life” into making bread for life. The tempter, in all his stupidity, was trying to take His attention from hunger for intimacy with God to hunger for bread and even after 40 days and nights of not eating Jesus isn’t falling for the lies. That’s my King, He was Truth in the flesh.
Verse 4- But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" (WEB) Being fed from the banquet hall of heaven on a daily basis is what enables us to be the “Bread of Life” to a starving world. Real life comes from knowing the voice of God and hosting His presence. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (ESV). Knowing the Word of God gives you a context of how He speaks to us personally. He will never speak outside of His written Word, He may upset your understanding of His written word but He won’t speak outside of it.
Verse 5-7- Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, "If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, 'He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won't even hurt your foot on a stone.'" Jesus responded, "The Scriptures also say, 'You must not test the LORD your God.'" (NLT) The devil is a fool, seriously he is one dumb chap. He is trying to trick the “Word made flesh” with the written word. How much more stupid can you be? The enemy was trying to trick the Living Word with his limited understanding of the written word. This is why knowing the Truth of the written word is a must. Then when the enemy throws lies in your mind or others speak outside of His Word and Truth, we know how God speaks in light of His word and we dismiss what is not Him.
The devil was trying to get the exact representation of the Father (Heb. 1:3), Christ Jesus, to move outside of exactly what God was doing. The devil was quoting Psalm 91 in Matthew 4:6. The devil loves to quote scripture out of context, he absolutely loves it! The enemy did it here and tried nonstop to do it to Jesus through the mouths of the Pharisees. One of the devil’s favorite things to do is to manipulate the believers understanding of the Word and their identity. If you know or have read Psalm 91 you’ll see that God promises many things in that chapter, but the promises are to the one that abides in His presence. “Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, No evil shall befall you,” From Psalm 91 (NKJV).
In Matthew 4:6 the devil was trying to manipulate the Word Made Flesh with the written word, the senseless tormentor does the same with us. We are to be the same person to this world that Jesus was, in the sense that we are to say what the Father is saying and do what He is doing. The exact represent of the Father has already been revealed, through the Son. Getting to know Jesus through the Word makes it much easier to know Him through the Spirit.
In verse 7 Jesus is saying that He doesn’t move outside what God is doing, “You must not test the LORD your God.” 1 Corinthians 10:23 You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is good for you. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is beneficial. (NLT) Jesus could have jumped, but it wouldn’t have been beneficial. He loved God so He obeyed Him, John 14:23.
Matthew 4: 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (ESV) This passage reveals so much of the enemies lack of intelligence and schemes. The enemy tried to get the Son of God to bow down and worship him so he could give Him “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” That would have been a massive downgrade for the King, seeing how He owns EVERYTHING in heaven and earth.
There is nothing worth pursuing that is outside the Kingdom of God, and "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom,” Luke 12:32. Jesus is the Kingdom, and you don’t receive Him in portions, you receive Him in person. You get all of Jesus at once, the unveiling is getting to know Him and how He is.
The enemy cannot see the future, but it’s as if he as a general idea of what’s coming. He has seen it over and over again, and he knows that we move from glory to glory and that it is ever increasing. It’s as if he can sense the breakthrough about to happen, so he comes and tries to offer fool’s gold in an instant. Often, God is about to give the pure substance and massive increase right around the corner.
The devil only lies, it is the only resource he has to choose from, John 8:44. Why would we want to even entertain his nonsense, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy,” John 10:10. Now the other half of John 10:10 is where all goodness flows from, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus didn’t just come so that you would have life, He came so that your life would be ever increasingly more abundant! It is a never ending revelation of how much of Him we already have, and we have all of Him already.
We keep our eyes on the One that already defeated that loser the devil and we will always manifest His Victory. We are not called to find the devil and defeat him, he is already defeated (Colossians 2:13-15). We are called to keep our eyes fixed on the Author and Perfecter of our faith, the One that writes and perfects our ever increasing belief in the Perfect One and all that has already been accomplished by Him. Knowing Truth (which is a person, Christ Jesus) is what frees you up to always manifest Him and His victory.
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