Lessons from the Gospels 3 – Knowing
When Jesus said (as recorded in Matthew 11:12) "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence...” He may have been thinking about the time (before time began) that Satan attacked the very throne of God. (Luke 10:18) Or He may have been thinking about the time that Pharoah had all the Hebrew babies killed. Or when Herod killed the Jewish babies from age 2 and under because he knew the Messiah had been born – just not exactly when.
When I think of a major attack on the plan of God, I think of Matthew 4:1-11, where we see Satan attacking Jesus after Jesus had been fasting 40 days and 40 nights. Make know mistake about it, Jesus and the Father knew Satan would come after Him. The Holy Spirit led Jesus to the wilderness to prepare for it. I invite you to read the whole thing before reading the rest of this blog. I’ve pasted it at the end of the blog so that you can do so if you like.
This is not a physically violent attack, like the killing of babies, but it was a violent attempt to attack Jesus’ mind, heart, character and obedience.
Jesus used His knowledge of scripture – the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, as we read in Ephesians 6:17 – to cut away Satan’s temptations.
But He used more than just His knowledge of the words of God, sweet sisters. He used His knowledge of who He was, as outlined in them.
Satan knew the scriptures too. After his first temptation failed, Satan used the scriptures in his next two efforts. Satan did not know who he was. It seems like he believed he could still win. It seems to me that if he really knew who he was – the loser in every battle – he might have acted differently.
What about you, sweet sister? Do you know, I mean REALLY KNOW who you are? Is that knowledge and belief strong enough to be a protection against the attacks that Satan throw at you? Especially the ones that being with “if”.
You one of the “beloved” children/people of God. Psalm 60:5; 108:6; Song of Solomon (the whole thing is an analogy of God’s love for His people).
You are blessed. Matthew 13:16; 5:1-10
You are the reason that Jesus came to the earth and gave His life. We cannot afford to only look at this from the vantage point that He came for everyone. He came specifically for me. He came specifically for you. Revelation 17:14; Matthew 20:16.
You are Holy and a member of the Royal Priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9.
Knowing scripture is so very, very important to withstanding the attacks of the devil. But it is not enough. If you don’t know who you are, if it is not a truth you feel to your core, the “sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God” is held in a weak hand.
Sweet sisters, let’s put up our strength in battle by focusing on really knowing who we are to our Beloved Father and to our Savior.
I welcome your comments and questions. Write me in the comments section here or any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org.
[Mat 4:1-11 NLT] 1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. 3 During that time the devil came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, 'People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 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.'" 7 Jesus responded, "The Scriptures also say, 'You must not test the LORD your God.'" 8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 "I will give it all to you," he said, "if you will kneel down and worship me." 10 "Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say, 'You must worship the LORD your God and serve only him.'" 11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.