Learning to Fight Like Jesus

We are in a spiritual battle, friends. And learning to fight like Jesus is the most important thing we can do to win the battle.

This week in our reading with the Good Morning Girls, we see Jesus being tempted by Satan at one of the most weakest points of His life as a man in Matthew 4:1-11.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Did you notice how Satan attacked Jesus by twisting the word of God?

That's what he's good at...twisting the word of God so that we will sin against God. He did the same thing to Eve in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1).

But this time Satan's plan failed!

Here's why.

Jesus spoke the Word of God right back at Satan with every twisted attempt Satan threw at Him.

Learning to fight light Jesus means we must be armed with the truth of God's Word. It means we must learn to shine the light of the truth of God's Word when faced with the temptations of this life by speaking the Word of God into any temptation that Satan puts in our path. It's the only way we can effectively resist temptations from Satan.

Hiding God's Word in our hearts - memorizing the Scriptures - is a great way to arm yourself with the Word of God! I'm a firm believer in committing Bible verses to heart and then praying the Scriptures I've learned back to God when the need arises.

Here's what that looks like for me in my life:

Three years ago when my son's anxieties surfaced, I memorized 2 Timothy 1:7 so I could pray it over him every night before he went to sleep...

...Out loud so he could hear the truth of God's Word concerning him and win the battle Satan was waging against his peace of mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

So here is a portion of my prayer for Caleb that I pray out loud over him every. single. night.

Heavenly Father, You have not given Caleb a spirit of fear - but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Help him to walk in this truth every day...

Let's win the spiritual battle by learning to fight like Jesus. Let's teach our kids too while we're at it!

We made it through Week 1 of Matthew! It has been a struggle for me this week, friends. There is so much going on in life right now. It's been a very tiring week for me. I ask for your prayers. Let's press on together in the book of Matthew!

Here's our reading plan for next week:

Walking in His Grace, 
Laurie


I'm linking up with Courtney Joseph over at Women Living Well, home of Good Morning Girls! Simply click on the image below to read Courtney's Blogging Through the Bible post and others who are BTTB with us!