Emily Hardie

Our devotion this week, Satan’s Go-To Temptation Against You, was written by J.D. Greear can be found online here.

Satan’s Go-to Tactic

When Satan tempted Jesus, he began by saying, “If you are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3). 

Wait —“If”? Just a few verses earlier, when Jesus was baptized, God the Father had declared from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Satan, you see, rarely starts with lies; he starts with dangerous questions. “If this is really true . . . ”

Satan’s go-to tactic in our lives is to break the hold the word of God has on us. So, he takes what God has declared and casts doubt on it. Satan puts question marks in your life where God has put periods. 

Sometimes he’ll move from questioning God’s truth to outright denial. But many times, the question itself is enough. We find ourselves with Adam and Eve: doubting. Does God really have my best interests at heart? The warmth of our affection for him soon cools, and we are left longing for the comforts sinful indulgence will bring.

Often, however, more effective than denial or doubt is simple distraction. After all, Satan is happiest when we are not thinking about the word of God at all. C.S. Lewis depicts this well in The Screwtape Letters. The older demon, Screwtape, is writing to a younger demon-in-training, describing a critical temptation he was involved in. His victim was reading a book that prompted him to think about God. “Before I knew where I was,” Screwtape says, “I saw my twenty years’ work beginning to totter.” So, what did he do? 

He didn’t launch into an attack on God’s existence. He didn’t bring up lustful temptations. He simply reminded his victim that it was almost time for lunch. And by the time this poor sap was on his way out the door, Lewis said, he had completely forgotten about God. Often, Lewis notes, distraction is a more effective technique than denial.

What is one thing that seems to pull your attention away from God? Be mindful of where your thoughts tend to go throughout the day, and pray that God would direct you back to Himself.

Our devotion this week, Satan’s Go-To Temptation Against You, was written by J.D. Greear can be found online here.

Every army general serious about success enters a battle with a plan. He knows his strengths, his weaknesses, his tactics, his contingencies. Most of all, for his plan to be successful, he must know his enemy. If he doesn’t, even his best intentions won’t keep him from destruction.

When it comes to battling temptation, however, many of us assume that good intentions are sufficient. We really do want to overcome temptation, but we’ve never considered that our temptations are administered at the hands of a skillful, ruthless enemy bent on our destruction. Our good intentions are no match for the corruption of our flesh, much less the cunning of our enemy.

As the apostle Paul noted, as long as we dwell in corruptible bodies, we’re going to have temptations. And we’re going to stumble — sometimes quite often. The greatest saints have despaired over their propensity toward temptation even in their dying days. In his eighties, John Newton confessed how discouraged he was with his lack of spiritual progress and how acute the temptations of his flesh still felt to him. John Bunyan lamented the fear and faithlessness he felt going into the last chapter of his life. 

Even so, we don’t have to throw our hands up and simply give in. If we know a little about Satan’s tactics, we can have much more confidence when he attacks.

Pray today that your eyes would be opened to see where you’re being tempted most often.

Our devotion this week, Awake, comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was provided by Hillsong Worship.

 So help me God, breathe on my weakness 
For all I want, is to be like Jesus
I don’t have much 
But what I have is Yours to use 
So make my whole life Your Upper Room

Upper Room, Hillsong Worship
Words and Music by Benjamin Hastings & Joel Houston
© 2019 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia

It is one of our greatest desires that the music from our own local church, Hillsong, would serve the local church the world over. That the songs that have been birthed within our own ministry, would also minister to you. Yet it is not just Sunday services we hope to serve. The lyrics and melodies of these songs have been prayed for and laboured over in hopes that the Holy Spirit would invade your car, your home, your workplace – and meet intentionally and specifically with you, bringing the light, life, hope, revival and awakening you need, personally. That these songs would serve you, serve your family and help you serve God and others in the season that you find yourself in. 

It is in Matthew’s account of the last supper when we discover Jesus doing exactly that – serving those He loved. At that supper, in the upper room, Jesus was not the guest, but He was the host – He was not the served but the servant. “He took…He blessed…He broke…He gave….”

Our beloved Saviour knelt and washed the feet of His friends – He broke bread and fed their bodies and most importantly – He offered them forgiveness. 

Jesus met them at the table that night and we believe His invitation to you today, in this very moment, is to do the same. He invites you to sit and fellowship with Him. He invites you to both serve and be served. He invites you to enter into relationship, friendship and discipleship with Him – to intimate encounters with Him as a Friend, Confidante, Healer, Heart Mender, Provider, Saviour and King. He invites you to partake in the bread and the wine – His body broken for you and His blood poured out for your healing and wholeness. 

It was in the upper room that Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas in his doubts; where Jesus revealed His resurrected body, the fulfilment of age-old prophecies. It is where He communed with His friends. It is where He gave them His Holy Spirit as an Advocate for their lives. A physical place that represents the revelation of the old covenant meeting the new… a covenant He keeps with His disciples, you and me, today. What is it that you need from Jesus, today? 

As you listen to these songs and allow the lyrics to wash over you – may you be reminded of the God who comes close. Of the lengths He goes to for His friends – His sons and daughters, His disciples. May we be a people awake and aware of all He has done for us, and all He desires to do through us. May your life be a place of prayer, a place of worship, a place where others encounter God. May your whole life indeed become His upper room. 

Let’s pray.

Holy Spirit, Heavenly Father – make my whole life an offering. Remind me again of who You are and who You say I am. Meet me in my doubts and my fears, I know You are faithful to Your Word. May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, for all of my days.

In Jesus Name,

Amen.

Read Matthew 26:26-29.

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Read John 20:19-23.

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Read 1 Kings 19:11-12.

¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

Read Acts 2:17-21.

¹⁷ “‘In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your young men will see visions,
    your old men will dream dreams.
¹⁸ Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
    and they will prophesy.
¹⁹ I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood and fire and billows of smoke.
²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood
    before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
²¹ And everyone who calls
    on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Our devotion this week, Awake, comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was provided by Hillsong Worship.

Who has made the righteous bright
Who has paved my way with grace
Loved me through my darkest hours
A thousand different ways

No One But You, Hillsong Worship
Words and Music by Scott Ligertwood, Aodhan King & Brooke Ligertwood
© 2019 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia.

Life with Jesus is both full and abundant, filled with gracious adventure and wide-open spaces. But an awakened life is not necessarily easy or without its valleys. In fact, in living in relationship with the Creator of the universe, it is easy to feel grief for the state of the world and the times we are living in: complicated political days; the tone of the world economy; the darkness of war and famine; people living in abject poverty and desperation – not to mention everyday personal struggles that we can each encounter, such as financial hardship, mental illness, health challenges and relational breakdown. 

One of the most beautiful aspects of this album for us as a team was watching the unified creative community of Hillsong Worship contributing their gifts, talents and time to this project. Throughout listening to this album, you will hear the collective voices of dozens of faithful people from our church congregation – people just like you and I – who have walked through their own dark days, some still in the middle of the challenge. The beauty of this for us, and we hope for you also – is that they have walked through seasons, both hills and valleys, and they have remained. They have remained in Jesus; they have remained planted in community and they have remained steadfast in worship and prayer. 

Many of the well documented revivals and moves of God in history have started with prayer. This project was soaked in it. Tim Keller, author and theologian says, “Prayer is the thing that sanctifies your imagination. It plunges it into God. Then the things you think up are gospel movement things.” (timkellernyc on Twitter)

Each day before we started recording these songs, we would plunge our imagination into prayer, asking God to help us hear things we couldn’t hear and see things we couldn’t see. Why don’t you do the same today? Invite the Holy Spirit to awaken your imagination through prayer – to open your eyes to see what you cannot see and hear what you cannot hear. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you again in a new way, in your current season. And say a prayer for the world around you – for the suffering in your own family, your community and our world. Pray for persecuted christians, for God’s love to reveal itself to them in a thousand different ways so that they too, can remain.

Let’s pray.

Thank You God that You are the God who comes close. Thank You that You walk with me through all of the ups and downs of life. I pray, Lord God, for those in the world who are suffering. I pray for brothers and sisters who need to feel Your love and grace and peace today. Help me to be the tangible outworking of Your love to somebody today.

Amen.

Read Psalm 23.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
    for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Read 1 John 5:14.

¹⁴ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Read 2 Chronicles 7:14.

¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Read Ephesians 6:13-18.

¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.