Our devotion this week, Satan’s Go-To Temptation Against You, was written by J.D. Greear can be found online here.
The Root of All His Schemes
People think Satan’s main work is weird stuff — making people foam at the mouth or levitate above their beds. And while he does some of that, that’s not what he goes after with Jesus. He wasn’t even trying to seduce Jesus through the lusts of his flesh. In the wilderness, for instance, he wasn’t showing Jesus pornographic images. Satan tried to make Jesus question God’s presence and God’s plan. He knew that if he could get Jesus to doubt God’s goodness toward him, the rest would fall into place.
That’s the root of his temptations toward us: to get us to establish our identity on something other than God’s declaration over us in Christ. The moment he convinces us to insert that question mark into our lives, our security disappears and our strength evaporates.
We don’t battle Satan mainly by what we determine to do, but by declaring what Jesus has already done. By defiantly declaring our identity in Christ. Jesus overcame Satan’s lies when we couldn’t. We overcome Satan by trusting in his victory and asking his Spirit to overcome temptation through us.
As you continue to think through what temptation looks like in your life, remember that Jesus has already won the victory for us, and His Spirit empowers you to make it through whatever difficulty you face.
