#WHO LED JESUS INTO THE WILDERNESS FREE#

We may sense the Holy Spirit warning our conscience against harming others or ourselves but act anyway. Satan whispers in our ear that there won’t be any consequences for making wrong choices that “He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you.” Luke 4:10 Our wilderness is the expanse of choices confronting us every day, especially through the vast array of temptations via access to mobility, electronics, and Big Tech.

#WHO LED JESUS INTO THE WILDERNESS FREE#

The Lord has given us all free will, but he’s only a prayer away when we’re having trouble making a decision or tempted to think we can do something ungodly and God will protect us from harm. Choosing to live recklessly and expecting God to come to our rescue. The third temptation of Jesus in the wilderness was making unwise choices. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours. While singing ‘give me more of Jesus,’ we’re living ‘give me more of the world.’ We want to “have it all,” no matter the cost or loss. Succumbing to this alluring worldly temptation provides a false sense of power over other people and our own circumstances. We want control over our destiny and when we’re successful, it’s tempting to bask in the splendor, authority, and fame while taking all the credit ourselves instead of giving the glory to God. We live daily in a worldly dark wilderness that idolizes prominent people, positions, and possessions. Lusting after what isn’t or shouldn’t be ours and envying others who have more than we do.

The second temptation of Jesus in the wilderness was power. Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Luke 4:3 There’s an innate desire to prove our own self-worth apart from God in a wilderness of trying to satisfy a hunger for success, popularity, recognition, fulfillment, comfort, wealth. The prideful temptation we all face is thinking we don’t need God, this time. It could be fear, exhaustion, hunger, impatience, anger, distress, depression, disappointment, worry, or anything that detracts us from seeking God and his will for us. Satan knows to strike when we’re at our weakest point physically, mentally, or spiritually. Taking matters into his own hands to relieve his hunger instead of waiting on God for provision through the angels tending to him (Mark 1:13). When Jesus was hungry after going without food for 40 days, he could’ve fallen into the trap of instant gratification. The first temptation of Jesus in the wilderness was self-sufficiency.

Yet, that perilous complacency reveals the core of every temptation, pride. If Satan tempted even Jesus, who are we to think sinful temptation could never happen to us. Satan uses the same taunting temptations with us that he tried to use with Jesus. Jesus in human body experienced similar temptations we encounter today to provide a scriptural example for us to imitate and incorporate into our own actions and responses. What Are We Tempted With? What Is Our “Wilderness”?

Who led jesus into the wilderness