Daily Devotions With Jonathan FalwellSampel

Have you ever considered the power of temptation or noticed that your greatest temptations seem to come after a great victory? 

Matthew 4:1 says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” The first word in this passage is the little word then. You could almost translate it “next” because Matthew is stressing that these things happened in succession. Just before the temptation, Jesus had gone through the marvelous experience of baptism. The Holy Spirit had come down and the Father had spoken from heaven and said this was His beloved Son. What a triumph it was! But after the baptism came the battle. And so it is in our lives. We reach the mountaintop then temptation comes in like a flood. Temptation is not sin. Temptation is the devil trying to gain entrance into your heart.  Sin is when we leave the door open and invite or allow him in. 1 Corinthians 10:13 has a promise for us in this situation.  Paul writes, “No temptation has overtaken you except such is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” The stories of Jesus’ temptation is where we can learn how to win our own battles with temptation. God has made a way of escape through His Holy Spirit!