If you are the Son of God… - Matthew 4:3, Matthew 4:6 Every taunting word the enemy spoke to Jesus was an attack on His identity he began the first two temptations with the phrase,

He didn’t wander into it on His own and the enemy did not lead him. The synoptic Gospel writers report that the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1 Mark 1:12 Luke 4:1). Sometimes God does lead us into hard situations the good news is He also leads us out of them, just as He did when Jesus went into the wilderness. This is important to understand because so often we credit God with the situations we view as good in our lives and we blame the devil or other people for the ones we think are bad. The celebration soon turns to temptation and frustration - and God orchestrates it all. Only a few verses after God’s great declaration of love for His Son, things seem to go in a negative direction. Because you are in Christ, that same intense affection and acceptance from God belongs to you. God’s love and joy were entirely based on who Jesus was, not on what He did. He had not healed anyone, walked on water, fed five thousand people with only a few fish and several loaves of bread, or performed any other miracles. We need to realize that when God made these strong statements, Jesus had not yet begun His ministry. This is my Son, chosen and marked by My love, delight of My life. This is my dearly loved Son, who brings Me great joy. Matthew 3:17Īnother translation renders the verse this way: This is my Son, whom I love with Him I am well pleased. When John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, God the Father spoke a powerful declaration of Jesus’ identity: He uses this tactic against believers in all kinds of ways today, and He tried to use it against Jesus centuries ago. He knows that if he can only get us to question or doubt our identity in Christ - such as making us believe we are defeated and hopeless instead of victorious and filled with faith - the chances are high that he will eventually be able to ruin us. The enemy often attacks us with false accusations about who we are.

The enemy of our souls who bombards our minds with negative thoughts and lies, and sometimes the people around us who operate under his influence.

Led into the wilderness