Temptations

Luke 4
1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit 2 for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." 4 And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'" 5 And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours." 8 And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'" 9 And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; 10 for it is written, 'He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,' 11 and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" 12 And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'" 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

This is a devotion sent to me by one of our campus ministries and i thought it was thought provoking. . .

The beginning of chapter 4 says plainly, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit.
Strangely, Jesus is led by this Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Most of us think that spirit-filled persons are not tempted. Wrong.
Jesus’ temptations were three:
1. Turn stones into bread. Use your God-given gifts to meet all human need.
2. Bow down to Satanic ways to gain power over all nations.
3. Put yourself in harms way to see if God will rescue you.

If you are trying to be a person enabled by God’s spirit, here are some things to think about in light of Jesus’ life:
1. The spirit-filled person will be tempted.
To tempt means to entice someone to commit and unwise or immoral act, especially by promise of reward. To try, to test, to lure.
The spirit-filled person will be more likely to be visionary than most people. Once a person has a vision of how life can be better, temptation starts banging at the door. People who are content and who have no aspirations will have lower levels of temptation. Jesus was not content to see people hungry, oppressed by other nations, or abandoned by a distant god, so he was vulnerable to the temptations that Satan offered.
2. The spirit-filled person will be tempted through their strengths.
We popularly think that temptation comes through our weakness. Wrong. I am not tempted to take steroids because I am not a cross-country skier. If I were in contention and victory was calculated by hundredths of a second I might be tempted to try for that extra edge. Jesus’ special gifts opened him up to special temptations. Our powers and strengths are the occasion of important temptations.
3. Temptation is deceptively attractive. The temptations which come to us have a very attractive face. An example is the case of the Church in Germany in the early 1930’s. Many theologians of that time believed in the perfectibility of the human race, that Germany was called to civilize the world, and that they had a divine mission to achieve this end. What church leaders and pastors did not realize was that these ideas fit perfectly into Hitler’s plan of unifying the churches to preach German racial superiority and a divinely given mission.
By 1934 this became apparent and both Lutheran and Reformed church leaders across the nation gathered to frame the Barmen Declaration which opposed Hitler’s policies in the name of the gospel. By that time it was too late. Justo L. Gonzales, in his book The Story Of Christianity says: Pastors critical of the government were drafted into the army and sent to the battle front, all professors in German Universities were required to sign a statement of unconditional support for the Reich and Martin Niemoller, pastor in Berlin and outspoken critic of the government, was arrested---he would remain in prison for eight years. (San Francisco: Harpers, 1985) pp. 364-365.
My point is that the temptations for the church in Germany at first looked very attractive. In America right now when patriotism, military power and the desire to get the terrorists are all very popular themes we must be careful not to let our own might and power become our god. We must continue both to combat terrorism and reach out to oppressed persons and groups .

this is a new way of looking at this scripture to me and i found it very insightful. Especially the 1st temptation.
The story of Jesus being tempted in the desert is generally well known, however when i read it today is spoke to me differently. God Bless,
yoru sister in Christ~Erin