DCLM Higher Everyday 20 March 2024 — Are You Ever Tempted? – Part 1
Topic: Are You Ever Tempted? – Part 1
Text: Matthew 4:1-4
1Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Key Verse: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4: 1,3).
Message
Temptation is an enticement to do evil. Satan is the personality behind every temptation. It is a common experience, and no one, including youths, is immune to it. Christ’s temptation foreshadows the fact that all believers will invariably be tempted. “Jesus was tempted not because He was bad, but because He was important,” says G. B. Duncan. As a Christian youth, are you ever tempted? Temptation is not sin, but yielding to it is. In the next few days, we shall be considering areas of Christ’s temptation by Satan, namely: appetite, ambition, and avarice.
In our text today, Satan tempted Christ on appetite, having fasted, and obviously hungry. Cashing in on Christ’s immediate need for food, Satan asked Him to turn stones into bread to satisfy His hunger. Friend, watch it! Satan will tempt you when and where you are most vulnerable. Watch your appetite! Esau lost his birthright because of food. Christ overcame Satan with God’s Word. So, study God’s Word, know it, and use it like Christ did to overcome temptations.
Quote: Watch your appetite
Challenge: Be watchful and prayerful, Satan is on the prowl.
Prayer for today: Help me Lord, to overcome temptations.
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
