Attempted Deception

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a
stone.’”
Jesus answered him, “It is also written; ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Matthew 4:1-7

Jesus was fully man while he was on this earth. If a young man were walking around today telling everyone the things Jesus told the people of his time he’d be committed. In Jesus time there weren’t therapists on every corner. No one had time for psychoanalysis. The true crazies, the truly spirit tortured were obvious. They had no ability to provide for their own needs. Jesus was different. He had a job. He wasn’t running around half-naked and babbling. Odd maybe, but was he insane? No. He didn’t even seem as bizarre as John the Baptist but by today’s standards Jesus would be certifiable. Some well-meaning person would stage an intervention and have him locked up.

God never changes. He is the same always. What about Satan? What if his tactics are the same? Consider Jesus’ time in the desert. Was Satan telling him he was crazy? He says to Jesus “if you are the Son of God”. That little word if that causes us so much trouble is there in the desert with Jesus. Twice there in the desert Satan used it with Jesus. “If you are the Son of God.” There was no if in it for Jesus. He knew He was God’s own son.

Satan may have more at his disposal, more means to torture us and get us to succumb but his main weapon remains the same. If he can get us to doubt that we are truly children of God then he will win. If we feel unloved by God it isn’t so difficult to hurt Him. We lose the feeling of disappointing our Father because we’re convinced that He is not our Father. If he isn’t our Father then He doesn’t really care about us anyway. Or so Satan would have us believe.

Satan’s maneuvers didn’t work with Jesus because He never doubted for a second that He was the beloved Son of God. The spirit that dwelt in Jesus making Him aware of His parentage dwells in us too if we let it. We can bow to the power of the Holy Spirit and live in the assurance that we are God’s own, dearly loved children or we can believe the lies of the enemy. The choice is ours. We don’t have to believe Satan’s lies even if he uses a family member or a fancy therapist to whisper them in our ears. The world may tell you that you are a little off center. That’s okay. Today’s world would have Jesus in a padded room. Be willing to be seen as a little odd. Just tell people you take after your Brother.