Day Twenty-six

“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’” (Matt. 4:4)

Scripture Reading: Matthew 4:1–11

Every believer in Christ will experience occasional intense confrontations with the enemy. At such times Satan’s persistence can seem overwhelming. Scripture records Jesus’ forty-day encounter with the tempter so we can learn a lesson from His success. Christ won His battle with His highly skilled use of God’s Word. Ephesians 6:17 calls the Word the “sword of the Spirit.” Scripture is the only offensive weapon we have against the evil one. The other pieces of armor described in Ephesians 6 are defensive in nature. The enemy can be relentless in his attack. If we’re going to be victorious during times of intense battle, we need to take some lessons from Christ, the ultimate Swordsman. Here are a few tips based on His example.

Familiarize yourself with Scripture. We don’t come equipped with a knowledge of Scripture. We must study it. Such study doesn’t mean just learning biblical history. Bible study involves a relationship with a person. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). Christ didn’t just learn the Word; He is the Word!

Memorize Scriptures. Christ didn’t pull out His pocket Torah in the desert and start flipping pages. We don’t always have our Bibles in easy reach. We need a quick-draw supply of Scriptures hidden in our heart for times we face temptation. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Learn how to apply Scripture. Christ answered His adversary with specific Scriptures applying to each temptation. Learn to respond to the enemy with Scriptures aimed specifically at your temptation or battle. I remember a time when I stood boldly on the Word of God. The problem was I rarely climbed off and opened it. I claimed to believe something I knew little about. We can’t stand on a closed Bible. We must open it, learn it, and apply it. A Bible concordance is a great resource tool for helping you locate Scriptures pertaining to a particular need.

Be persistent. If the enemy isn’t backing off, you have no choice but to keep fighting. He didn’t tuck his tail and run the first time Christ drew the Sword of the Spirit. We can be pretty certain he’s not going to back off easily from us. A simple rebuke doesn’t always work when we’re walking through a season of spiritual warfare.

First Corinthians 10:11 says of the Israelites’ experiences, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.”

In context, the apostle Paul was referring specifically to lessons from poor examples. God provided us with four Gospels recording Jesus’ earthly life so we could also learn from a perfect example.

Christ can handle a sword. Let’s make sure we’ve signed up for lessons.