It is written

There He was, the Creator of the very ground He stood on. The Lord of heaven and earth. Yet His body was weak from lack of sustenance. How could that be? He had taken on a form like ours… humanness…so He could give His life in our place.

But as He walked this earth He had to live by earth’s rules. His body required food and water.

His mind could be tempted just like ours.

And yet we know that He lived here without sin. He was the unblemished Lamb of God Who took away the sins of the world.

So if He was fully God, yet fully man, how did He overcome sin? I’m so glad you asked. The Bible lays it out so clearly in the book of Matthew 4.

Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit. He had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. Not the kind of fast we often do, I’m talking a full fast…no food and no water. For 40 days. And of course the devil showed up to tempt Him.

Because that’s what he does. He finds us in our weakest moment and tries to take advantage of our condition.

But Jesus was ready.

He knew what to do. And when the devil said, “you’re so hungry, turn this stone into bread and eat it”, Jesus said, “It is written…” And then He began to quote scripture. And for every temptation the enemy threw His way, He rebutted with a scripture from the living Word of God.

And ultimately, when the devil kept pressing in, Jesus spoke the Word and told his enemy to go away.

What do we do when temptation comes at us like a locomotive? How do we respond when the pressure from the enemy feels like it will crush us?

Our example is quite clear.

All we need to do is speak the Word. It’s prayer, it’s spiritual warfare. It’s making good use of the two-edged sword provided to us by the One who made us.

Not sure how to do it?

Get out your Bible and look up scripture on what you are dealing with right now. Health issues? Financial issues? Fear? Anger? It’s all in there. Google scriptures on those topics and then go read them in your Bible. Then write them down. Read them daily, say them out loud. Pray them…like this:

Lord, You said that perfect love casts out fear, will You help me to overcome fear through Your perfect love?”

Make it a declaration of faith

Say out loud, “It is written that perfect love casts out fear. I live in the benefit of God’s perfect love, therefore I will not allow fear to rule me”.

Praying and speaking scripture out of your mouth is one of the most powerful things you can do. Make the choice to do what Jesus did.

Then Jesus told him, “Go away,  Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.”  Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him.

Matthew 4:10-11

Check out Libbie’s book, Five – the women in the genealogy of Jesus.