Women Devotional: The Temptation of Jesus – Excerpts From Luke 4

My name is Ruky Urhobo. I am a baptised disciple of Christ and a member of the International Church of Christ Ikeja, Lagos.

In my quest for a deeper understanding of the life and times of my Saviour Jesus, I delved into the book of Luke and in chapter 4, I made a few discoveries.

Luke 4: 1 – 2a: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.

One thing is clear: Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert with a clear intention of allowing him be tested by the Devil for those 40days. Reminds me of how God handed Job over to the devil in Job 1: 6-12.

In verses 5, the devil led Him (Jesus) to a high place in a bid to convince him the splendor of the world was his (The devil’s) to give. Also in verses 9, the devil led Him (Jesus) to Jerusalem.

The devil led Jesus. Incredible that the Son of God who was full of the Holy Spirit was led by the Devil.

It made me stop to think: I who often struggle to pray, struggle to study my bible and keep in step with the Holy Spirit, could think that without full dependence on the Holy Spirit I can possibly defeat the devil and avoid his schemes. What a joke!

Now let us ask ourselves this; if the Holy Spirit led Jesus the Son of God, who is also God and the Saviour of the world into the devil’s hands, what is stopping the Holy Spirit from doing the same with us?

We must remember the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples in Matthew 6:13. Jesus teaches us that when we pray, we must beseech the Father in this way: ” and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil”. Indeed, this is such a crucial point to make when praying to God.

We must not fail to see that, the devil isn’t toying with us just for the fun of it. God leads us there and allows those moments! Indeed God allows them, in order to glorify His name.

It’s always about God and never about you or me.

But rest easy knowing that God does this to the ones He has absolute faith in, for example Job.

It is scary when we face the reality that from time to time God allows Satan to tempt us or make us go through difficult trials. However let us be encouraged that God has so much faith in us. Therefore let our dependence on the Holy Spirit increase.

Please hear me. We cannot match the devil, we cannot win any battle without the Holy Spirit’s help. Therefore, let us humbly deepen our resolve to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit for daily victories in our Christian lives.

Amen.