EquipU Online Library

“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.” (Luke 4:1, 2a)

Are you ever tempted to do something that you know is wrong? Maybe when you get home from school you see the super-chewy, ooey-gooey, fudge brownies that your mom has just finished baking. You ask if you might have a brownie, but to your utter dismay, your mom responds with, “Only if your homework is done; do you have any?” Now you know that you have just a little bit of math homework. But your “need” for that brownie is so great that you think to yourself, “I’ll say ‘no’ right now and just do the math homework later on tonight before I go to bed.” When you think that way, you have been tempted to do something that you know is wrong.

How should we handle temptation? When we’re right in the middle of being tempted to do wrong, that is no time to try to figure out a way to handle it. We need to decide before the temptation how we are going to handle it. One reason Jesus went through the temptations in the wilderness (listed in Luke 4) is to show us how to handle temptation. Let’s take a look at this passage and see what it says about Jesus and temptations.

After Jesus was baptized, He went into the wilderness and fasted for forty days (fasting means that He prayed to the Father instead of eating). At the end of those forty days, Satan came to tempt Him. Our passage lists three temptations that Jesus went through during this time. Each time, Jesus responded by quoting something God had said in the Bible. This is very important. God has given us His Word so we can live in a way that pleases Him. If we are going to handle temptation correctly, we must know what God’s Word says.

Remember the cookie-and-homework-temptation-to-lie situation? A couple of verses that would be good to memorize for a temptation like that would be these:

“Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.” (Leviticus 19:11)

“Honor your father and mother.” (Ephesians 6:2a)

Each time Jesus was tempted, He remembered something that God had said in Scripture. Think of what you are tempted to do. Can you think of any Bible verses that would help you if you had them memorized? If you can’t, ask your dad, your mom, or pastor, or teacher to help you find some verses to help you when you are tempted to do something wrong.

Each one of us is tempted to sin. But Jesus showed us the way we can go through a temptation and not sin. Let’s follow Jesus’ example and handle temptation the way God wants us to!

Jesus is our Example for resisting temptation through the power of God’s Word.

My Response:
» What are specific things I’m tempted to do?
» What does God say about these particular sins? (Perhaps make a list of the sins and then write out the reference from the Bible that talks about what God thinks of each sin.)

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:4)

The road to receiving a driver’s license was not an easy one for Bob. At first, he couldn’t seem to do much right. Thankfully, the driving instructor was there every step of the way – teaching Bob, encouraging him, and occasionally slamming on the brake on the passenger side of the car in order to keep them both from disaster! The driving teacher was dedicated to helping students receive their licenses.

After a lot more practice under the careful watch of the instructor, Bob finally started getting it right. In fact, Bob passed all his written tests and road tests and was ready to receive his license. That driver’s license was the goal of all the study and practice! On the day Bob turned 16, he went down to the Department of Motor Vehicles (a very special place indeed!) and stood in line to receive his license. He soon had his license – with his very own picture on it! That license was what he had waited so long to receive; now he could drive legally.

Now that Bob had his license, did he need the driving instructor to sit in the front seat with him anymore? Would he need to call the instructor every time he wanted to go to the store? No; he had his license. His license gave him the freedom to drive the car by himself.

But did having the driver’s license give Bob the freedom to drive the car any way he wanted? Could he drive 100 miles an hour without putting himself and others in danger? Could he drive through red lights anytime he wanted? No. He was still bound to obey the rules of the road. The license didn’t give him the freedom to break the law, but it did give him the freedom to obey the law. Once he had his license, Bob drove in the way that the driving instructor taught him was good and right.

Did you know that God does not save us so that we can live any way we please? God saves us so that we can obey His laws.

Much as the license enables Bob to drive a car legally, Jesus Christ enables us to obey His law and do good. When Bob did not have the driver’s license, he was in a state of breaking the law anytime he tried to drive on his own. When we did not have faith in Christ, we were in a state of disobedience to God! Even the things we did that seemed good on the outside weren’t truly good. Why? Because were in a state or condition of sinfulness before God. All people without faith in Christ live in a state of continual disobedience to God. They cannot please God until they humble themselves and believe in Christ for forgiveness of sins.

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

My Response:
» How does God want me to live today?
» Am I living in the way God saved me to live?

“And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And [Jesus] was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:37-39)

The wind wails and the rains pour down. Trees are crashing down everywhere. Windows are breaking and walls are falling. As trees fall, their roots are pulled up from the ground, leaving gaping holes as big as a truck!

How can anything survive such a storm? Will any house, animal, or person come out of a storm like that unharmed, or without losing anything in the storm?

A storm like that shows God’s mighty power. God’s power is shown in the strength of the wind and rain. A wind that can blow over a tree, break windows, or destroy a wall is very powerful. Rain and water that can uproot trees, fill a house, or make streets look like rivers and lakes – such a storm is great and powerful!

But did you know that not only can God create great storms, but He can also STOP a storm with just a word or command? Jesus said, “Peace, be still,” and the winds and rains obeyed His command.

A storm like the one in the Bible or the one described above can be so destructive, but God is still in control.

You have probably read or seen things on the news about hurricanes and mudslides and flooding and tidal waves and blizzards. There are all kinds of storms and storm results that can mean “bad news” for human beings. But why? Because we are not all-powerful. We are not in control. We who are Christians can be thankful that we know the God Who is. He does protect and provide, even through bad weather and scary storms like that. We can be glad for weather’s reminder of just how powerful and sovereignly in control God really is.

God is all-powerful, and He has complete control over everything that His power produces.

My Response:
» What are some ways that I can see God’s power?
» What are some ways I can see God’s control?
» Do I trust God’s power and control in my life?

“[God] hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:9-10)

When President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, his goal was to abolish slavery. To emancipate means to set free, and President Lincoln wanted to set the slaves free from the rule of slavery. So he signed a new law to abolish the slavery way of life.

To abolish something means to do away with it, or to destroy it. Abolishing is the idea of wiping away something that has been going on for a long time. Can you think of any rules that your family used to have but do not have anymore? If your parents abolish a rule, they are getting rid of it once and for all.

Before Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, death had the victory. No human being had ever been able to raise someone from the dead by himself (whenever there were miracles, it was God Who gave the supernatural power, not man). Jesus was the only Person Who ever raised Himself from the dead in the history of mankind. Because He lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay for our sins, and rose again, He showed the world He was totally God and totally man. He proved that He has the power to give eternal life to those who believe on Him. He abolished the rule of death.

If our trust is in the Savior Jesus Christ, our bodies may die, but our souls will have eternal life with God, because Jesus has the power to do away with death and to give eternal life. Back in the nineteenth century, President Lincoln made a new law to set slaves free from the bondage of slavery. But long before that, Jesus Christ did away with the rule of death and made it possible for sinners to be set free from the bondage of sin and from the punishment of eternal death. Single-handedly, our Savior abolished death and made possible the gift of eternal life.

Our Savior Jesus Christ did away with the power of death and made it possible for us to enjoy eternal life.

My Response:
» What do I think about the Savior Jesus Christ?
» If Jesus abolished death and set me free from bondage to sin, how should I be living?

“And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)

Moses was a shepherd. He lived in the desert and watched the sheep that his father-in-law owned. He had once been a prince of Egypt, but he had left that life, gotten married, and had decided to stay in the desert to raise his family rather than return to Egypt. Moses remembered that he was a Hebrew, and his mother had taught him all about Jehovah God even before he had gone to the palace to be a prince. Moses knew how to worship and serve the Holy God. But Moses preferred to do that in the quiet of the desert rather than back in Egypt.

One day, as Moses was watching the sheep in the desert, he saw a fire. At least, he thought he saw a fire. When he found the source of the fire, he realized a bush was on fire, but it was not burning up! What an amazing sight! Moses had never seen anything like it. Suddenly, he heard a voice calling his name. He realized it was coming from the burning bush. The voice said, Turn aside and take off your shoes. You are standing on Holy Ground. Moses did as the voice commanded. He realized as the voice continued to speak to him that it was the Lord talking to Him. God told Moses that he would be the one to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt. Moses realized it was a tremendous task and that he was unworthy of the job. God assured Moses that He would give him the words to speak. Moses only needed to do what he was commanded.

One of the lessons that Moses learned at the burning bush was that God is a holy God. Do you know what the word holy means? In part, it means that God is worthy to be worshipped. Worship is not simply singing hymns on Sunday at a worship service. According to Romans 12:1, our whole lives are worship to God.

One way that Moses showed his worship to God was obeying what God told him to do at the burning bush. Even though Moses liked his quiet life as a shepherd, Moses did what he did not want to do and became the leader of God’s people. Moses’ life became a life of worship to the Holy God of Israel.

The same God Whom Moses worshipped by his obedience is the God we worship today. Our obedience to God is part of the worship that He deserves as a holy God.

Because God is holy, He is worthy of our worship.

My Response:
» Do I think of worship as something I do only on Sundays, or do I think of worship as my obedience to God during the week, too?
» Are there things that God wants me to do that I haven’t been doing?