Tempted by Lies

Easter Day 5

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ” Matthew 4:10

“Satan’s primary temptation strategy is to try and make us forget what God has said about us and to evaluate our standing before God by some other criteria.” J. D. Greear

 

  • Come, now is the time to worship your King! The Lord wants you to know His heart. Take a deep breath and Enjoy His presence!
  • Read Matthew 4:1-11.  As you read these verses, write down what God lays on your heart.

Tempted By Lies

How do you respond when Satan comes to tempt you with lies?

Today’s Bible reading in Matthew is a lesson on how to combat the temptations we face just as Jesus did.  There are practical applications listed in the passage, but these verses go much deeper than face value. These verses are not about us. They are about Jesus!

Pastor Bryon Yawn of Community Bible Church describes the essence of the temptation of Jesus:

“What we are beholding is our Lord – the second Adam – obeying where the first Adam failed to obey (Romans 5:17). We see him bowing his will to the Father’s, taking the suffering of the cross upon himself and redeeming us from our bondage. Jesus isn’t offering a lesson on how to resist temptation. He is actually resisting temptation on a scale we can barely fathom.”

I can’t even imagine how hard Satan fought against Jesus to tempt Him to give up His mission here on this earth. Our Savior is the example worth following because He knew exactly who He was!

Many times in my life,  I would go to worship the Lord in song during my quiet time, and I heard the thoughts of Satan directed toward me, tempting me to doubt my worth in Christ:

“I am not good enough to worship God.”
“Who am I to approach the throne of a holy God?”

These lies permeated my heart and stole my joy. I felt condemned for wrong things I had done and for who I was. I kept hearing the words, “I am not good enough.”

As He always does, the Father came to my rescue. “You are right. You are not good enough, but I am!” He opened the eyes of my heart!

I was tempted to believe I had to be good enough.

Do you know the freedom that comes from not having to be good enough?

The thought came to me again as I was worshiping at church. I wanted to sing and worship freely but I felt condemned once again. But this time, I was taken to a picture of our Lord Jesus on one knee with His arms open wide ready to receive me. He had the biggest smile on His face! I was in a beautiful white flowing sun dress, smiling with excitement and running with exuberance to his open arms of love.

My dear friend, can you picture it? This is how Jesus sees you!

“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭20-21‬ NIV). We are righteous in His eyes not because of who we are but because of who He is!

Jesus was faced with the greatest temptation. Give up on the Father’s plan and take what Satan was presenting as the easy road. It would have been so easy to do if the flesh in Him forgot who he was, but He was the son of God: the One who overcomes the world!

Satan tried to tempt Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world. He could not. Jesus knew he already had them all.

Do you know who you are in Christ? When Satan comes to tempt with lies you can be armed with the power of truth. I am good enough because I am His!

You are wearing a white dress!

Run to Him today with Joy and freedom. He is waiting for you!

Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence (Ephesians 3:12 NLT).

Thank you, Father!

Questions to Ponder

  • How do you think God sees you?
  • Ask your Heavenly Father to reveal to you any lies from Satan that you have bought into.
  • Write down in your journal what the Lord brings to your heart about who God say’s you are in Him.

Faith-Filled Idea

  • Have each of your children create an “I am” picture:
  1. Get a large copy of children’s favorite picture of themselves. We did an 8×10.
  2. Go to the craft store and pick out a frame or use one you already have.
  3. Using the bible and or scriptural resource, write with a chalkboard marker all over the glass describing what God’s word says about them.
  4. Hang it up in their room or special spot in your house!

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easter day 5

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Tara Fox
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8 Comments on “Tempted by Lies”

  1. The vision of running into Jesus’s arms is so beautiful. I love the way you see Jesus and accept His grace. I need to get some pictures to do the activity with my kids!

  2. This is an amazing study. Thank you so much for your openness. It’s so hard to battle the lies from the enemy, he cleverly disguises them and gets into our inner thoughts and being. I love this. We aren’t perfect but he is! Love the picture idea too!

  3. Tara, this was so good! I love the part where you said how we aren’t good enough but He is! Such a good reminder that we just have to lean on Him for everything. Also, I love those cute pictures of your kids, they are so sweet and wonderful!!

  4. This passage epitomizes the importance of studying Scripture to understand its true context and meaning! I love how Jesus battled the misuse of Scripture with the true meaning of Scripture! Thanks for the photo idea.

  5. Tara – thank you for sharing your personal struggle and challenging us to really sit down and ask the Lord where we might believe satan’s lies. It is extremely powerful to write these down, acknowledge the enemies wiles and replace the negative thoughts with the beautiful truth that God is for you and loves us- so much that he gave his life! Wear Your white dress and dance around- we are HIS bride

  6. I love this message Tara! What freedom my heart felt while reading … I don’t have to be good enough. I am His! And I agree, the craft idea is fantastic!

  7. Beautiful heartfelt study Tara! ♥️ “We are righteous in his eyes not because of who we are, but because of who he is”. Thank you Jesus!

    What a great craft idea for the kids! Love it!

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