Opening Prayer: Lord God, our heavenly Father, may we always
remember that we are your Beloved children, and may that knowledge give us the
strength and the power and the encouragement we need to be victorious over temptation. Amen.
Scripture: Matthew 3:13-4:1
Journal: What words did God want ringing in the ears of his
Son as he spent forty days in the desert being tempted by the devil? Why do you think God gave Jesus those
particular words? How do those same
words help you to fight temptation in your own life?
Reflection:
Don’t you just love the fact that the words the
Father wanted ringing in the ears of his Son as he battled temptation in the
wilderness were, “You are my son, whom I love.
With you I am well pleased.”
Obviously God knew that one of the chief strategies of the enemy is to
try to make us doubt who we really are.
In fact, that’s how the devil begins his first two temptations: “If you
really are God’s son…” For he knows that
if he can forge any doubt at all in our hearts, he has begun to develop a
foothold. But not with Jesus, the Father
took care of that well in advance. Jesus
knew to his core that he was the Beloved Son of the Father, and it was the
bread he fed on for forty days and forty nights in the desert. Those words nourished and sustained his soul.
I don’t know about you, but that is the
place I am often attacked as well. It is
a very vulnerable area for me. You see,
I have trouble believing that God could ever really love somebody like me, so
it doesn’t take much of an attack to allow doubt to creep into my heart and
mind. That’s why I need to constantly be
attentive to the voice of the father as well. Unfortunately, I don’t remember quite as well
as Jesus did who I really am as the Beloved child of the Father. I need constant reminders. For when I am able to really believe it is
true and to fully trust who I really am to (and in) God, I have strength and
courage to face the temptations of the day.
Prayer
Closing Prayer:
Help
me, Lord Jesus, to remember who I really am today; and to believe it. Amen.
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