Know Who You Are

[Mt 4:3; Isa 30:15; Jude 1:20]

Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Mt 4:1-11; Mk 1:12-13; Lk 4:1-13).

Mt 4:3 (ESV) –And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

We have heard taught the fact that Jesus had been fasting and was hungry. And that is why the devil tempted our Lord to change rocks into bread.

The Greek language uses two terms to describe a temptation or test. One has the meaning “to test with a view toward strengthening” [dokimazo] and the other “to test with a view toward destruction” [peirasmo]. The term used here is the one for destruction (cf. Mt 6:13; James 1:13-14).

Now we know that God will never tempt us to destruction. He never causes us to doubt. He always has the intent to strengthen us. He tests our faith (cf. Gen 22:1; Ex 16:4; 20:20; Dt 8:2,16; 13:3; Judg 2:22; 2Chr 32:31; 1Thes 2:4; 1Pet 1:7; 4:12-16). Satan tempts to destroy!

You must notice that two of the three temptations in the wilderness began with the words, “If you are the Son of God.” One rule of Bible study is that when a thing is repeated by Holy Spirit it is something worth noting. He wants you to grasp what he is saying.

We need to see that there is more to this temptation than turning stones into bread. Yes, Jesus is a man, and after 40 days He would be very hungry. We must remember what Paul taught us about spiritual warfare. We fight in the spirit not in the flesh, with God’s Word rather than the flesh.

Satan is very subtle in his temptations. At first, it may look like he was trying to get Jesus to perform a miracle, but he was actually trying to make Jesus waver in His faith of who He was. Someone who really knows who they are and what they believe doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone.

Isa 30:15 (ESV) –For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength….”

Let the Lord build your confidence in who you are in Christ. How do we know we have a strong relationship with God? How does He do this for us?

Jude 1:20 (NKJV) –But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

Praying in the Holy Spirit builds up our most holy faith. It builds up our faith in the Holy of Holies, where the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you. When you pray in the Spirit, He is going to build you up. He will never tempt you. Pray in the Holy Ghost.

1Pet 1:5 (NKJV) –who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Proclaim this with me:

God never tempts me, but sometimes gives me a challenge, to test or strengthen my faith. My Father never causes me to doubt.

Only the enemy tempts my faith.

I know who I am in Christ. The Holy Spirit builds my confidence in who I am when I speak God’s Word – and when I pray in tongues!

God bless you my friend,

— Dwight Hammond