Appetite Control

Appetite Control

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Appetite Control------------------------------------ Date: 04/11/2000
Keywords: "temptation" "wilderness"

Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation.

Passage: Luke 4:1-4*

1. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness

2. for forty days, while tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, He became hungry.

3. And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."

4. And Jesus answered him, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone."

Questions

1. What do you make of the fact that God through the Holy Spirit led Jesus into a wilderness in order to be tempted by the devil?

2. If you are being tempted, where is God?

Practical help

It seems unfair that God would lead Jesus into the wilderness doesn’t it? Whose side is God the Father on anyway? Actually, the problem is not with the events, but with our own interpretation of them. Let’s go back and look again. Note that Jesus did not complain. Why? Because Jesus knew His mission. You see, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were in this together. It’s not that two members of the Trinity were ganging up with the devil against Jesus.

So Jesus agrees with the Father and the Holy Spirit to go into the wilderness to meet the devil. During that whole time, I imagine the devil tempts Him in many ways, but not necessarily by denying him food. It is possible Jesus chose to limit His own food, in other words, He went on a fast as part of His spiritual battle plan. Why? Because His strength came from another source, not the food. Then verse 2 says, "and when they [the days of the fast] had ended, He became hungry (He wasn’t hungry during the fast).

At this point the devil tempts Him again. Basically he asks the question, "How do You know you are loved by God if He has left You in this miserable condition? Prove You are His Son by making Your own bread." The idea is that your circumstances of suffering prove you can’t trust your Heavenly Father to take care of you. Therefore, take matters into your own hands and make your own bread.

You are starved for love. People have let you down. You pray to God for someone to meet your physical needs, yet He is silent. What do you do at times like these? Do you satisfy your need through pornography or other sexual sins?

Remember, you have proof of God’s love in the cross. He died for you. Now you are His forever and life is a battle against the enemy of your heart, the devil. God is on your side and has given you life already. It’s not found in bread or porn, but in Him alone. It is only when you give up your temptations that you will really discover the abundant life God promises. Giving up porn, won’t kill you, in fact, it’s just the opposite.

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLEŽ, Š Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."