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HIGH point and then TEMPTATIONS

Matthew 4:1 & 2
"1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred."

We are continuing our series about the Seasons of Life titled; Flavors of Fall. This week we are studying NOT FALLING into TEMPTATION. Every time the subject of TEMPTATION comes up I remember the quote from the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde: “I can resist anything except temptation.” Poets and regular people are NOT good at resisting TEMPTATION. As the quote points out, we can't resist temptation. Some might even say we are reckless and seek out temptation! We are attracted to TEMPTATION like a moth to a flame. 

We live in a time when people put all kinds of things ahead of GOD. Some even put EVERYTHING ahead of God!? Resisting this influence from our culture is a huge challenge for us. How can we resist TEMPTATION?? Yesterday we read that GOD is NOT going to give us more than we can handle AND God will give you a way out!

This week we will learn how to deal with the TEMPTATIONS we will experience in life. We turn to the Gospel of Matthew, right after Jesus's Baptism. A high point in the Gospel account when the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended like a dove upon Jesus. AND! a voice from heaven said, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."

Now, in chapter four, verse one; "Then was Jesus LED up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." It's perplexing and mysterious fact that our Lord and Savior is inspired to go away from His friends and family. To a place where He will be alone and hungry. Vulnerable to this coming TEMPTATION. "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred."
 
Part of the situation we are in is to understand that GOD will lead us into the "wilderness." GOD will test us! God will give us the opportunity to prove our strength of character. God will give us a test with the expectation that we will pass the test. And, the Devil will create TEMPTATIONS for us because he expects us to FAIL. The Devil is trying to make us FALL.

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