“Speak God’s Word”
By Dianne Prince
“Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matthew 4:10, NIV).
In our scripture this morning, Jesus has just been ordained by God to begin His earthly ministry. Knowing that Jesus is hungry, the enemy shows up to tempt Him. Instead of Jesus getting into a debate with the devil, Jesus simply responded to Him with the Word of God.
The devil did not back down after the first response from Jesus. Instead, the devil turned up the heat. He came at Jesus from a different angle two more times in order to trip Jesus up. But Jesus kept throwing the Word of God at Him. The more Jesus threw the Word at him, the weaker the enemy got. Eventually the Word wore the enemy down and he left Jesus alone.
Know today that the devil does not show up in a red suit with horns and a long tail. But he shows up looking like me and looking like those we love, those we live with and those we work with. He does not have a body of his own. Thus, he uses the bodies and minds of those closest to us to accomplish his purpose.
The enemy always shows up when our guard is down. He shows up when we are vulnerable, when we are weak or when we are tired. When he shows up today, take a lesson from Jesus and wear him down with the Word of God. How do you wear him down? Speak God’s word over whatever comes your way. Speak God’s word in response to uncomfortable and unexpected circumstances. And speak His Word when you respond to people who are working on the devil’s behalf. James 4:7 promises us, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
