Worship God with our spirit, soul and strength

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After 40 days of fasting and praying, one would assume that the devil would run away from our lives. However, in Matthew 4 we see it differently since the devil was waiting for Jesus to tempt Him after his time of fasting and praying. In the first temptation the devil challenges Jesus to transform the stones to bread to meet his hunger needs. To which Jesus uses the written Word of God to tackle this temptation. After that the devil challenges Jesus to be thrown down from the temple top, as God will send his angels to protect Him. Indeed, this is a true statement!! However, Jesus recognizes that the devil was trying to challenge his soul (mind, will and emotions) and was inciting him to do things that would be contrary to God’s will. The devil was trying to make Jesus do his desires, rather than God’s. To which Jesus says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” Finally, the devil takes Jesus to the top of a mountain and asks him to worship him. Jesus recognized his ploy and states that His Spirit will only “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”

Man is really a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body.  In this temptation story of Jesus we see how the devil tempted Jesus in all three aspects – his flesh, his soul, and his spirit. If the devil tempted Jesus in all the three areas of a man’s life, how much more will he be motivated to tempt each of us?  I presume this is why Jesus reminds us of an Old Testament command, to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30). When the love of God and His word abides in our lives, we will have the ability and power to stand up against the fiery darts that the devil throws at our flesh, our soul, and our spirit. So today I encourage you to love the Lord and His Word – with all our flesh, our soul, and our spirit as you fast, pray and seek God.

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