Devil on The Run

Luke 4:13 – When the devil had finished every temptation, he left (Jesus) until an opportune time.

You know Satan wanted to stay on top of Jesus 24/7 tempting and attacking Him.  But after a period of intense temptation Satan left Him alone.  Clearly Satan didn’t want to leave Jesus alone but the Bible promises that if we will do two things the devil has to get out of our face – 1. Submit to God and 2. Resist the devil (James 4:7)  . Certainly he doesn’t do that by choice but he must flee.  If the devil is constantly knocking at your door and never goes away, something is wrong – either on the submission side or on the resisting side.

Yes, there will be seasons in our life when we will be under greater demonic assault. Note that though only three short temptations are recorded in the story in Luke it says Jesus was tempted the entire 40 days. But as Jesus submitted Himself to God and resisted the devil he eventually had to flee.

If you are in an intense time of temptation don’t forget it will not last forever and there is a bright hope at the end of it all. Matthew 4:11 tells us that after this time of temptation, when Jesus was victorious over the devil, angels came and ministered to him.  That is cool because it tells us that God was watching the whole time.  Jesus did not go through this alone and neither will you.  He is watching, cheering you on.  Submit to Him.  Resist the devil.  Reach out and find friends to help you fight the old serpent.

When the devil flees you will find a new power in your life, too.  Luke 4:1 tells us Jesus went into this time of testing filled with the Spirit but He came out in the power of the spirit (v. 14).  This testing will result in new power to glorify God with your life.  Like lifting weights, resistance builds muscle so resist the devil!

Stand strong soldier! This temptation will pass.
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James 4:6-7
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [7] Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 1:6-7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. [7] These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.