SINCE you are the Son of God…

1. Distortion of IDENTITY. [I'm entitled with rights!]

2. Distortion of SATAN’S POWER and GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY. [Resistance is futile!]

2. Distortion of DISCIPLESHIP. [Shortcuts to faith]

Jesus, emptied of all food, away from all protection, exposed to all dangers has only one thing going for him as he faced these temptations. Filled with the Holy Spirit. Everything else was stripped away so we would see clearly how Jesus overcame temptations.

Overcome temptation is not about will-power but the Spirit’s power. Being Spirit-filled is a promise fulfilled to every Christian at our moment of justification. What we do after to keep being filled is we participate in means of grace.

“I know all about the despair of overcoming chronic temptations. It is not serious providing self-offended petulance, annoyance at breaking records, impatience etc. doesn’t get the upper hand. No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we each reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes are in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one’s temper and give it up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present to us: it is the very sign of His presence.”- From a letter to Mary Neylan dated Jan. 20, 1942, in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Vol. 2, by C.S. Lewis, Jan. 20, HarperOne, 2007, pg. 507

It works if you work it! - 12-step saying