Fighting Words: 7 Days of Speaking Truth Into the Darkness by Ellie HolcombSample

DAY 4: It is Written

Right after Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River, when the Spirit descends like a dove on Him and God says, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17), we read that Jesus is then led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1). I’m not sure about you, but this does not sound like the way we have celebrated baptisms in my family! It’s been forty days of fasting, and the enemy comes in with lies and temptations . . . isn’t that just like Satan? Coming in for the attack when we are tired, weary, lonely, and even hungry. (If it were me, I would have been HANGRY . . . the angry kind of hungry, if you know what I mean.)

This passage has always been hard for me to wrap my head around. Why on earth would Jesus begin His active ministry on earth after His baptism by wandering alone in the desert, being tempted by Satan? When I started memorizing Scripture over a decade ago, I remember telling my friend Sara how powerful it had been for me to be able to fight so many of the lies that I believed with God’s Word. I’ll never forget how she responded. She said, “That makes total sense. That’s how Jesus fought the lies of the enemy too. Remember the desert? He’s out there for forty days wandering, hungry, and to every lie that the enemy whispers, Jesus responds with ‘It is written . . .’ and then He quotes Scripture. So really, you’re just following in His footsteps!”

My mouth dropped open. Of course Jesus would do this for us. He went first. He wandered in the wilderness and modeled what it looks like to shut down the attempts of the enemy for us. The weapon of choice? God’s Word. “It is written.” If Jesus used the Word of God to silence the enemy’s lies, then that must mean that we can and should use God’s Word in the same way, for we do “not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).

Let’s continue to feed our souls the words that come from the mouth of God, and hold tight to them when the enemy comes with every kind of lie or temptation. Thank You, God, that You provide for us, both physically and spiritually. Help us feast on Your Word and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, speaking the truth even when we’re lost in the wilderness.

• Describe a time in your life that felt like wandering in the wilderness. Were there any lies about God or yourself that you were tempted to believe, especially as you were walking through a seemingly desolate place?
• Make a list of some of the lies you are prone to believe about yourself and about God, especially during wilderness seasons (if you can do this on notecards, even better!).