What to do When Tempted

I was reading from Matthew Four today and challenged by these verses.

1Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4But he answered, "It is written,

"'Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

5Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

"'He will command his angels concerning you,'
and
"'On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"

7Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." 10Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

"'You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.'"

11Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

One of the things we do as believers is to want to be like God as much as possible. Jesus is our earthly example in that. As we know Jesus, we know God. As we live like Jesus, we live like God.

So here is Jesus, being led by the Spirit into the desert.
Why?
So he can be tested/tempted by the devil.

Ever been tested or tempted? Especially by something that is hard to resist? It's the devil doing it. It's the sinfulness residing in each and every one of us that causes us to not live the way that God wants us to.

So what is Jesus' response to this time of temptation?

He answers the devil with God's own word.

Over and over and over again, Jesus turns to God's words for the solution to temptation.

The words of God that he used in his defence/protection
"'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
"He will command his angels concerning you,"
"'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"
"Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
"Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
"'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"

Jesus answered each of Satan's charges/desires with a word from the Lord.

Now I have to ask myself, in the light of such a clear example, how often do I do this? How often, when I am tempted do I say... but God will provide all my needs according to HIS riches. How often do I say, but You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve? How often am I bold enough to say... Satan, begone?

I have to admit...if I'm being brutally honest...not near as often as I aught to...which is every single time.

In fact what I do, is so often try to find my own solution to the problem. And so often I fail miserably at it. When I'm smart and realize that I need to turn to God for the solution, the problem goes away so much more quickly. And I'm just led to give all the glory to God.

So...if my aim is life is to love God and to enjoy him for ever and to bring glory to him in all that I do.... doesn't it make sense that I follow Jesus' example more closely?

Ah Lord Jesus, my only Lord and Saviour, help me to live as I aught to. Help me to use God's word all the time when I am tempted. Let my life show God's glory as I live for you. And doing it all through the power of your word. This I pray. Amen.