It is Written By Joni Eareckson Tada

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water… And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.'”

Matthew 3:16-4: 3

You can’t be a Christian. You’re a nobody. God would never make time for the likes of you! It’s an accusation the devil persistently throws at believers. Our adversary is constantly trying to get us to doubt our sonship in Christ and citizenship in heaven. The same thing happened to Jesus. No sooner had God the Father said, “This is my Son,” than Satan countered with, “If you are the Son of God….” Satan is still doing the same with us today.

Jesus’ response in Matthew 4:4 was simply to say, “It is written…” The Word of God is called the sword of the Spirit because it is our primary offensive weapon (Ephesians 6:17). When Jesus returns, asserting His right to reign on earth, He will defeat the enemy with a sword that comes from His mouth (Revelation 19:15). From beginning to end, our Savior has given us the highest example: Be ready to speak forth the Word of God. When scripture is in our mouth, on the tip of our tongue, it will defeat the devil and doubts every time.

The devil’s first strategy is to get you to doubt, ignore, second-guess, belittle, rationalize away, or forget about God’s Word. Today be aware that as soon as a snippet of the Word of God sinks into your heart, the devil will try his utmost to undermine it. But here’s your offensive weapon: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving me Your example in always using the Word of God to defeat the enemy’s tactics.

Blessings,

Joni and Friends