Jesus Gives Life Abundantly
Have you ever been tempted? Tempted to break the rules when they were so hard to follow? Have you ever believed something that was contrary to God’s Word, only because you were talked into thinking that way?
Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and He said anyone who enters through ‘His door’ will be saved. He has laid down His life for ‘His sheep’, His plan is to give us life and He wants us to have that ABUNDANTLY (John 10).
“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life, whom shall I dread?” Psalm 27:1
Jesus talked about the ‘thief’, in John 10:10, Jesus says, ‘the thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy, I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.’ After a time when Jesus had fasted for forty days and nights, he was walking in the desert, where he was tempted by the devil. The devil tried there tactics;
- He tempted Jesus to create and eat food.
- He tempted Jesus to jump from a high place, so He could miraculously save Himself.
- He tempted Jesus to get a position, that was not in God’s plan, in exchange for worship of thedevil.
Even though the devil used scripture to tempt Jesus, he used it for his own purpose and deceptively. Jesus rebuked the devil with scripture that had God’s truth in it. Jesus was furious with the devil’s last attempt to tempt Him. “Don’t you think you could worship me?” You can almost sense the trickery that the devil had in mind.
“Be gone Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only’”(Matthew 4:10).
The devil used the same deceptiveness with Eve in the Garden of Eden. “Did God really say you shouldn’t eat from any tree of the garden?” The devil acted like He was giving insight into what God really thought and how reality really was (Genesis 3). Unlike Jesus who was tempted in the desert, Eve fell for the temptation. My point is that, Eve fell into temptation and the result was sin, but Jesus overcame temptation.
“For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” Hebrews 2:18
“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:16
Jesus was tempted but He never sinned, yet this verse gives us hope and comfort that Jesus knows how hard it is when the devil comes and attacks us with his lies. We must remember that Jesus wants to give us life and He laid His life down for us.
