"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him." (Matthew 4:1-11).
Has anyone ever said to you, "Who do you think you are?" Have they ever told you that you were a nobody and you were not important? Have they ever told you that you would never matter and that you couldn't do anything? If these things are told to us long enough, if we do not take control of those words, they become our thoughts and beliefs. Before long, we will start to believe that we are nobody and of no value or importance.
In these verses of Scripture, Jesus had been fasting 40 days and nights. He was preparing for His ministry on this earth. The devil came to Him and said, "If you are the Son of God"... The devil knew who Jesus was. Jesus knew who He was as well. So, why did the devil question who Jesus was? He did it for the same reason he comes to us with lies and deceit. That is who he is. That is what he does. He didn't say that Jesus wasn't the Son of God. He said, "IF you are the Son of God". He was challenging Jesus. He was trying to get Jesus to do some miracles just to prove Himself. Jesus did not need to do any miracles to prove Himself. The devil didn't give up on the first chance. He said it again when Jesus refused to give in the first time. He was trying to get Jesus to doubt who He really was. Jesus did not give in to that temptation.
The devil will come to us and say, "If you are really a Christian, why are you sick? If you are really following Jesus, why are your children not saved? If you are really a child of God, why do you struggle with finances? If you are really God's child, why are you going through such a hard time?" The list goes on and on with things that the devil will come against us with to try to get us to doubt our relationship to God. If we do not take control of those thoughts and cast them down, before long, we might start believing those things. If we start to believe those things, then we will begin to distance ourselves from God. We will pray less, read the Bible less, fellowship with other Christians less, and stray from the ways of the Lord.
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Don't allow these thoughts stay in your mind. If you are a Christian, you are a child of God. It doesn't matter what others say about you. It doesn't matter how they look at you. It doesn't matter what you have done in your life. If all has been forgiven, God sees you as His child. Don't allow the devil to cause you to doubt that. Don't allow him to convince you that you are worthless or unimportant. God loves you and gave His very best for you. He cares for you so very much. The devil wants you to believe that God is against you and that you are not worthy of God's love and acceptance. These are lies. John 8:44 tells us that:
"...because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
If you have been forgiven through the blood of Jesus, then you are a child of God!!! What a glorious thought to know that we are His children! We as parents on this earth, will do anything we can to give our children the best life we can. We do not want them to ever doubt who they are and who they can become. We provide for them, we nurture them, we love them unconditionally. God loves us more than we could ever love our children. He provides for us and wants the best for us. We should never doubt any of this.
If you are not a child of God, if your sins have not been forgiven, if you are not a Christian, you can be; today. Just simply call on Jesus and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. Ask Him to make you a child of God and cleanse your heart and life. Lay down your sins and begin this beautiful journey of following the Lord. Then you can say, "I am a child of God!"
If the devil was bold enough to challenge Jesus, then we should know that we are not exempt from such challenges also. Jesus didn't give into the challenge. He used the Word against him by saying, "It is written". He didn't argue with the devil. He simply used His authority against him. We are to do the same. The next time the devil tries to tell you that you are not a child of God, use the Word on him. Tell him to get behind you. Your past is in the past. Leave it there and move forward.
So... do you know who you are? Do you really know who you are?
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