09/23/2026
Reading in Luke 4 this morning. A couple things stuck out to me. Here's one of them.
Luke 4:2: "for forty days, being tempted by the devil..." I have often read this account breezing over it but in my mind, I read it to say "Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days" and then continue to read about the "three" ways in which Satan tempted Jesus. Today, I couldn't get past FOR FORTY DAYS. "Tempted for forty days" (v. 2) is different from "tempted three times over forty days" — and that distinction matters.
The enemy was relentless — pursuing Jesus constantly, trying to break Him, discourage Him, and deny who His Father was.
The Bible says Jesus was TEMPTED FOR FORTY DAYS. This tells me the enemy was relentless — pursuing Jesus constantly, trying to break Him, discourage Him, and deny who His Father was.
OUR REALITY:
We often go through seasons where the enemy is relentless, trying to wear us down. He whispers half-truths — which are still lies — to cause doubt and discouragement, trying to convince us that our circumstances determine the goodness of God. When God is calling us to something, he tries to make the easy, comfortable way — the way that makes sense to us — look better than what God is telling us to do. And he tries to get us to take control of situations we need to surrender to Jesus.
ENCOURAGEMENT from the example of Jesus:
1️⃣ When life gets hard, remind yourself of what God has already said about you — don't let your circumstances rewrite your identity.
2️⃣ When you're tempted to force a shortcut, stop and ask if you're trying to grab something good on your own terms instead of waiting on God's timing.
3️⃣ When doubt or a twisted half-truth comes at you, don't argue or explain — just stand on what God has already said in His Word.
Whatever season you're in, be encouraged: the enemy's relentlessness doesn't mean God has let go of you. Stand firm. 🙏
📖 Luke 4:1-13
-Pastor Karla
