One of those days...

One of those days... ever had one?  Ever had a bunch of them?  "One of those days" happens more often than most of us would like, I'm sure.  Today, I drove someone to work, checked out Facebook, did lawn maintenance (cut grass, trimmed, watered plants/garden, etc.)  It also involved some rather distasteful picking up of dog stuff, but I won't go into that...  On top of this busyness, I had to go to the hospital.  No, not for myself (although some might argue a certain ward might be good for me!) - my sister was taken there today.  She may have had a 'minor' stroke or a seizure, and hopefully the EEG in the morning will determine which.  We were up there twice today, so today definitely qualifies as "one of those days"!

Jesus had "one of those days" once.  Well, actually Jesus had "one of those days" a lot!  But one in particular always comes to me...

READ:     Luke 4: 1-13

Jesus was sent by God to the wilderness, but Jesus wasn't alone.  He was tempted by none other than the devil, for 40 days.  Imagine!  After Jesus hadn't eaten for this period of time, the devil decided to try and get Jesus to do his bidding:

Vs. 3: "If you are the Son of God, change this stone into a loaf of bread"
Vs. 6-7: "I will give you the glory of those kingdoms of the world in a moment of time... because they are mine to give to anyone I please.  I will give it all to you if you will worship me"
Vs. 9: "If you are the Son of God, jump off"

Talk about "one of those days"!  Most of us would feel overwhelmed if we felt we were being asked or told to do something we know God wouldn't approve of, but not Jesus.  He did reply to the devil, but he did it by quoting Scripture:

Vs. 4: "People do not live by bread alone"
Vs. 8: "You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him only"
Vs. 12: "You must not test the Lord your God"

Jesus could have flipped out, run screaming from the devil, became angry - or a host of other emotions/actions.  But He didn't... what He did do is quote God to the devil.  And because Jesus did this, the devil left him... "until the next opportunity came".

Think about these things...

• What might I be tempted by today?
• How do I react when faced with temptation?
• What might I do differently?

At the beginning of our reading, we see Jesus described as "full of the Holy Spirit".  In other words, the spirit of God filled Jesus.  We also see that Jesus didn't go into the wilderness on His own - that is, He was led there, "led by the Spirit into the wilderness".  So you see that Jesus relied on God to be the dominant force in His life, to be the one who would lead Him, guide Him, and direct Him as to the way in which He should go.  Nothing like having God as our advocate, is there!

So if you are ever tempted - and who isn't! - think of Jesus, who was tempted just like we are, but just didn't give in to it!  The closer we get to God, the more of His Spirit we have in us - and this will be exactly what we need to combat the devil.  Then, those days when we think nothing more can go wrong, yet it does (hence the designation "one of those days"), we can know that God is there, and He cares, and He will be right there with us, fighting the enemy, the devil.  Amen!

PRAYER
God, thank you for helping us fight the temptations the devil is throwing at us in life. 
Amen.