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After Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit had
descended upon Him, he was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After
a person is baptized, the devil will tempt them. They will be tempted through
hunger, wealth, and vainglory.
Hunger is part of being human. The devil is a fallen
angel and doesn’t need to eat. He will use your need for food against you. Not
only do you need to eat but so does your family. What will you do if there is a
famine and you and your family suffer from extreme hunger? According to the
book of Exodus, after seven years of famine everyone in Egypt had sold
themselves and their families into slavery to Pharaoh in order to get food to
eat.
Not many people know that Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) started
as a newspaper reporter. He was an excellent journalist for a newspaper in
Nevada. He was asked to expose police discrimination against people of Chinese
origin in California. Mark Twain exposed people who had the backing of people
with wealth and power. Mark Twain was fired from his job in Nevada and
blacklisted throughout the western states for exposing evil. Mark Twain had a
little over a dollar in his pockets when he became stranded in California. He
put a dime in one of his shoes to buy a last meal once the rest of his money
had run out. Mark Twain begged for money to buy food for six weeks. He managed
to get on board a ship headed for Hawaii and eventually made a fortune telling
people throughout America about Hawaii. Mark Twain never used his last dime. He
had planned to kill himself if he had to use his last dime to buy food.
Many people have heard of the movie, Schindler’s List. The
movie is the real-life story of a businessman who was tempted to make a fortune
off the misery of those forced into slavery during the holocaust. He eventually
used his fortune to save the lives of the victims of the holocaust. However, there
were thousands of other businessmen who decided to profit from the holocaust. Would
you be willing to use all of your resources to save people from an holocaust or
would you merely go along with the crowd and profit from injustice against
others?
The devil also tempts people with vainglory. I knew a man
who was very wealthy. He told me that he was a “self-made” man. According to
the Bible, we are knitted together in the womb by God – so we aren’t
“self-made.” I asked the “self-made” man if he knew how to make his house that
we were standing in. He admitted that he didn’t. I asked if he knew how to make
the cars that he owned. He admitted that he didn’t. I pointed out to him that he
was merely the recipient of thousands of years of work by the entire human race
to develop the technology that was used to make his house, his cars, and all of
his other possessions. People who believe they are “self-made” neither
acknowledge the work of God or the contributions of their fellow humans that
have benefitted their lives. They essentially believe they are on a par with
God. This type of belief often leads to actions of immorality since people who
hold this type of belief have equated themselves with God and are a law unto
themselves.
When the devil comes remember that even if you are hungry
God can sustain you, worship God and not money, God made you and all your
fellow men so don’t fall under the delusion that you are “self-made.”
Dr. J. Clontz – Editor of The Comprehensive New Testament
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