PT-2 “Satan Tempted Christ To Doubt God’s Love” (Luke 4:3-4)

 EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/8/2026 10:35 PM

My Worship Time            Focus:  PT-2 “Satan Tempted Christ To Doubt God’s Love”

Bible Reading & Meditation          Reference:  Luke 4:3-4

Message of the verses:  “And the devil said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”  And Jesus answered him, “it is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

I want to continue looking at these verses in this evening’s SD.

As we will see when we look at the other two temptations that Satan put against Jesus, we will see that the Lord replied to Satan’s half-truths and lies with the absolute, undeniable truth of God’s Word.  I might add that all of the verses would quote against Satan came against from the book of Deuteronomy, and let me make one more point.  You may remember that the book of Deuteronomy was written after the children of Israel wondered around the wilderness, and the reason they had to do this was because they did not trust the Lord to be able to defeat their enemies from the land that the Lord had given them.  So Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy (which means the renewing of the Law) right before the children of Israel were to go in to the Promised Land to defeat their enemies, which is seen in the book of Joshua.

John MacArthur writes “Jesus answered him, “It is written (in Deut. 8:3), ‘Man shall not live on bread along.’”  Now I wish to quote the entire verse from Deuteronomy 8:3 “3  And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (ESV)

MacArthur then goes on to write “What sustains a person’s life is not food, but obedience to ‘everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord’ (Deut. 8:3).  Christ’s point is graphically illustrated by the deaths of the disobedient Israelites, who eventually died in the wilderness because of God’s judgment, despite His provision of food for them.  Jesus would later tell His disciples, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work’ (John 4:34).  In the Sermon on the Mount, He said, 

Do not worry then, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear for clothing?”  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matt. 6:31-33)

“Paul expressed his unshakeable confidence in God’s provision when he wrote, “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19).

“Jesus refused to act on His own initiative but, in complete trust of His faithful Father’s love and the Spirit’s care, chose to remain in submission to God’s will.  And in due time, the Father did provide for His physical needs, sending angels to provide food for Him (Matt. 4:11).

“Like Jesus, believers are often tempted to doubt God’s love for them.  If He did love them, they reason, He would not have permitted whatever painful, disappointing circumstances they find themselves in.  Sometimes their frustration is heightened by the realization that blatantly ungodly people seem to be prospering.  They find themselves in agreement with the psalmist, who wrote,

“For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  For there are no pains in their death, and their body is fat.  They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind.  Therefore pride is their necklace; the garment of violence covers them.  Their eye bulges from fatness; the imaginations of their heart run riot.  They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; they speak from on high.  They have set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue parades through the earth.  Therefore his people return to this place, and waters of abundance are drunk by them.  They say, “How does God know?  And is there knowledge with the Most High?”  Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth.  Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence. (Psalm 73:3-13).

“But like Jesus, Christians must refuse to act outside of God’s will, but continually trust in His loving provision (cf. Psalm 37).

5/8/2026 11:02 PM