MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/8/2026
9:23 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“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.’”
Now as we look at what the devil said to Jesus
throughout these three climactic temptations contained an element of truth as
deception can only hope to succeed when it is combined with partial truth. MacArthur
writes “If is better translated since.” This is what I went over
last evening, and I don’t know why the translators used the word “if” because
surely Satan knew who Jesus Christ is, the Holy Son of God, and if I am not
mistaken Lucifer, when God created him was identified with Jesus Christ, but he
fell and the reasons why he fell are found in two OT books of Isaiah and
Ezekiel.
12
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you
are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven;
above the stars of God I
will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the
north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like
the Most High.’ (Isaiah 14:12-14).
11
¶ Moreover, the word of the LORD came to
me: 12 "Son of man, raise a
lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD:
"You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl,
onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were
your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were
prepared. 14 You were an anointed
guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the
midst of the stones of fire you walked. 15
You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till
unrighteousness was found in you. 16 In
the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and
you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I
destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the
ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. 18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the
unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire
out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in
the sight of all who saw you. 19 All who
know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end
and shall be no more forever." (Ezekiel 28:11-19)
These
are the two sections that speak of Satan and how did he fall? Notice the five “I wills” found in Isiaah
14:13-14, and this gives the answer, and that answer is pride. Pride is a deceitful sin, and as we see Satan
was full of pride.
MacArthur
writes “Satan’s words to Eve, ‘Indeed, has God said’ (Gen. 3:1) were intended
to raise doubts in her mind. But knowing
the futility of such and approach with Jesus, Satan began by acknowledging His
true identity as the Son of God…
“Unlike liberal theologians,
cultists, and other heretical groups, Satan and the demons never denied the
deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had
always known His true identity, and always affirmed it in their conversations
with Him (e.g., 4:34, 41; 8:28; Matt. 8:29; Mark 1:34; 3:11). Satan’s
affirmation of that undeniable reality is the core of truth in this final
solicitation to evil.”
(e.g., 4:34, 41; 8:28; Matt. 8:29; Mark
1:34; 3:11)
“34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of
Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
“41 And demons also came out of many, crying,,
“You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to
speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.”
“28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down
before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son
of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.’”
“29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to
do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’”
“34 And he healed many who were sick with various
diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to
speak, because they knew him.”
“11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him,
they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.’”
MacArthur goes on to write “The
devil’s suggestion that Jesus command a stone to become bread was not a
temptation to self-indulgence, for it is not a sin to eat food when one is hungry. Still less was it aimed at getting Jesus to
pridefully show off His powers, since He and Satan were alone and there was no
audience to perform for. Satan’s point
was far more insidious and subtle. He
was aware that in the incarnation, Jesus had voluntarily set aside the
independent use of His divine power. The
devil was attempting (as he had with Eve) to get Him to distrust God’s love and
provision for Him. He insinuated that
God was indifferent and disinterested in Jesus’ plight. After all, had God not provided food for the
stubbornly rebellious Israelites during their forty years of wandering in the
wilderness? Had not David testified, ‘I
have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or
his descendants begging bread’ (Ps. 37:25)?
If the Father truly loved His Son, why had He failed to provide food for
Him these past forty days? Satan hoped
to entice Jesus to question the love of the Father and the care of the Holy
Spirit. This was a serious assault not
only on the deity and perfection of Jesus Christ, but also on the unity of the
Trinity.”
Looks like I will have to finish
this section in this evening’s SD.
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: I must continue to trust the Lord,
because I know that Satan can tempt me and cause me to fall into sin.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to pray for my wife as she
deals with this dreadful disease of cancer, that the Lord will comfort her in
the pain she is having in her left side, that if it is the will of the Lord
that He will send us to a new doctor to help her beat this cancer that has
invaded her body.
5/8/2026
10:21 AM
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