Is this the man?

Current morning devotion finds us in the book of Matthew 4.1-11.
The temptation of Jesus by the devil.
Key points to start:

"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."

The Lord was not driven, He was "led of the Spirit..." - in my mind, indicating there was a point to the difficult test.


^2" And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered."
One may know how very man He was by this verse, "He was afterward an hungered."  
You would be also if you had not eaten for 40 days/nights!

³ "And when (not if, trust he will get to you too!) the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."
Now the devil is called "the tempter."  He is predictable in this, he ALWAYS comes at one's weakest, most vulnerable time.  When you are at your lowest point physically, spiritually or mentally, beware. It has been preached by the old man of God that all three parts are very connected.  Thus, he has three venues in which to operate!
His first verbal/mental tactic is to question one's faith; "If you are who you say you are..." He is also predictable in this, when questioning the Lord Jesus Himself, or a believer.

• In response, the devil is given scripture.

⁴ But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
But wait!  That's not all the tempter will do. 

⁵ Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
⁶ And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Next question, a little more intense this time.  In questioning the Lord's Deity, he also sets up a prideful taunt:
"If you are really the Son of God, you would have no problem delivering yourself of such a physical catastrophe."  He attempts to get Jesus to PROVE He is who He says He is.  

• He completely ignores scriptues and attacks one's pride.  All the more reason to keep an    humble spirit.  You know, "the battle's not mine," said little David.

The Lord is not swayed by this taunt.  He says;"v⁷ ... It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Remember, it is not in his arsenal of weapons to show ANY mercy.  No watch what satan does.

⁸ Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
⁹ And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

"All these things WILL I give thee...!!!"  Absolutely incredible that the devil would promise the Creator of everything, including the Tempter himself, 'all the kingdoms of the world.'"

• The final weapon; the promise of wealth and power, fame and fortune.

Our precious Saviour, always magnifying the Father, is very plain in what should be the believers only consideration in the day of temptation;

¹⁰ Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
¹¹ Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

To sum up:
We understand that the Tempter is a mighty adversary (I Pet 5.8) and we are certainly no match for him.  However, when one follows scriputre as the Lord demonstrated in this account, then we can one day walk by the devil and say, "..is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;..."(Isa 14.16)