| Photo by Richard Stovall on Unsplash
In our spiritual journey, we will constantly face temptations. Even Jesus was tempted by the devil, but He showed us the battle plan to defeat temptation and not to be defeated by temptation.
When we are making the shift to become closer to Jesus, we need to be ready and prepared for the temptations that will come against us!
Luke 4: 1-2, “Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. Where He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.”
We see that Jesus was filled with the Spirit, but was tempted by the devil! When you are spiritually drifting, the devil does not need to tempt you! But if you are shifting to be more like Jesus, then that is when the enemy will use things to tempt us to get us to shift back. The devil will use the flesh, world, people, pleasures, anything that is available to get us to shift away from Jesus and the Word of God!
We see a secret to defeating temptation in the life of Jesus. Jesus was fasting and praying in the wilderness. There is power when we go deeper in prayer!
As we begin 2026, we must choose to go deeper with Jesus and shift toward Him if we want to defeat temptation and be victorious!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pastor Ronald Squibb has been the International Christian Center (ICC) Lead Senior Pastor at Staten Island, New York, since 2011. He draws many experiences from his over 40 years as a pastor and significant emotional life experiences.
His new book, Following the Journey with Jesus, which he co-authored with Daniel McNaughton, was recently published and is receiving rave reviews. The daily devotion
