“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil . . .” (Luke 4:1&2, NKJV)
PONDER THIS!
These verses in Luke give us the account of Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, where He fasted forty days and forty nights and endured various temptations from the Devil. What I would like us to notice about these verses is that the wilderness and temptation experience took place immediately after Jesus experienced a spiritually high time being baptized by John. The scripture tells us, directly after Jesus came out of the water from baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove and our heavenly Father declared, “You are my beloved son; in You I am well pleased.” Immediately following this awesome experience, Luke declares, “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil . . .”
1. Have you ever experienced a high time with God and immediately after you found yourself going through a “wilderness experience?”
2. If so, what did you do? How did you handle your wilderness journey?
3. Do you understand from the scripture that it is not always the devil that brings your wilderness to you but sometimes it is the Holy Spirit that leads you into the wilderness?
4. The wilderness is a time of two things, tempting and testing. It is Satan that tempts you when you are in the wilderness but it is God who test you while in the wilderness.
5. What will you do, how will you handle it, what will be the outcome the next time you find yourself IN THE WILDERNESS?