Day 13 – Issue 15

Be Still Know

Luke 4:1 (NLT)

‘Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.’

I can still vividly remember the first time I felt a compulsion to explore the person of Jesus. It wasn’t something I was looking to do, and I was completely unchurched. To this day I can recall that initial sense of God’s presence and my own felt need to follow him. They remain fresh within me. Those first weeks of Christian infancy were a delight during which I encountered Christ personally in a remarkable way.

It wasn’t as dramatic as the way in which God confirmed Jesus’ authority at his baptism. With little time to reflect upon these things, Jesus disappeared into the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit, in other words, full of God. Again the wilderness features as the space within which Jesus’ character, authenticity and authority is challenged. Ahead of three years of intensive ministry through which Jesus was to reveal the very purpose, heart and reality of God, he was invited to face up to his own human fears.

In the wilderness, the devil seeks to unnerve Jesus with some attractive alternative options. Jesus resists the necessity to engage with the conversation on the devil’s terms. He very simply and succinctly quotes scripture, and confronts Satan with the truth enshrined in God’s word. This is the sword of the Spirit.

When we are tested to the max, when our fears are uppermost and our anxiety acute, we are invited to quietly reflect upon God’s word. If I can reign in my tongue, quieten my turbulent mind and simply take and use scripture, I retain a fighting chance of keeping my peace and my mind and heart focused upon God.

QUESTION: When you feel weak or fragile do you turn to the Scriptures for help?

PRAYER: God come to my aid. Lord make haste to help all those who need you today.