Context: Continuing my recent theme of the inner shadow-self (unconscious mind), as the seat of temptation, this blog took shape today whilst I was having a Sunday lie-in.
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.
(Luke 4:1-2; NLT).
A wolf from the desert will pounce on them.
(Jeremiah 5:6; NLT).
Forty long days
In the desert, alone:
Thirsty, tormented,
You faced the unknown.
Nightmare temptations
Arose in your heart:
Heat, cold and weariness
All played their part.
Though hungry for bread
And for proof of God’s love,
For power, and rescue
From heaven above,
Lord, you won through,
Overcoming them all,
And that’s why you’re able
To help when I call.
So, I keep going
Though dogged here by sin,
Lord, as I wander
The desert within.
We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are –
yet he did not sin (Hebrews 4:15; NLT ).
Remember how YHWH, your God, led you on a wandering path through the desert for forty years, humbling and testing you, to learn what was in your heart; whether you would keep God’s commands or not.
(Deuteronomy 8:2; TIB).