Joy21

6. What lessons about how to resist temptation does Jesus teach His disciples in this passage? Resist temptation with God’s Word. Not just His written Word, but His spoken word to us through the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert and remained with Him during His temptation, so will the Spirit guide, protect, and strengthen us in our wildernesses. Just knowing the Word - scriptures - is not enough. What about new Christians? Are they doomed to being tossed and deceived by Satan because they don’t know the Bible cover to cover? Of course not! The Holy Spirit in them from their conversion gives them the power to overcome temptation. However, this requires a continual filling and re-filling from our source, God Himself.

3. What does it mean to be “Spirit-filled”? How would our lives be different if we were truly filled and flooded with the Holy Spirit? There is a continuous filling of the Holy Spirit, not just a one-time event. When we are freshly and fully filled or flooded, we have the mind of Christ and walk in His wisdom and power. We would have all the fruit of the Spirit flowing in and through our lives. All the Spiritual Gifts would be available to us which would give us wisdom for daily living. Our thoughts and actions would be one with Jesus and bring His love, light, and healing to our hurting world.

6. How does discontent with our lot in life cause us to sin? What would constitute repentance in this circumstance? Discontentment results in grumbling which means we are not trusting God to take care of our needs. We then rely on ourselves or others rather than God. Selfishness and greed creep in. Soon we are consumed with the things of this world and our behavior conforms to this world and not to God’s plan for our lives. Repentance would look like asking forgiveness and repenting for not trusting God. The fruit of repentance would constitute stepping out in faith by giving of our time and other resources to help those in need around us.