The Prime Time for Temptation - Encouragement for Today - October 7, 2019

Peace and perspective from God's timeless truths. [View this email in your browser]( Encouragement for Today --------------------------------------------------------------- October 7, 2019 The Prime Time for Temptation [SARAH GERINGER]( [ Listen to this devotion]( “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’” [Matthew 4:1-3]( (NIV) My mind had just traveled down an all-too-familiar path. Absently wandering onto it while chopping vegetables for dinner, I felt frustrated with myself for traversing it again. Ever since third grade, when a popular boy gave me a compliment, I have used fantasy as a soothing escape in lonely moments. Fantasies of the PG variety, like the pretty romances of Hallmark Channel movies. Nothing too bad, I convinced myself. Just myriad replays of real interactions or imagined meetings, when a Prince Charming would affirm, rescue or comfort me. Standing in my kitchen, contemplating an unsolicited yet flattering social media message, I ended up much further down the path than usual. In a few seconds, I was reveling in a lovely future with a stranger I had seen only in a tiny avatar picture. But God met me on that imaginary path. He reminded me I had recently surrendered this 30-year-old thought pattern to Him in my quest to heal from past hurts. Even though my fantasy world was known only to Him, it had potential to be quite dangerous. My fantasies tempt me to find comfort in perfect mental images rather than in the presence of the living God. As shame pressed down on my shoulders, Jesus lifted it off. He brought to my mind scenes from His own temptation. I realized the devil didn’t attack Him as soon as He entered the wilderness. Instead, Satan waited for the prime time, when Jesus was hungry after forty days of fasting. “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread’” ([Matthew 4:1-3](. [Continue reading...]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read about Salem Web Network]( | [Subscription Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( --------------------------------------------------------------- © 2019 Salem Web Network. All rights reserved. 111 Virginia Street, Suite 500, Richmond, VA 23219. This email is never sent unsolicited. You are receiving this email because your email address, {EMAIL}, is signed up to receive newsletters, updates, and special offers from Encouragement for Today. [Link](