“…by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God…”

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Matt. 4:2-4

Jesus was tempted concerning food when He was hungry.

He answered Satan by declaring the Word concerning food.

He has left an example for us how to overcome in temptations: confess in faith God’s Word that answers the temptation.

Lord, may I overcome by declaring the Word the Spirit gives me.

“Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.” Prov. 8:34

Lord, I wait to hear your voice: speak to me.

Partaking of Christ — living bread from heaven — sustains our spiritual life.

“As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” John 6:57

Lord, may I hunger for the bread from heaven, and eat of it. 

“As soon as we put aside the Word of God, we lay ourselves open to the solicitation of the many voices that speak within our hearts…. We must not content ourselves with the Spirit without the written Word or with the Word without the Spirit… The Word is the chosen vehicle of the Spirit.”

F.B. Meyer, quoted in His Victorious Indwelling, Nick Harrison

 

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16

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Lord, may the Holy Spirit remind me to confess your Word in temptations.

Father, let me love your Word, eat it as my food for the inner man, and live by it.

You give me daily bread, O Father (Matt. 6:11).

May my heart be awake to hear your voice as you speak morning by morning (Isa. 50:4).

Lord, let me eat your Word, and live. Let me wait for the Word that proceeds from your mouth.

Lord, speak to your servant through your Word.

May my heart thirst for Your Word – the living Word, even Christ. Amen.

“…yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered…”

 

Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

Heb. 5:7-10

 

 

Concerning the nature of Christ’s sufferings mentioned in the verse above, see Heb. 2:18:

“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

When tempted like us (Heb. 4:15), Jesus chose to set aside His own human desires, and to yield to the Father’s will; there was suffering (self-denial) in making such choices. Note that this learning process was necessary to perfect (prove, or test) Him (Heb. 5:8) as man to be offered for us on the cross. We learn obedience in the same way following Jesus’ footsteps. Such a walk of obedience keeps our feet in the “new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” Heb. 10:20.  Thus identified with our Forerunner (Heb. 6:20), we are helped by Him as we learn obedience.

Every step of learning obedience is a step of faith on the way of the cross: step-by-step I must progress. Learning obedience implies effort, diligence, choice, suffering (self-denial); we also learn to delight in doing God’s will (Ps.40:8), seeing the joy that is set before us, Heb. 12:2.

“when He had offered up prayers …” – See examples in John 12:27 and Matt. 26:39-44. May godly fear help us to pray, and may the Spirit help us to pray, Rom. 8:25.

 

“The moment of temptation is a moment of grace.” Anonymous

“Often it is simply the answers to our prayers that cause many of the difficulties in the Christian life…We pray for submissive spirit, and God sends suffering again, for we learn to be obedient in the same way Christ ‘learned obedience from what he suffered,’ Heb. 5:8.”  from Streams in the Desert.

 

 Lord, I give thanks for the grace you give to learn obedience as I endure in trials and adversities.

 Grant that I pray in godly fear, most earnestly, remembering how you prayed with strong crying and tears.

Lord, you “learned obedience” by the things which you suffered. When things are hard for me, Lord, may I find fellowship with you. Thus may I learn obedience as you did and walk in your steps, the way of perfection. Amen.