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Questions Week 14, Day 1

by David Joynt on July 30, 2017


WHAT IS SATAN UP TO?

MATTHEW 4:1-4


Part of the preparation required in sporting contests of every kind, as well in political clashes and business competitions, is the necessity of understanding your opponent. Grasping the tactics and strategies of the Evil One is crucial in the Christian life—for we have an opponent that desires our undoing. The Tempter approaches Jesus at a moment of physical weakness and isolation to try and damage his chances of fulfilling his calling as Messiah.
Notice the way he tries to subtly sow doubt about Jesus’ relationship with God: “If you are the Son of God…” Jesus, in the previous passage describing his baptism, has heard the affirmative voice of God: “This is my Son my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased!” The Evil One wants to separate us from our Father and undermine our confidence that we belong to a God who treasures us.


Do you have confidence that you belong to God?


What helps you to sense that you have a place in his family?


FAMILY TIME— What role does affirmation play in your family?

Tags: affirmation, confidence, satan

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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