{"id":3566,"date":"2024-11-13T07:06:06","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T07:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/?p=3566"},"modified":"2024-11-11T21:08:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-11T21:08:01","slug":"i-will-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/i-will-not\/","title":{"rendered":"I Will Not"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><strong>Wednesday, November 13<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>I Will Not <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But Jesus answered him, saying, &#8216;It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. <strong>Luke 4:4<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Have you ever been truly hungry\u2014hungry to the point of weakness? Jesus knew what that felt like. After fasting for 40 days, He was vulnerable, physically drained, and in that moment, the devil came to tempt Him. Imagine the scene: Satan, seeing an opportunity, approaches Jesus with smug confidence, taunting Him, \u201cIf You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Jesus, even in His weakened state, responded with strength. He said, \u201cNo! Man shall not live by bread alone.\u201d Jesus didn\u2019t give in to the enemy\u2019s offer to misuse His power for personal comfort. He resisted because He came to show us the path through temptation, not around it.<\/p>\n<p>The enemy often strikes when we\u2019re at our weakest. When we\u2019re tired, lonely, or struggling, he comes with twisted offers, preying on our legitimate needs but presenting illegitimate ways to fulfill them. He tempts us to take shortcuts or find relief in things that ultimately bring harm. We all have desires for happiness, security, connection, and comfort, but Satan offers counterfeit ways to meet these needs\u2014ways that lead to guilt, shame, and emptiness.<\/p>\n<p>Jesus teaches us how to overcome these twisted offers. He shut down the devil in two specific ways: He acted immediately, and He spoke truth. Jesus didn\u2019t entertain the thought; He said \u201cNo!\u201d firmly and without delay. Then, He quoted Scripture, grounding Himself in God\u2019s truth. He knew His purpose and identity, so He didn\u2019t need what Satan was offering.<\/p>\n<p>The same is true for us. When Satan whispers lies about our worth or purpose, we need to know the truth about who we are in Christ. When he tempts us with counterfeit fulfillment, we can shut him down by declaring, \u201cNo! I will not satisfy my needs in ways that compromise my integrity.\u201d Remember, Satan\u2019s twisted offerings may seem appealing, but they lead to bondage, not freedom.<\/p>\n<p>The devil has tempted you with some twisted offerings. But they\u2019re not right. Your spirit knows that. Declare right now, just as Jesus did, I will NOT meet my legitimate needs and desires in illegitimate ways. No, Satan. I know the truth! I am not fooled.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Prayer for today<\/strong>:<em> Lord, thank You for showing me through Jesus\u2019 example that I don\u2019t have to give in to temptation. Help me recognize when the enemy is offering me something that will only lead to hurt and regret. Give me the strength to say \u201cNo\u201d immediately and to stand on Your truth. Show me the right way to meet my needs and fulfill my desires. May Your Word be my shield and my guide. I declare that I will not be deceived by Satan\u2019s lies. In Jesus\u2019 name, Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wednesday, November 13 I Will Not But Jesus answered him, saying, &#8216;It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Luke 4:4 Have you ever been truly hungry\u2014hungry to the point of weakness? Jesus knew what that felt like. After fasting for 40 days, He was vulnerable, physically [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3566"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3571,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3566\/revisions\/3571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornerstonecem.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}