Jesus overcomes the Devil in the Desert.

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." (Matthew 4: 1)

Sunday, 1st March 2020, 1st Sunday of Lent.

The Gospel, Matthew 4: 1 - 11 is the Temptation of Jesus the Christ. After His Baptism, the Devil whisked Him off to the Desert.
What is the Desert?
Where is your Desert?

#1 The Desert is the place of spiritual combat.
#2 The Desert is the place of preparation for our life's work.
#3 The Desert is the period of Closed Door experience. Closed Doors: Health, job, finance, etc.

No preparation, no performance.  I was fortunate that I had five years of closed door Desert Experience before I had a big opportunity.
Recently, there was news of a young lady mayor of one of our large cities sentenced to three years in a federal penitentiary for financial impropriety.  Was she prepared by a desert experience before her big job? The Desert is the place where we confront our demons, discover who we are and develop plans to deal
with the wiles of the enemy of mankind. No preparation. No performance.

Starting from Abraham and Jacob, David to Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul, all of our Bible heroes spent time in the Desert.

See how James in his letter describes what the Desert does for you:

"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1: 2 - 4).

The Church teaches that we can overcome evil in our lives through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. (Cf CCC 1434). Lent is a great time to start.
O that today you listen to the Lord, harden not your hearts.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com