The concept of the enemy using your own emotions against you may seem foreign to you, but I assure you that this is what he does. Let me give you an example, Adam. He was told that if he ate from the tree he would die. The enemy entices him with, “Did God really say?” That particular saying entreats the person to look at the circumstance from a fleshly position. John wrote about this in 1 John 2:16 referring to the desire of your flesh. It’s one of the three ways the enemy uses your emotions against you.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
Another concept of emotion is the desire of the eyes. You see something that you want and your emotions convince you of that. Let’s look at sexuality. God created man and woman. Today, people see the same gender that they are and desire that. God calls this perversion. I have heard it said by some people that God made me this way. They are right. The god of this world made them that way, not the God in heaven. Man and woman were created to multiply God’s image. The same sex cannot do that so it’s not from God. You see this everywhere today. See how the enemy uses emotions against you. People will go as far as calling what is evil good, and good evil.
Romans 1:26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
The last one I want to discuss is pride of life. In all my studies of the scriptures, I have concluded that pride is a hardness of heart. Pride can make you think that you are better than everyone else. You use people for your gain. Jesus was tempted by this by giving Him all the kingdoms of the world. He could have all the riches and glory. Sadly, many today fall into that trap. They believe God is blessing them with a better job or more finances. This keeps their focus away from God and on themselves. That is why it is written, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Matthew 19:8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”
Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
Luke 12:16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
Jesus overcame all the emotional issues that the enemy threw at Him. There was one key that I want to share with you on how My King did this. He used the peace that is beyond all understanding. I have been fortunate to have tasted this peace. How can a man walk in a room where his wife is with another man, and yet still be at peace. That happened to Me. It’s not something I practised or even prayed for. That peace was just there. That peace is the spirit. Jesus’ answers to all the temptations would be considered the sword of the spirit. Every answer came from Deuteronomy. Jesus stayed in a place of peace. He gave that peace to His disciples. That peace is also between God and man. The peace that is beyond all understanding which guards your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Jesus was the prince of peace and now He is the King of peace. The Kingdom of God is peace. Be blessed my friends.
John 20:20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Hebrews 7:1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.