Today’s New Covenant nugget is from Hebrews 4:12-16
“The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
When Jesus walked on the earth He laid down His divinity and did what He did as a man, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Here the Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in ALL points as we are… being tempted is not sin, succumbing to temptation is!
In Hebrews 4:12-16 the Holy Spirit gives us what we need to overcome temptation as Jesus did…
Overcoming temptation starts with the Word…
holding fast to our confession of the Word. In Joshua 1:8 the Lord tells Joshua to ‘meditate’ upon the Word day and night to overcome the enemy and to succeed and prosper… the Hebrew word translated as ‘meditate’ literally means to ‘mutter’… to CONFESS the Word over and over.
As you ‘hold fast to your confession of the Word, the power of the living Word is released in your inner man and the Word becomes a SWORD in the hands of the Holy Spirit to protect you and to equip you to overcome temptation.
When Jesus faced temptation, He spoke the Word… when the devil tempted Him, every time Jesus retaliated with, “it is written!” The Word in your mouth destroys the power of temptation!
The Holy Spirit continues to equip us to overcome temptation in verse sixteen… “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” As said in yesterday’s devotional, the best translation for the Greek Word translated here as ‘find’ is ‘to get a revelation of’. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and GET A REVELATION OF GRACE in our time of need.”
One of the greatest aspects of GRACE is the anointing on it to overcome temptation and sin…
Romans 5:20 says, “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” The Passion Translation says, “wherever sin increased, there was more than enough of God’s grace to triumph all the more!”
Romans 6:14 says that “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” The anointing on GRACE destroys temptation as well as the power of sin… it sets us FREE from sin’s dominion!
When you face temptation… (and if Jesus did, you know that we all will), so, when you face temptation, speak the Word… say, “it is written”, and then declare the Word as Jesus did! The Word in your mouth will become a SWORD in the hands of the Spirit and will defeat temptation.
Then come boldly to the throne of grace, receive mercy and receive a fresh revelation of grace and how to operate in it to overcome the particular temptation that you are dealing with… then, release that power of grace within you! As you do, ‘POWER’ to overcome will rise up on the inside of you and between the WORD in your mouth, and the supernatural GRACE of God in you, you will overcome, just as Jesus did!
In His amazing Love, Nick
