Women's Bible Study - September 11th, 2024 - Overcoming Temptation Through God’s Strength

In one paragraph

Natalie Yates taught from Matthew 4 on the subject of temptation, tracing how the same three temptations that tripped up Eve in the garden were brought against Jesus in the wilderness, and how Jesus resisted each one. She drew on her own story of addiction and recovery to make the danger of temptation concrete, and she closed by walking through the armor of God in Ephesians 6 as the practical...

Read together

1. James 1 chapter cited on temptation, desire giving birth to sin and then death
2. James 1:14-15 quoted directly: each person is tempted when dragged away by their own evil desire, desire conceives sin, sin gives birth to death
3. Matthew 3 Jesus baptized, Spirit descending like a dove, voice from heaven saying this is my beloved Son
4. Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days
5. Matthew 4:2-3 after fasting forty days the tempter said if you are the Son of God tell these stones to become bread
6. Matthew 4:5-6 devil took Jesus to the highest point of the temple and said throw yourself down
7. Matthew 4:8-9 devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said all this I will give you if you bow down and worship me
8. Genesis 3 the fall, serpent tempting Eve with the fruit, lust of flesh, lust of eyes, pride of life paralleled to Jesus' temptations
9. 1 John 2:16 cited to show the three categories of temptation: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life come not from the Father but from the world
10. Psalm 16:11 in your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand pleasures forevermore, contrasted with sinful short-lived pleasure
11. Psalm 119 referenced for Martin Luther's three rules: prayer, meditation, and tension
12. Philippians 2:6-8 Jesus did not consider equality with God something to exploit but humbled himself even to death on a cross
13. 1 Peter 1 trials prove the genuineness of faith, of greater worth than gold refined by fire
14. Galatians 5 walk by the Spirit, desires of flesh versus fruits of the Spirit listed
15. 1 Corinthians 10:13 no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind, God will provide a way out
16. Ephesians 6:10-18 the full armor of God described: belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit
17. James 5:16 confess sins to one another and pray, the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective
18. Deuteronomy Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy when responding to the devil's three temptations

Talk about it

1. Natalie walked through how Matthew chapters one through five mirror the first five books of the Old Testament, showing God telling one consistent story across centuries. Where have you seen that kind of pattern or consistency in your own walk with God, where something from your past turned out to be preparation for something later?
2. Natalie described three temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness as the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and the lust of the eyes, and then showed the same three at work in Genesis three with Eve. Which of those three do you find most active in your own life right now, and what does it tend to look like day to day?
3. Natalie said the enemy waited until Jesus was alone, empty, and had just made a bold step of obedience before he struck. Have you noticed that pattern in your own life, where attack seems to come right after a moment of growth or commitment? What did that look like?
4. CS Lewis wrote in Screwtape Letters that the safest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope without sudden turnings or signposts. Natalie applied that to the subtle temptations of comfort, distraction and busyness that are easy to overlook. What are the small, quiet temptations in your life that are harder to name than the obvious ones?
5. Natalie ended by pointing to the armor of God in Ephesians six and to Jesus answering every temptation by quoting scripture, and she invited the group to confess and pray together. What is one piece of that armor that you feel like you are not actually putting on in the morning, and what would it look like practically to start doing that?