The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Luke 4:1-2, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan

and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days,

being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days,

and when they had ended, He became hungry.”

The word full here (?????? pleres) can be translated as control, the

explanation of which is further expressed by “led around.” If Jesus,

who is Himself God, is being controlled by the Holy Spirit, how much

more should we! Notice, too, that the Holy Spirit’s purpose was to

subject Him to the temptation of the devil. This is the beginning of

Jesus’ ministry. He must be tested and proved adequate for undertaking

this ministry. Temptation (??????? peirazo) means a solicitation to do

evil. Temptation itself is not a sin. It is yielding to temptation that

constitutes sin. To add to the testing, He ate nothing during this time,

a period of 40 days. Nothing, however, is said of his drinking water,

which surely He did. Hunger shows Jesus’ humanity, while at the

same time, it pressured Him to give in to Satan’s solicitations. Yet,

He did not sin! Does the Holy Spirit allow us to be tempted by the devil?

He sure does! Our Christian faith has to be tested, too. Sometimes

the allure of the world, the flesh, and the devil seem almost too much

for us to overcome. That is when we must allow the Holy Spirit to

deliver us from thoughts, words, deeds –all those unholy, ungodly

things that Satan puts in our minds to do. Jesus overcame temptation

by yielding to the Spirit’s control, and His power enables us to overcome

also! Are you letting the Spirit exercise control over you?

We are praying for you daily; and we hope you are praying for us,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas