The original Greek translation of this Scripture shows that it was the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, who led Jesus to the devil to be tempted (Luke 4: 1 confirms this).

The Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity. Often when Christians feel the Holy Spirit, they say they feel the presence of God. They are right. The Holy Spirit is God himself. It was God who led Jesus to the devil to be tempted. Our Father does not tempt anyone [James 1:13] but rather it is the devil who tempts or seduces believers. However, just as God led Jesus to the devil, our Father can lead Christians to Satan to be tempted. Let all Christians always reflect on Matthew 4:1. They will realize thatit was not Jesus’s wish to go to the place of temptations in the wilderness. Rather, it was our loving Father who led Jesus into the desert where the devil was already waiting for him with many temptations. Our Father had reasons to lead Jesus to the devil to be tempted. For the same reasons, he still leads many faithful believers, without their knowledge, in situations of temptations and trials.

Here are some of the reasons why God can lead believers to the devil to be tempted:

1. As God trusted Christ, he trusted all faithful Christians.

When Satan appears in heaven with accusations against a believer, God has no way of proving to the devil that his children are blameless. If you read the book of Job chapters 1 and 2, you will realize that when Satan appeared in heaven with accusations against Job, God wasted no time trying to defend his faithful servant. He simply allowed Satan to go and prove himself that Job was. The same thing happened in the life of Jesus. God wasted no time trying to defend Christ because he had complete confidence in his Son. Today God has the same confidence in all Christians. He knows we can prove to the devil that we love our Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit from the bottom of our hearts.

2. God wants to test our obedience to him.

Sometimes when God leads Christians to the devil to be tempted, He wants to test their obedience to him. This is exactly what he did with the first man on earth. Do you realize that God had all the capacity to plant the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil elsewhere – far from Adam? Do you realize that in the Garden of Eden, God had the ability to prevent Satan from tempting Adam? God could have said a word and the serpent would have disappeared or even perished. God allowed Satan to fulfill this temptation to see if Adam would still obey his instructions and remain faithful. God can allow tempting or trying situations to happen to you to see if you will always remain faithful to him.’

3. God wants to prove for himself whether the accusations against us are true or not.

Before God judges, he wants to know for himself whether the accusations he has heard about us are true or not, some of these accusations may come from the devil or from our fellow men. This is exactly what happened in the case of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many charges were laid against these two cities until God said:

“I must go down to find out whether or not the accusations which I have heard are true.” . Genesis 18: 20-21 GNB

God led these two cities to temptation by directing two angels to pose as male visitors to these cities. What happened to these two angels at night proved to God that the accusations he had heard about these two cities were actually true. Christians, especially those in the ministry, should not ignore all the accusations made by their enemies. As in the case of Job, God can allow Satan to tempt you in some of the areas with which you are accused. Likewise, just as our Father used Job and Jesus to shame the devil, God can allow temptations and trials to happen to you in your life in order to prove to the world that you are innocent.

Your anointing does not matter.

An important lesson we learn from the temptation of Jesus is that no matter what anointing you have on your life, no matter how close you are to God, when the Father allows Satan to tempt you, the devil can put you in very difficult tempting situations.

When God allows Satan to tempt you, He does not seek your defeat or failure. God is looking to see if you would glorify his name. It all depends on you because God has given you the power to decide whether the glory goes to your Heavenly Father or to the devil. When Satan succeeds in tempting you, he rejoices over God. He tells God how right he was with his accusations against you. But when you manage to overcome the temptations, the glory returns to God. Satan’s accusations are  proven false.

When you overcome temptations, something will happen in the supernatural:

– The name of God will be glorified [Daniel 3: 28-29]

– God will be pleased with you [Daniel 1: 8-9]

– God will laugh at Satan [Isaiah 37:22, Psalm 37:13]

– Jesus will be filled with joy by interceding for you [Hebrews 7:25]

– God’s blessings will come to you [Prov. 3:33]

– God will send his angels to protect you [Ps. 91:11]

– The last part of your life will be more blessed [Job 42:12]

Let all Christians know that when temptations come to them, it is our loving Father who has permitted Satan to bring them. Satan cannot tempt a child of God without God’s permission. Know that when you accepted Christ, Satan began to accuse you before God. Even now, he may be trying to ask God for permission to come and tempt you. There is no limit to what God does. When God allows Satan to tempt believers, He wants us to count on him for power, for wisdom, and for advice, rather than trusting our human capabilities.

A sister falls

Recently, I was told about this sister in Christ who had grown so much in business. She started from a humble beginning and the Lord prospered abundantly. This gave her more love and confidence in God. She always moved with her Bible and went to church regularly. One evening, after an unusually busy day, she collected all the money from the day’s sales and got into a car to go home. It was a lot of money because she had sold almost everything in stock. On her way, thieves hit and grabbed her bag of money. They threw the Bible at her and disappeared. This sister was so shocked that she burst into tears. She looked at the Bible and saw that it was useless in her life. I was told that she grabbed the Bible and left it at her church. She abandoned Christ that day.

We must have a fixed faith in God. A faith that will not be shaken by negative circumstances. A faith that will withstand trials and temptations. Now, I want you to see what happened to the spiritual realm when this sister fell. She fell because she was tempted by the devil. This temptation was allowed by God. Satan went before God and he accused this sister.

“Are you saying that she loves you and that you are proud of her?” Is it not because of this money that you gave her. Take the money away and you will see if she still loves you. ”

God allowed Satan to realize this temptation and the devil passed the test. Our Father in Heaven has no way of proving to Satan that we love him from the bottom of our hearts. God trusts us so he tells the devil to come on Earth and prove for himself that we are true friends of God.

Another sister falls

This is another true story. There is this couple who loved God so much. From time to time, the man asked his wife to pray and repent for fear of having sinned against God. They always repented on behalf of their sons and daughters. The man would never allow evil to come to them. This couple’s fear of God was known to great distances. This was Job and his wife, as recorded in the Bible. Without  their knowledge, Satan accused Job before God in heaven and the Devil was allowed to tempt this innocent man. God said to Satan:

“Very well, then, everything he has is in your power ” Job 1:12

What followed was as follows:

All of Job’s 1,000 oxen and 500 donkeys were stolen.

The fire of God burned all 7,000 of Job’s sheep.

Job’s 3000 camels were stolen

Job’s seven sons and three daughters were killed.

It was too much for Mrs. Job. She lost all of her faith and trust in God. If only Job’s wife had the revelation of the charges Satan had brought against her husband before God, and if she knew that Satan was the real enemy behind their trials. If only she knew the double blessing that God had prepared if Job succeeded in remaining faithful, she could probably have been patient and a source of encouragement for her dear husband. Meanwhile, Job’s wife became more restless and impatient. She denied the name of God and wanted Job to do the same. She says to her husband,

““Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”  ” Job 2: 9

If Ms. Job had known that God was watching carefully to see what she was doing, and if she had a revelation of the reward that God was preparing for Job, she would probably have resisted the devil. Glory would be given to God.

The battle is for the faithful believers.

Let all Christians always read the book of Job to see that the person God mentioned to Satan was blameless and always, faithful to God. This still continues today. Whenever Satan appears in heaven, God tells him the names of his faithful children on earth.