Weakened Flesh

I spent some time reading Matthew 4 this week, and God revealed something profound. As always, the Lord tells us to ask, and He will give us wisdom to understand and go deeper into His word. This revelation opened my mind and heart to the Spirit and the flesh. I started by asking about Matthew 4:1, which says, “And Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness.” I asked the Lord why would the Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness.

As I sat and pondered this thought throughout the week, at the very end, the Lord spoke to me through this verse in John 3:30: “He must increase, and I must decrease.” What does it mean for God to increase His Spirit and His presence in our lives? It means to do away with the flesh. To deny it, flee from it, and ultimately crucify it. To exalt God’s Spirit is to manifest the very presence of holiness, which is walking obediently according to His word and grace that abides in Jesus.

In Jesus’ life, he was both flesh and spirit. While He is the sovereign Messiah and King over all, He was
physically both man and God. Even Jesus had to go into the wilderness and deny the very part of Him that was etched into His body. But Jesus was sinless, to the enemy though, He was not above being tempted.The severity is this, our flesh desires to cause harm and lead us away from a place of joy, peace, and understanding. Therefore, our fleshly nature needs to be weakened and deceased, so that the Spirit of God can become the ruler in our lives.

In the wilderness, Jesus defeats the enemy by knowing God’s Word, speaking it, and standing firm by walking according to it. He focused His mind on the root of the enemy’s true motives, to make the Spirit of God in us bow to the evil desires of the flesh. That is why the Bible says to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against our soul.

I believe the Lord shows us that this battle is ongoing and progressive, but just as in any battle, there are winners and losers. In this spiritual fight, Satan has already been defeated by Jesus. The enemy may prow and cunningly tempt us to distort what God is saying or to walk according to the flesh. However, his spirit, which was still created by God, cannot subject us to evil if we know the Word, speak it, and walk in it—just as Jesus did.

Jesus operated with the strength and conviction that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. God’s Word is the greatest gift to mankind, and it will sustain us. In Matthew 4, we see Jesus resisting temptation by speaking God’s Word to the enemy and declaring God’s truth as the authority over his spirit. Jesus protected himself from the enemy’s tests by responding with words that the enemy could neither refute nor manipulate.

What Jesus reveals to us in Matthew 4 lays the foundation for our lives: God’s Word is all we need. It is the only word that will endure through generations, government rulers, economic crises, sexual desires, identity struggles, suicidal thoughts, financial burdens, addiction, self-hate, homelessness, hurtful wounds, unhealed trauma, broken marriages, social media influences, doubts, workplace issues, self-gratification, idolatry, anger, and more. God’s Word is the only thing that will last. It is the first and most important part of God's plan. It is key to overcoming the enemy, and it is the door to open heaven.

We don’t have to bow down to the enemy or his plans that lead to destruction. We have been overcome and set free by the blood of Jesus and His Word on the cross, which declares, "It is Finished." Our battle today requires us to stand firm in our position and authority as rulers over the flesh.

John 3:30 reminds us that the spirit must increase while the flesh decreases. When God's Spirit is active in us, we no longer focus on the world because we are no longer controlled by our own desires. Since God cannot be tempted and does not change, His Word must transform our hearts to reflect His character.

If you're in a battle against the flesh, remember that God is undefeated. His Word is your sword, sharper than any two-edged blade. If you're walking through the wilderness of life, here are some steps to help you stand strong, remembering you have the armor of God.

Steps To Defeat Flesh

1. Study: Understand the word of God and apply it to your life. Jesus, in His power, could have
simply told the enemy to get behind Him after the first temptation, but instead, He stood
firm on the word of God and weathered through the test. Only because he knew the word of
God. Study God’s word, not just memorize it, truly study to know it.
2. Practice Fleeing: Deny the flesh by fasting and praying, asking God to increase His Spirit in
you. Trust in His word alone, not your thoughts or abilities. If Jesus could withstand
temptation, the enemy’s power is weakened. You can defeat it with God's power through
His word.
3. Be satisfied: The enemy cannot offer you anything if you are satisfied in God. Jesus didn’t
want bread to satisfy His physical hunger, nor did He want to tempt God by asking for
protection or desiring all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus wanted God alone, and nothing
else could be offered to Him because He knew His Father’s word, His voice, His character,

His power, and His glory.

Personal Testimony

In my own struggle to overcome the flesh, I often felt I wasn’t strong enough to stand
against the enemy. Honestly, looking back, I didn’t even believe I was in a spiritual battle.
But God chose me, and He implanted His Spirit within me. One day, I told the enemy, 'No.' “I
am no longer subjected to the lies and things you try to tell me. I have God's Spirit, and the
answer is No." It sounded wild and a little crazy because I was in my room talking to
something or someone I couldn’t see. But I realized today that the sinful nature (flesh), will
not decrease until it is put in its rightful place under the Spirit of God. So I encourage you to
take steps to reclaim authority and rule the way God intended for us, by giving us authority and power over all creation.