Excerpts from the book — The Things Fasting Won't Do
Deuteronomy 8:2–3 (NLT) ||
“Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna… He did it to teach you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”
Now pause.
Why would God allow the Israelites to go hungry if satisfaction was always just one step away?
Think about it — if I can walk into a restaurant and eat whenever I want, what exactly is the point of God letting me feel hunger?
There has to be a reason, right?!
In verse 2, it says that God was carrying out character refinement — humbling them, because unbelievers are not humble and if you're not humble, you can't walk with God because you'll be resisted at every turn.
Now let’s define humility properly.
Humility is dependence on God — the recognition that God is the One who sustains all things.
By default, unbelievers are proud. After all, how do you depend on — or acknowledge — a God you do not believe in?
This is what the “hustle culture” is born out of — pride. Me, myself, and I, will carry me, myself, and I through life.
So when an unbeliever becomes a child of God, one of the first lessons God introduces him to, is dependence.
So what Moses said, and what Jesus made reference to during his temptation, “man shall not live by bread alone...” — is figurative for — man shall not create the reality (of abundance, good health, relationships, etc) by effort alone but by every Word that comes from God.
This lesson is for believers only. Because the natural man sees the things of the Spirit as foolishness — he cannot comprehend them.
So when Satan tempted Jesus, saying, “turn these stones into bread,”
Jesus knew exactly what was being tested.
It wasn’t hunger.
It was His response to the enemy probing his breaking point — because how you respond at your breaking point tells the enemy everything he needs to know to bring you down.
Now let’s establish something undeniable.
A human being cannot survive beyond forty days on water alone.
Biology agrees. Medicine agrees. History agrees.
And this was the breaking point of Jesus, as a human.
So when Satan showed up in the wilderness, he didn’t come early. He came at the breaking point. To see one thing:
What does this Man do when effort has reached its limit? Does He continue to throw effort at the problem — or does He throw His knees to the earth in prayer?
Because man’s effort has a ceiling.
There is a limit to the problems it can solve.
And a man who knows only himself is doomed from the start — because he faces an enemy who already knows his breaking point.
That’s why Scripture says:
“You are gods, children of the Most High — but you will die like mere men.”
Why?
Because you see life like mortals — like unbelievers — despite the God who dwells within you.
So the temptation Satan threw at Jesus is the same one he throws at every believer.
The same question:
Will you reason like an unbeliever —
or like a child of God, backed by God?
That’s why some Christians, when the doctor speaks, they begin to put their house in order.
They gather their family and prepare to spend their final days with them.
Because they believe effort alone creates reality. So when effort fails, all fails. But the one who depends on God's word, knows that the final say rests with God.
The one who understands this does not deny reality —
he submits reality to God. He has already submitted the final outcome to God.
So the first temptation of Jesus is not a defiance of fasting — but a inquiry into how a man responds at his breaking point.
And the fast of Jesus is something I fully dissected in my book — The Things Fasting Won't Do — I have full exegetical proof that His fast was not born out of intent.
But a consequence of the location chosen for that temptation to take place and Satan choosing for himself, like he did in the book of Job to Job — what strategy to be employed.
I believe you'll love to read this piece — get your copy through this link —
https://selar.com/m/Caleb_Eleojo
Picture credits, Dr Jordan B Peterson
#calebeleojo #thethingsfastingwontdo #fasting #fastingandprayer #fast #spiritualgrowth #JesusFastExcerpts from the book — The Things Fasting Won't Do
Deuteronomy 8:2–3 (NLT) ||
“Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna… He did it to teach you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”
Now pause.
Why would God allow the Israelites to go hungry if satisfaction was always just one step away?
Think about it — if I can walk into a restaurant and eat whenever I want, what exactly is the point of God letting me feel hunger?
There has to be a reason, right?!
In verse 2, it says that God was carrying out character refinement — humbling them, because unbelievers are not humble and if you're not humble, you can't walk with God because you'll be resisted at every turn.
Now let’s define humility properly.
Humility is dependence on God — the recognition that God is the One who sustains all things.
By default, unbelievers are proud. After all, how do you depend on — or acknowledge — a God you do not believe in?
This is what the “hustle culture” is born out of — pride. Me, myself, and I, will carry me, myself, and I through life.
So when an unbeliever becomes a child of God, one of the first lessons God introduces him to, is dependence.
So what Moses said, and what Jesus made reference to during his temptation, “man shall not live by bread alone...” — is figurative for — man shall not create the reality (of abundance, good health, relationships, etc) by effort alone but by every Word that comes from God.
This lesson is for believers only. Because the natural man sees the things of the Spirit as foolishness — he cannot comprehend them.
So when Satan tempted Jesus, saying, “turn these stones into bread,”
Jesus knew exactly what was being tested.
It wasn’t hunger.
It was His response to the enemy probing his breaking point — because how you respond at your breaking point tells the enemy everything he needs to know to bring you down.
Now let’s establish something undeniable.
A human being cannot survive beyond forty days on water alone.
Biology agrees. Medicine agrees. History agrees.
And this was the breaking point of Jesus, as a human.
So when Satan showed up in the wilderness, he didn’t come early. He came at the breaking point. To see one thing:
What does this Man do when effort has reached its limit? Does He continue to throw effort at the problem — or does He throw His knees to the earth in prayer?
Because man’s effort has a ceiling.
There is a limit to the problems it can solve.
And a man who knows only himself is doomed from the start — because he faces an enemy who already knows his breaking point.
That’s why Scripture says:
“You are gods, children of the Most High — but you will die like mere men.”
Why?
Because you see life like mortals — like unbelievers — despite the God who dwells within you.
So the temptation Satan threw at Jesus is the same one he throws at every believer.
The same question:
Will you reason like an unbeliever —
or like a child of God, backed by God?
That’s why some Christians, when the doctor speaks, they begin to put their house in order.
They gather their family and prepare to spend their final days with them.
Because they believe effort alone creates reality. So when effort fails, all fails. But the one who depends on God's word, knows that the final say rests with God.
The one who understands this does not deny reality —
he submits reality to God. He has already submitted the final outcome to God.
So the first temptation of Jesus is not a defiance of fasting — but a inquiry into how a man responds at his breaking point.
And the fast of Jesus is something I fully dissected in my book — The Things Fasting Won't Do — I have full exegetical proof that His fast was not born out of intent.
But a consequence of the location chosen for that temptation to take place and Satan choosing for himself, like he did in the book of Job to Job — what strategy to be employed.
I believe you'll love to read this piece — get your copy through this link — https://selar.com/m/Caleb_Eleojo
Picture credits, Dr Jordan B Peterson
#calebeleojo #thethingsfastingwontdo #fasting #fastingandprayer #fast #spiritualgrowth #JesusFast
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