Tag Archives: wilderness

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Know Your Enemy | Bible Gleanings | October 4-5, 2025

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Countless wars have been won following its principles, and countless more have been lost by ignoring them. Written over 2,400 years ago by a Chinese military strategist named Sun Tzu, The Art of War is essentially the Proverbs of conflict. Sun Tzu poured his greatest war wisdom into this treatise, and one of its most prominent principles is this: “Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”

This proverbial proposition is particularly pertinent in our struggle against the devil. Satan succeeds in seducing us when his schemes remain a secret. But our chances of triumphing over the Tempter increase when we recognize his tools, tactics, and tricks. “Knowing is half the battle,” as G.I. Joe used to say, and we can only craft a battle plan against Satan once we understand his. And the Bible reveals Satan’s playbook in Luke 4:1-13, where he employed three strategies to tempt Christ in the wilderness: doubt, deception, and distortion.

The devil first enticed Jesus to turn stones into bread, not to relieve His hunger, but to doubt the provision of His Father (v. 3). Satan was essentially insinuating, “What kind of God would starve His only begotten Son? You better make bread because your ‘God’ isn’t providing for you this time.” And his wicked whispers reach our ears, too: “What kind of loving God would allow your prayers to go unanswered? What kind of Father allows His children to go without?”

The slithering serpent also tried to lure Christ into temptation through deception (vv. 5-7). The father of lies claimed that all sovereignty and dominion belonged to him, and he could, therefore, grant Jesus the greatest empires of the world. But the truth is that all power, authority, and glory are the Lord’s (Matt. 6:13b). Thus, Satan tells non-truths and half-truths but never the truth.

Lastly, the master of deceit used distortion to tempt the Lord Jesus (vv. 9-11). He twisted Psalm 91:11-12 to encourage Christ to leap from the temple roof to His death. The devil knows the Scripture and knows how to modify, misrepresent, and misuse it. He mixes lies with truth so that it is difficult to discern the difference. And this is not surprising since the first words uttered from his lying lips were, “Hath God said?” (Gen. 3:1a, KJV).

And for each of these strategies, there is one proven defense: the word of God. Christ resisted every temptation by declaring, “It is written” (v. 4, 8, 12), and we must wield the sword of the Spirit in Satan’s face. A dusty Bible on our shelves will not help us, but the word of God stored upon the shelves of our soul certainly will. To vanquish Satan, you must know your enemy and know your Bible.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

In the Wilderness | Bible Gleanings – May 13-14, 2023

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He was fatigued, famished, and seemingly forsaken. The Lord Jesus was fasting in the wilderness for forty days all by Himself, and the devil thought He was in a prime position for temptation. As Matthew said, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread”” (Matt. 4:1-3).

Satan wanted Jesus to think that the Father had abandoned him. He was essentially saying, “Look at You, all by Yourself and starving. Do You not think the Father would feed You if He truly loved You? You’d better put some of that heavenly power to use and turn stones to bread because it doesn’t look like God is coming to Your aid.” But contrary to appearance, Jesus was not wandering the desert by Himself. The Father provided Jesus with divine reinforcements during Satan’s temptations: “The angels were ministering to him” (Mark 1:13b). Satan was wrong: Jesus had heaven on His side because he was heaven’s Son.

Jesus was not left to battle temptation alone, and neither are you. The honey of God’s sustaining grace is always available in the wilderness. The wilderness of this world may whet your appetite for sin, but God has planted the nourishing flowers of goodness in His word, in the place of prayer, and among His people so that you may eat your fill of His love. The Lord’s power will minister to you like an angel from above. That is why Paul assured, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13).

Moreover, even time spent in the wilderness is not meaningless. No temptation proceeds from God, but every temptation can be used by God for good. Remember, God purposed to send Jesus into the wilderness: “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12). What could possibly be God’s purpose in allowing you to be tempted? Pastor and author Warren Wiersbe articulated it well: “Satan tempts us to bring out the worst in us, but God can use these difficult experiences to put the best into us. Temptation is Satan’s weapon to defeat us, but it can become God’s tool to build us.” 

Dear believer, when you find yourself in the wilderness of temptation, seek God’s way of escape and admit your need for His sustaining grace. Pray the words of I Need Thee Every Hour, a hymn written by Robert Lowry (1826-1899), which says:

“I need Thee ev’ry hour,

Stay Thou nearby;

Temptations lose their pow’r

When Thou art nigh.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;

Ev’ry hour I need Thee;

Oh, bless me now, my Savior,

I come to Thee.”

Bible Gleanings is a widely-read weekend devotional column, written for the Murray Ledger & Times in Calloway County, Kentucky.

Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He pastored the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky for six years. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (English Shepherd), and Dot (Bluetick Beagle).

For more devotional entries like this, check out Brandon’s latest book, Bible Gleanings Volume II, which features 100 daily devotionals gleaned from God’s word:

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Shelter from Storms

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“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by” (Psalm 57:1).

A flimsy tent won’t cut it when you’re sleeping in the outdoors, especially when the weather is unpredictable. Being protected from the elements and enjoying a good night’s sleep on the trail is critical, so it’s important to have the right shelter. This is yet another lesson I’ve learned the hard way.

Years ago, my friends and I decided to camp in the summertime at Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee National Forest, located in southern Illinois. The tent I packed was the saddest excuse for a tent that I’ve ever seen. I’m not even sure why it qualified as a tent. The material was as thin as wax paper. It was so small that my nose could touch the top while laying down. The two tent stakes were so fluid and brittle that Twizzlers would have worked better.

Nevertheless, I pitched it up and attempted to sleep comfortably. It was bearable until a nasty thunderstorm rolled through the area. Twigs were flying, sky-bullets of rain were coming down, and the wind gusts were overwhelming me and the other campers. I couldn’t take it anymore—I had to get out of that “tent.”

So, I sheltered underneath a giant rock formation (pictured) and enjoyed a level of security and protection I never could have gotten from that cheap tent. Thankfully, I had easy access to a shelter that was reliable.

Life has storms, too. Trouble rains down on us like a monsoon. Gusts of pain and sorrow throw us all over the place. We desperately need the right shelter so we can make it through the unpredictable weather of life. Fortunately, for those of us who know the Lord, He Himself is our shelter. You can count on God to be a reliable and trustworthy place of refuge from life’s storms. He isn’t going to fail you like a flimsy tent. He is a rock of protection for you, a fortress of defense, a shield of safety, a shelter that will withstand the strongest winds, rain, and lightning.

The question is: what kind of shelter will you remain in during the tempests of life?

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Brandon is the founder and main contributor to Brandon’s Desk, the blog with biblical resources from his ministry. He is proud to be the pastor of the family of believers at Locust Grove Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky. He and his wife Dakota live there with their three dogs, Susie (Jack Russell), Aries (Aussiedor), and Dot (beagle).