The Wilderness Day 2

We talk about why spiritual attacks often come right after spiritual victories and how to recognize the “momentum tax” when you start moving forward. We connect Jesus’ baptism and wilderness temptation to Elijah’s crash after Mount Carmel, then lay out a simple action step to stay steady when pressure hits. 
• the pattern of triumph followed by attack 
• Jesus’ baptism followed by wilderness temptation 
• Elijah’s victory over Baal followed by fear and collapse 
• why the enemy targets momentum more than comfort 
• common “day two” distractions that derail Bible reading and prayer 
• reframing resistance as evidence you are a threat 
• expecting pressure in the exact area of new obedience 
• holding your ground and reaching out for prayer support 
Identify one area you've recently made a positive spiritual decision in and expect an attack there today. When it comes, don't be surprised. Be ready. Remind yourself that the enemy is only attacking because I'm finally moving in the right direction and hold your ground. 

Transcript

The Pattern After Spiritual Wins

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, it's Pastor Josh, and today we are going to talk about the timing of the devil's attacks. We're going to talk about them what we call the momentum tax here on day two of our Devo. And what we saw yesterday was that Jesus has this massive triumphal moment at his baptism, and then he is immediately driven into the wilderness to be tempted. Think about this. The heavens burst open. And this amazing moment where Jesus is finally stepping into his earthly ministry. He's about to turn the world upside down, and immediately the devil's going to attack him. And there's a distinct pattern we have to understand. A great spiritual triumph is almost always followed by a huge spiritual attack. The example you heard on Sunday in the message was this to think about Elijah. He calls down fire from heaven. He defeats 450 prophets of Baal. He literally is like sitting there mocking them and talking trash. He's asking if their God is using the bathroom or sleeping, which, side note, by the way, proves that sarcasm is biblical. Thank you, Jesus. But what happened next? Jezebel threatens his life. You've just defeated 450 prophets of Baal, and this little lady queen, this evil queen, comes, threatens your life, and Elijah completely breaks down. He runs into the wilderness and begs God just to take his life. After it's this incredible high, he just won it out. See, think about it. When is the devil most likely to attack you? It's not why you're sitting on the couch eating Cheetos doing absolutely nothing for the kingdom of God. He ain't worried about you right then. You're already neutralized. There's nothing that you are going to do to fight and push back against darkness when all you're worried about is our own comfort. See, the devil attacks when you make a decision to fight back against the darkness. Now you're a threat to his kingdom. It's when you get momentum, it's when you decide to read your Bible daily. What happens on day two? Distractions, right? The kids get crazy, the car won't start, you overslept. Oh, I can't read it now because the time I normally read it, I slept through. See, it's when you finally surrender and fight your flesh, the devil's going to attack. See, the challenge today is to recognize that spiritual resistance is actually a compliment. It means that you are a threat. It means that you can push back into the darkness. It means that you are equipped to fight the devil at his own game because the devil knows he can't snatch you out of the Father's hand. Jesus already secured that. He knows he's not man enough for that. So his goal then is to keep you silent, drunk, angry, and distracted so you don't take anyone to heaven with you. When you have momentum, you have a target on your back. So don't let the Tuesday morning blues steal that Sunday morning fire. Our action step this day was this. Identify one area you've recently made a positive spiritual decision in and expect an attack there today. When it comes, don't be surprised. Be ready. Remind yourself that the enemy is only attacking because I'm finally moving in the right direction and hold your ground. If you need to reach out to a brother or a sister in prayer. Can't wait to see you tomorrow.