The Holy Spirit, who filled Jesus without measure, provided him with guidance, strength, and help during his forty days of wilderness temptation. Led by the Spirit into this desolate place, Jesus faced three distinct challenges from the devil targeting his physical needs, pursuit of authority, and his trust in God's promises. Through each trial, Jesus relied not on his divine nature but on the written Word of God, demonstrating complete dependence on the Father rather than yielding to self-sufficiency or shortcuts to his messianic mission. Jesus overcame the devil’s wilderness testing, and proved his readiness for his messianic ministry, establishing for us a pattern of spiritual victory through reliance on Scripture and submission to God's will rather than human desires.

Week 15: Wednesday

Authentic spiritual formation emerges from a soil enriched by continuous gratitude, which enables us to engage in both practical ministry and persistent spiritual disciplines with joyful expectancy. Spiritual sowing is like tending a community garden, cultivating together a spirit of praise and thanksgiving as our foundational disposition—even in challenging seasons—we create fertile ground where practices like prayer, community care, and spiritual discernment can flourish naturally and effectively. This grateful orientation transforms our approach to every aspect of Christian living, from how we respond to difficult people to how we evaluate spiritual experiences, because it keeps us anchored in God's goodness and faithfulness rather than in our circumstances. The power of this principle for change is both simple and profound: let us nurture gratitude in all we do, allowing that demeanor to serve as our bedrock of spiritual formation, trusting that as we do so, God will faithfully cultivate the character of Christ within us and through us to others.

Week 15: Wednesday

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