The Armor of God vs. The Progression of Temptation

So I'm sitting here in Snelling, struggling to study for a test I have tomorrow morning, which I've been trying to study for all day, and I've been realizing more and more that I have pretty much no hope on this test.  My only hope is God.  So I decided to take a break and spend some time with Him, since I've been trying to study by my own useless wisdom for too long.  I pulled out my journal and decided to read some  of what I've written in the past, and I came across one of my very first entries from early last summer.  I'm just going to copy it here.

Matthew 4:1-11

Satan tempts us by attacking out identity.  "If you are a child of God..."

What is tempting to one person may not be tempting to another.  Satan pokes and prods at the points that are most tempting to you individually.  The progression of temptation that he used against Jesus is the same progression he uses against us: physical needs, our power and identity in Christ, and finally our spiritual loyalties.  If he can make us idolize our possessions and physical needs over God, then he has no need to tempt us any further; he has done his job.  But if we resist, he then attacks our faith in the authority God has given us.  If we don't believe that God has given us power to conquer sin and perform miracles, if we don't believe that God has given us His power and authority, then Satan is overpowering us with his lies.  God has given us authority as His sons and daughters; don't let the enemy convince you otherwise.  But if he can't get through to us by that method, he has one more tactic: attack our loyalty to God Himself.  He will try to draw our worship away from God.  He will offer us things that seem better than what God has for us, and he will try to convince us that his ways are better than God's ways.  If we begin to follow the world and get distracted from God, Satan is winning us over.  Don't let him win!  Fight back!

Ephesians 6:10-18

We have this armor as our defense and our strength against the enemy.

• The belt of truth holds everything together; without truth, our armor will fall apart.
• Readiness from the gospel of peace.  Always be prepared to fight with peace; the Christian who is at peace is a fearsome warrior for the gospel, so always have peace on hand.
• The shield of faith.  The stronger the shield, the better the defense you have against the enemy, so let your faith increase to thwart the enemy's plans and beat down his lies.
• The helmet of salvation.  A helmet protects the mind, and in the same way the salvation God has granted us protects our minds and gives us peace and confidence.  Our salvation is the symbol of who we are; it distinguishes us from everyone else.  And if we remember our salvation, nothing can ever shake us.
• The Word, the sword of the Spirit.  Take up your sword!  Be in the Word, and be prepared to fight!

Something about this was encouraging to me in my struggle to study, so I hope it's encouraging to someone else too, whether it has to do with finals or not.