Hi, my name is Pete Scazzaro. I want to welcome you today to the emotionally healthy leader

podcast. And today our theme is staying grounded in the high stakes of leadership. Staying grounded

in the high stakes of leadership. I'm going to call it a part one because I know as I finish, inevitably want to do a part

two. And it's going to really come out of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness that's found in

Matthew 4, Luke 4, and the way that he deals with this confrontation by Satan in the wilderness before he actually

launches out publicly in leadership.

And so I want to talk to you really about being grounded.

How do I stay grounded amidst the pressure of leadership?

And how do I be with Jesus in the middle of it all?

So I'm going to revolve my comments around two questions.

The first is,

in light of Jesus' response to Satan, what do we learn about staying grounded and our being

in leadership? The second question is going to be, name ways in which Satan tries to split you off

or separate you, seduce you away from the father in your leading, and your pastoring. And so we see in Jesus

there a tremendous model for us of what it means to remain grounded. Now there are demonic

temptations that come to every leader. In fact, as it said, the Desert Fathers said so well,

you will have warfare until your very last breath.

It just looks different in each decade, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s. It just comes differently.

And so this passage of Matthew 4 is incredibly profound, multi-layered, and inexhaustible.

That's why when you come to it over your years,

God speaks and opens it up in whole fresh ways.

So I just want to approach this text specifically in the way that Jesus responds,

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