Good Morning Friends,
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist
him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout
the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace,
who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little
while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him
be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:8-11)
We have an enemy. Sometimes it’s easy to fall
into the trap of thinking that our enemy is human – but it’s not. Our enemy is
not our boss, no matter how badly he treats us. Our enemy is not the liberal
political camp – or the conservative one. Our enemy is not the sinful person
who has hurt you so badly by his uncaring actions. The root of the problem that
we face does not stem from the person who stands next to us. The root of the
problem stems from the one who inspires the evil in our world – the devil.
Peter describes him as “like a roaring lion looking
for someone to devour.” He wants to devour you – to destroy as many people as
he possibly can. He is on the prowl – he is rarely straightforward and visible
in his attacks. He lurks in the shadows and schemes deeply behind the scenes.
He is like a lion – there are few more powerful animals in the world – and few more
frightening.
There is no way that I would ever face a lion
by myself and without some kind of powerful weapon at my disposal. I think
those who try to battle Satan by themselves are foolish. I need an ally that is
powerful enough to defeat the devil for me. Fortunately I have an Ally who is always
ready to come to my aid and has already defeated Satan!
In fact, the devil is only “like” a lion. He
is a poor imitation of the real thing. The real Lion is Jesus. Jesus is not “like”
a lion – He is the “Lion of the tribe of Judah.” (Revelation 5:5)
My job is to be watchful and to resist and
stand firm. God’s job is to defeat the devil and to provide us the strength
that we need to fend off the devil’s attacks.
We have an enemy and we have an Ally – cling
to the One and resist the other.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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