Stand Your Ground!

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in your faith…
It began like any other trip to Wal-Mart but it certainly didn’t end that way. I still remember standing in that checkout line 25 years ago, writing a check for my purchase, loading shopping bags in my car and driving away. Shortly after arriving home came the phone call. An unfamiliar man’s voice proceeded to tell me he had been standing behind me in that line, close enough to read my phone number on my check. As he began to describe the details of my purchase, the car I drove and the home I lived in, I completely unraveled. Fear shot through me like a lightening bolt and I could feel my body begin to tremble.
After hanging up the phone and locking every door, I tried to calm my breathing and focus my thoughts back to Wal-Mart. I could clearly remember waiting in that line, sensing the presence of someone standing too closely behind me, invading my space, but I never acknowledged that person. I never turned to face him. Never made eye contact.
You know, I’m just not typically someone who lives will much awareness of my surroundings. I’m usually wrapped up in my thoughts as I plow through the day, exactly as I was doing that day, completely oblivious to the prowling eyes of a stranger.
1 Peter 5:8-9 says we all have an adversary who prowls like a lion. And because of this, we are told how we are to live — self controlled and alert, resisting him as we stand firm in our faith.
When I became a Christian, I was not prepared to fight the good fight of the faith. I didn’t understand the opposition I would face. I believed in the devil, but I lived unaware of his presence and unaware of how he schemed against me.
Spiritual warfare is real! The Bible is very clear, from Genesis to Revelation, that the devil is real. Jesus teaches that the devil is real. He is not a concept, a myth or a cartoon character. He is our enemy, he is evil and he hates us. We ARE in a battle with him, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. We can choose to be aware of the battle and live in victory, or we can choose to ignore it and live defeated.
When we choose to live aware of the battle and STAND OUR GROUND with God’s strategies for warfare, we will experience the victory that is already ours!
Great real life example of a spiritual principle!
Thank you Ginger 🙂
Looks like a great Bible Study to provide needed strategies to stand firm against spiritual attacks.
Thank you, Mr. Herzig 🙂