Resisting and Overcoming the Enemy

UV 4187/10000 Resisting and Overcoming the Enemy Be sober ( well balanced and self-disciplined), be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion ( fiercely hungry), seeking someone to devour. I Peter 5 v 3 The enemy wants to finish us off while the Lord wants to finish us well. The Lord wants to complete our lives, enable us to live forever in eternity, to be victorious. But we need to be aware of the opposing force, the inveterate foe of mankind. The latter has an insatiable appetite for human souls that he can devour. Peter should know as he was tempted even while in the company of the Lord to deny Him thrice, to be impulsive at times. Peter gives us three strategies to overcome the formidable foe- to resist him, to be firm in our faith, to understand that all the faithful are tested with such temptations, trials and suffering. After suffering for a while, we have the hope to be called to eternal glory in Christ. He assures us that the God of all grace would give us the power to resist, the grace to endure tests and suffering and to be established and firm in our faith. The chief aim of the enemy is to deceive man into believing that God is the God of wrath and punishment while in truth, He is revealed by Christ to be the God of all grace. We, as humans need to be always aware of the enemy’s plan to “de-grace” and disgrace man in the eyes of God. We are exhorted by Peter, moved by the Spirit of God, to be balanced, mature and self-disciplined. To be self -disciplined for a believer implies being willingly subject to the counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit and to discipline ourselves to live in accordance with the word of God. Hence, self control actually means God-control. We submit to the Author and Finisher, Jesus to take charge of our lives and be the helmsman to pilot our lives. Without the Lord as our pilot, we will pivot downward and not upward. We, also need to be alert to the growls and roars of the enemy, the evil lion for he is invisible, subtle and not seen with our physical eyes. He can morph and even appear as a dear friend, an angel radiating light or even manifest in our own thoughts, words and actions. The Lord God needs to rule over our thoughts, emotions, words, actions and reactions consistently. In our weak or stressed states, we should spend more time in His presence, listenting to the promptings and quiet voice of the Spirit of God. All the while, we need to wear our devil-proof and resistant spiritual armour of a life consistent in prayer, word, praise, thanksgiving, readiness to witness, the desire to bear spiritual fruit, consistently acting in line with the overarching purpose of glorifying the Lord. Then, we have victory in the name of Jesus, by His grace.