1 Peter 5:6-11 – 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 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. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
James 4:7 – 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Humility. We understand who God is, who we are and who the devil is. We serve God who is powerful and above everyone and anything else. We know that we are not beings who fight against the devil and the world in our own power. That is losing effort. No, we rely on our God who goes before us and enables us to continue on and to be victorious in this raging spiritual battle. We know who the devil is. A powerful, but already defeated, fallen angel. Still, he is cunning. What is important to know about Him is that He hates us. We don’t dwell on the great and eternal hate the devil has for us, instead we dwell on the surpassing great and eternal love that God has for us.
Once, when going through a trial, my Senior Pastor Byron McDonald counselled me “God is so pleased with you Bob, but Satan is not.” From these few, but powerful words to me, I was reminded of something to remember. I am part of a battle that the enemy continues to wage. Oh, he has lost. God has already secured the victory through Jesus, but the enemy fights on. Why does the enemy fight on? He hates God and he strikes at God however He can. It seems that a famous quote from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is appropriate. Captain Ahab says to Moby Dick, the whale he hates, “To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell’s heart, I stab at thee; For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.” Family that is pure hate! It is the declaring of such a deep hatred that with all that He is, until he can battle no more, he will strive to harm, to injure and yes to kill the one he hates. The devil hates God. God loves us. Since God loves us the devil hates us. The devil would love to harm us with the goal of hurting God. There is an added depth to the reason the devil hates us. We are faithful to God purely because we love God. Job stands as a high example for us. The devil, to God, accused Job of Job only loving God because of the blessings and protection that God had given him. Yet Job proved to be faithful to God. Job proved that he loved and trusted God when all the blessings, even his own health, were stripped away. The devil could not be faithful to God even though he was a witness to the glory and greatness of God. But Job, and us, cling to God because we love Him. It is true, that when we are young in our walk with God, the blessings are something we crave from God. It is true that our whole lives we seek the blessings from God. Yet, the more we know the Lord, the more we love Him. We begin to love Him solely for who He is. Our love grows to love Him solely for who He is and not for the blessings. Satan could not do this. He loved himself and not God. He tried to make himself equal, or above God. Herein is another thing to consider. The enemy hates us because we have become so much of what he wanted to be. He wanted to be like God. Through Jesus, we are daily being remade to be like God. We, though not being God, become a member of the family of God. God calls us to the closest of relationships and affiliation with Him. We are His dear children who are daily transformed to be more and more like Him. When the devil sees us, he sees the image of God within us and transforming us to look and be more like God. What the devil wanted, God has freely given to us. Yes, he is jealous and so he hates us. When he looks at us he sees God, and his fury boils over.
Being mindful of who we are, we live lives of humility toward each other and that please God. God lifts the humble, at the right time. And we don’t question His decisions. We have confidence in Him and we have faith in Him. Praise God!
We cast our anxieties on Him. We don’t only one day say “Okay Lord, here are all my troubles, you take them, I am done with them.” No we do give them over to Him, and He gladly receives them, but giving our worries and anxieties to Him is not a one-time ordeal. A fisherman casts his net and may receive a good bounty. But that does not mean he will never cast his net again. He keeps casting his net. He casts it throughout his life. And so he receives sustenance for his life. Likewise we cast off our worries to the Lord. But our enemy does not stop. Remember, he has already lost the war, but he continues to battle. He will bring the same old worrisome thoughts or circumstance to us, for the rest of our lives. Like a boxer who exploits an opponent who holds his left hand held too low, the enemy is ready to deliver the right hook with possibly devastating results. He will throw the right hook till the left hand is no longer held low. The point is that the enemy does not quit. We are not to only one-time throw our anxieties to God. We are to continuously through them to Him. Every time the enemy, the world, and our flesh causes us to be afraid and, or, worry, we cast off the worries to our God. We are sure, we are confident that He is able to take care of everything. We continuously place our lives in God’s sure hands and we rest. Our God is always and forever loving and protecting us. When we are aware of a worry forming, give it over to God. He wants us to do that. We give Him our worries and He gives us peace and rest. Wow, that is a nice trade. Praise God!
The enemy doesn’t stop. He prowls about seeking those he may devour. He is ravenous. Yet he has already been defeated by Jesus. He even roared at Jesus, how did Jesus respond, with scripture. The devil lied, and Jesus came against Him with the truth of the Word. So are we to likewise do. The enemy opens his mouth wide as he roars in an attempt to frighten us. Yet if we look closely in the Word of God we see that this lion has no teeth and no claws. The Lord has taken away his bite and his claws. Praise our Savior and our Lord, Jesus Christ! The battle is won by our Lord and by our Father. And He Himself lives within us to guide and protect us. Family, the battle is won and we, through Jesus, are the victors! Praise God! Louder than the roar of this defeated toothless lion is the mighty, resounding roar of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah! Hear Him!
Lastly, as we persevere through trials and threats of destruction, we persevere by the power of our God. He uses us to bless each other. One hand applies the healing ointment to the other hand that has been hurt. God uses each of us to bless and minister to each other.
We are safe by the will of our Father God. We are safe by the work of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. We are safe by God the Holy Spirit who lives within us and protects, guides, teaches and comforts until the day we are delivered into the throne room of our great and wonderful God! Praise God! Oh Family, praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God.