{"id":448,"date":"2017-07-17T06:20:37","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T14:20:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=448"},"modified":"2017-07-17T06:20:37","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T14:20:37","slug":"devotion-1-peter-56-11-two-roars-hear-the-greater-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=448","title":{"rendered":"Devotion 1 Peter 5:6-11 Two Roars, Hear The Greater One"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Peter 5:6-11\u00a0<\/strong>–\u00a06\u00a0Humble yourselves, therefore, under God\u2019s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.\u00a07\u00a0Cast all your anxiety on him\u00a0because he cares for you.\u00a0 8\u00a0Be alert and of sober mind.\u00a0Your enemy the devil prowls around\u00a0like a roaring lion\u00a0looking for someone to devour.\u00a0 9\u00a0Resist him,\u00a0standing firm in the faith,\u00a0because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.\u00a0 10\u00a0And the God of all grace, who called you\u00a0to his eternal glory\u00a0in Christ, after you have suffered a little while,\u00a0will himself restore you and make you strong,\u00a0firm and steadfast.\u00a011\u00a0To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.<\/span><\/p>\n

James 4:7<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a07\u00a0Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil,\u00a0and he will flee from you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Humility.\u00a0 We understand who God is, who we are and who the devil is.\u00a0 We serve God who is powerful and above everyone and anything else.\u00a0 We know that we are not beings who fight against the devil and the world in our own power.\u00a0 That is losing effort.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We know who the devil is.\u00a0 A powerful, but already defeated, fallen angel.\u00a0 Still, he is cunning.\u00a0 What is important to know about Him is that He hates us.\u00a0 We don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

Once, when going through a trial, my Senior Pastor Byron McDonald counselled me \u201cGod is so pleased with you Bob, but Satan is not.\u201d\u00a0 From these few, but powerful words to me, I was reminded of something to remember.\u00a0 I am part of a battle that the enemy continues to wage.\u00a0 Oh, he has lost.\u00a0 God has already secured the victory through Jesus, but the enemy fights on.\u00a0 Why does the enemy fight on?\u00a0 He hates God and he strikes at God however He can.\u00a0 It seems that a famous quote from Herman Melville\u2019s Moby Dick is appropriate. Captain Ahab says to Moby Dick, the whale he hates, \u201cTo the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell\u2019s heart, I stab at thee; For hate\u2019s sake, I spit my last breath at thee.\u201d\u00a0 Family that is pure hate!\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The devil hates God.\u00a0 God loves us.\u00a0 Since God loves us the devil hates us.\u00a0 The devil would love to harm us with the goal of hurting God.\u00a0 There is an added depth to the reason the devil hates us.\u00a0 We are faithful to God purely because we love God.\u00a0 Job stands as a high example for us.\u00a0 The devil, to God, accused Job of Job only loving God because of the blessings and protection that God had given him.\u00a0 Yet Job proved to be faithful to God.\u00a0 Job proved that he loved and trusted God when all the blessings, even his own health, were stripped away.\u00a0 The devil could not be faithful to God even though he was a witness to the glory and greatness of God.\u00a0 But Job, and us, cling to God because we love Him.\u00a0 It is true, that when we are young in our walk with God, the blessings are something we crave from God.\u00a0 It is true that our whole lives we seek the blessings from God.\u00a0 Yet, the more we know the Lord, the more we love Him.\u00a0 We begin to love Him solely for who He is.\u00a0 Our love grows to love Him solely for who He is and not for the blessings.\u00a0 Satan could not do this.\u00a0 He loved himself and not God.\u00a0 He tried to make himself equal, or above God.\u00a0 Herein is another thing to consider.\u00a0 The enemy hates us because we have become so much of what he wanted to be. He wanted to be like God.\u00a0 Through Jesus, we are daily being remade to be like God.\u00a0 We, though not being God, become a member of the family of God.\u00a0 God calls us to the closest of relationships and affiliation with Him.\u00a0 We are His dear children who are daily transformed to be more and more like Him.\u00a0 When the devil sees us, he sees the image of God within us and transforming us to look and be more like God.\u00a0 What the devil wanted, God has freely given to us.\u00a0 Yes, he is jealous and so he hates us.\u00a0 When he looks at us he sees God, and his fury boils over.<\/p>\n

Being mindful of who we are, we live lives of humility toward each other and that please God.\u00a0 God lifts the humble, at the right time.\u00a0 And we don\u2019t question His decisions.\u00a0 We have confidence in Him and we have faith in Him.\u00a0 Praise God!<\/p>\n

We cast our anxieties on Him.\u00a0 We don\u2019t only one day say \u201cOkay Lord, here are all my troubles, you take them, I am done with them.\u201d\u00a0 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.\u00a0 A fisherman casts his net and may receive a good bounty.\u00a0 But that does not mean he will never cast his net again.\u00a0 He keeps casting his net.\u00a0 He casts it throughout his life.\u00a0 And so he receives sustenance for his life.\u00a0 Likewise we cast off our worries to the Lord.\u00a0 But our enemy does not stop.\u00a0 Remember, he has already lost the war, but he continues to battle.\u00a0 He will bring the same old worrisome thoughts or circumstance to us, for the rest of our lives.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 He will throw the right hook till the left hand is no longer held low.\u00a0 The point is that the enemy does not quit.\u00a0 We are not to only one-time throw our anxieties to God.\u00a0 We are to continuously through them to Him.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We are sure, we are confident that He is able to take care of everything.\u00a0 We continuously place our lives in God\u2019s sure hands and we rest.\u00a0 Our God is always and forever loving and protecting us. When we are aware of a worry forming, give it over to God.\u00a0 He wants us to do that.\u00a0 We give Him our worries and He gives us peace and rest.\u00a0 Wow, that is a nice trade.\u00a0 Praise God!<\/p>\n

The enemy doesn\u2019t stop. \u00a0He prowls about seeking those he may devour.\u00a0 He is ravenous.\u00a0 Yet he has already been defeated by Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0 He even roared at Jesus, how did Jesus respond, with scripture.\u00a0 The devil lied, and Jesus came against Him with the truth of the Word.\u00a0 So are we to likewise do.\u00a0 The enemy opens his mouth wide as he roars in an attempt to frighten us.\u00a0 Yet if we look closely in the Word of God we see that this lion has no teeth and no claws.\u00a0 The Lord has taken away his bite and his claws.\u00a0 Praise our Savior and our Lord, Jesus Christ!\u00a0 The battle is won by our Lord and by our Father.\u00a0 And He Himself lives within us to guide and protect us.\u00a0 Family, the battle is won and we, through Jesus, are the victors!\u00a0 Praise God!\u00a0 Louder than the roar of this defeated toothless lion is the mighty, resounding roar of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah!\u00a0 Hear Him!<\/p>\n

Lastly, as we persevere through trials and threats of destruction, we persevere by the power of our God.\u00a0 He uses us to bless each other.\u00a0 One hand applies the healing ointment to the other hand that has been hurt.\u00a0 God uses each of us to bless and minister to each other.<\/p>\n

We are safe by the will of our Father God.\u00a0 We are safe by the work of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0 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!\u00a0 Praise God!\u00a0 Oh Family, praise God!<\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown you, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 Peter 5:6-11\u00a0–\u00a06\u00a0Humble yourselves, therefore, under God\u2019s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.\u00a07\u00a0Cast all your anxiety on him\u00a0because he cares for you.\u00a0 8\u00a0Be alert and of sober mind.\u00a0Your enemy the devil prowls around\u00a0like a roaring lion\u00a0looking for someone to devour.\u00a0 9\u00a0Resist him,\u00a0standing firm in the faith,\u00a0because you know that the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[1982,1976,1992,1986,1196,156,1983,1186,1991,1977,449,1978,80,1990,1980,1860,7,43,1987,659,492,320,1993,60,1700,13,94,1985,648,90,182,17,1981,373,1989,1988,1979,640,1984],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-angel","tag-anxiety","tag-boxer","tag-captain-ahab","tag-cast","tag-christ","tag-cunning","tag-defeated","tag-devastating","tag-devil","tag-devotion","tag-devour","tag-eternal","tag-fisherman","tag-flee","tag-glory","tag-god","tag-grace","tag-grapple","tag-greater","tag-hate","tag-hell","tag-hook","tag-humble","tag-james","tag-love","tag-micah","tag-moby-dick","tag-pastor","tag-peter","tag-powerful","tag-psalm","tag-resist","tag-roars","tag-spite","tag-stab","tag-steadfast","tag-surpassing","tag-wage-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":449,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions\/449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}