Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Looking For Something To Devour?

camo bug
Warning to all insects; tread lightly and keep all your eyes open at all times. Even then an ambush lurks behind every leaf, or every leaf look-alike. What’s a simple bug to do given this precarious situation? Danger is an ever-present concern, whether you are an insect or you are a homo-sapien! The Bible talks about predators stalking prey in the Book of First Peter.

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:8

You may notice minute differences in a predator disguised as a leaf and a predator in plain sight. One predator is waiting passively for something to causally stroll by humming a tune and get tasted, while another predator is ‘prowling around’ and actively ‘looking for’…”you”! Satan is methodically crisscrossing territory, looking for ambush sites, looking for positions of advantage, looking for those unaware, looking for the weakest,looking for someone to put on the grill and; d e v o u r!

“A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”
Proverbs 22:3

Did you ever really think that you had an honest-to-goodness top-drawer predator for an enemy?! Not just any paper tiger, but an intelligent, devious, cunning, erudite, relentless, smooth-talking, personable, appetite-driven, carnivore who wants you for the main dish today and whenever he can grab you with his wiles and feed on you! Uneasy, are you looking ahead yet? Have you realized the devil wants your family too? He wants your church, your community, your city, your country and anything else of value.

Satan is the great discomforter of reality. You can remove yourself away from danger and put limits on evil. Scripture urges “binding evil”. James 4:7 puts if best, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.” Even the devil had a wish to “be like the Most High”.

What’s a person to do? Peter reminds us in chapter five that we are to be self-controlled and alert. We are to resist him and stand firm in our faith in Christ, knowing that others are undergoing the same trials. God will help make you strong, firm, and steadfast. You do battle with the tools available. “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.”Philippians 4:13

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