The roaring lion

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

This verse can scare the bejeebish out of you. Depending on where you are spiritually, and what your background might be, your vision of Satan, his minions, and how active a role (if any) they play will differ a lot.

Have you ever seen a lion on the prowl? He paces back and forth, he stoops and watches, and he is ready to pounce and kill his prey at a second's notice. This is the image that Paul is giving Peter here. Satan is actively waiting for you to allow him to come in and pounce on you, to destroy your faith, and to kill your relationship with the Father. That is why Paul tells Peter to be diligent, and to be aware of what's going on. This means through prayer, through study, and most of all, through Faith.

Satan is real, and he hates you, he hates that you love the Lord, and he even hates those of you who don't know the Lord yet, and are thinking about making a decision for Him. He wants you to worship him, and to give your life over to the worldly things he controls. Don't give in, be self-controlled and alert, and keep your eyes focused on Jesus. Remember, also, that we have the power to put Satan down through the name of Jesus, and you can practice that in prayer.

Dear Lord, bind Satan in our live, let him have no power to destroy or harm us. Give us the power to be self-controlled and alert, and diligent in our walks with you. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Are You Giving the Devil a Foothold?

Ephesians 4:27 (New International Version)

And do not give the devil a foothold.

The following story is from a book by Ben Alexander entitled, Out From Darkness. The book is about one man's extra-ordinary escape from satanic power.

"The phone rang and the voice on the other end said, "Mr. Alexander, would you be interested in debating a Spiritualist medium on primetime television?" The caller identified himself as Lee Tabor, host for a program at 10:30 p.m., Sunday on KOIN television in Portland, Oregon. I agreed and the time and date were set. It was July of 1973.

"It was exciting to anticipate hundreds of thousands of viewers not only hearing the exposure of the Devil, but also the Good News of Jesus. My stipulation was that we had to settle on a basis for discussion. I told the moderator I would debate only if the Bible was the final authority. The spirit medium agreed to this. The debate was well-advertised and many Christians were praying that souls would be reached because of this venture.

"My strategy for the debate was to treat the whole affair like a prize fight. I would get as many points as I could by quoting the Spiritualist manual and showing where the Bible refutes their doctrines. I planned to eliminate Satan in the last round by a knock-out.

"The debate went according to plan. It became apparent early on that the man I was debating knew nothing about the Word of God, and yet he was being interviewed as a "Reverend." (All spirit mediums in America who run a Spiritualist church are called "Reverend.")

"The medium, Satan's pawn, was reeling from the might of God's Word. With about five minutes left it was time to deliver the knock-out blow.

"I came into the final round with an admission, saying that I realized that séances were held in the Old Testament times. King Saul went to a spirit medium at Endor and asked the witch to call up Samuel from the dead.

"My opponent took the bait and said, "That proves that the Bible condones Spiritualism." He was exuberant but his joy was short-lived. I retaliated with, "King Saul died because he went to a spirit medium."

"Not in my Bible," the medium said. The moderator then asked him for his Bible, but he medium did not have one with him. I told the moderator, "It's in my Bible," and as I was about to quote I Chronicles 10:13, the moderator snatched the Bible out of my hands and said, "Let me read it," He then read, "So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it."

"The message from the Bible was a devastating indictment against Spiritualism. The moderator turned to the spirit medium and said, "Look, it is true. God says those who do go to mediums will die." The medium's Adam's apple bobbed up and down. He was red-faced and speechless. Jesus was victorious!"

This actual story is from a book by Ben Alexander entitled, Out From Darkness. The book is about one man's extra-ordinary escape from satanic power. A few months ago, I was blessed to be able to spend a few days with Ben as he shared in our fellowship. I highly recommend this book because it opened my eyes up to the very subtle ways satan tries to lead people astray. The Bible is my greatest handbook! But Ben's book guides me to the actual verses in God's Word about subjects like fortune-telling, witchcraft, demon possession,

E. S.P., astrology, hypnosis, yoga, reincarnation, karate, ouija boards, dungeons and dragons, Halloween, pornography, and much more!

What goes on in your house? What things are working against your Christian growth? Satan is so shrewd in sneaking subtle messages into our minds. Let’s ask God to make us sensitive about the areas where Satan is gaining a foothold.

Dear Lord, thank You for living in us!  We pray for your wisdom, insight and discernment in identifying the subtle ways in which Satan tries to trip us up. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Satan's Scheme, are You Caught in it?

1 Peter 5:8 (New International Version)

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep then from reading their Bibles & knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from conservative values.

"But we can do something else. We can keep them from forming an intimate, abiding experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to church, let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that experience in Jesus Christ. This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Saviour and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" shouted his angels.

"Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent unnumbered schemes to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, then, borrow, borrow, borrow. Convince the wives to go to work and the husbands to work 6 or 7 days a week, 10-12 hrs a day, so they can afford their lifestyles. Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their homes will offer no escape from the pressures of work.

"Overstimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still small voice. Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive, to keep the TV, the VCR, & their CDs going constantly in their homes. And see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ.

"Fill their coffee tables with magazines & newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hrs. a day. Invade their driving moments with order catalogues, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering, free products, services, and false hopes."

"Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, and concerts instead.

"And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotion."

"Let them be involved in soul-winning. But crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Christ. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family unity for the good of the cause."

It was quite a convention in the end.

And the evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get busy, busy, busy and rush here and there. 

Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge.

Dear Lord we pray that we wouldn’t get to busy to see what you have for each of us. We pray that we would manage our time and always keep You number one instead of letting the things around us take control of us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.