April 22 - Resist Your Adversary.

I Peter 5:8-9
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”
 
There is someone who wants to keep us from coming boldly to the throne of grace...our adversary the devil. The god of this world wants to do anything within his power to distract us and delay us from accessing the throne room. He knows that it is there that we obtain mercy and there that we find grace to help us in our times of need.
 
Peter warns us that our enemy walketh about. He is still walking and roaring around us today just as he did with Peter and the disciples. He wants to devour us. He wants to defeat us before he is defeated.
 
When he is discouraged and feels defeated, my pastor often says “I’ve read the back of the Book, we win and Satan loses!” Our enemy will one day have his walking about privileges revoked and he will be cast into the lake of fire. What a day that will be!
 
Revelation 20:10
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
 
Every single person on this earth will have to bow their knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
 
Philippians 2:10-11
“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
 
We will all bow before Him. The question is…when? We have the choice and free will to decide ourselves when we will bow our knee. We can realize that we are all sinners, and it was because of our sin that Christ had to pay the debt that we could not pay ourselves. We can choose to believe in His sacrifice and trust that He is the only way we can get to Heaven. We can choose to bow now; or, we can choose to wait. If we choose to reject and refuse to bow our knee to Him now, we will bow our knee to Him before we are cast into our eternal punishment the lake of fire. This is the same lake of fire that the devil will be cast into. If we choose to reject Christ, we will spend eternity in the lake of fire with the devil. Separated from God forever. Don’t wait ‘til then! If you see yourself as a sinner, you can choose to bow your knee now. Confess to Him. Choose Him as your Saviour!
 
Once we choose to bow our knee to Him and claim Him as our Saviour, the devil knows that he cannot change our eternal fate; but he will seek to make our life miserable and distract us from God’s purpose for our lives.
 
After Peter warns us that we have an active adversary, he encourages us to resist him. How can we do this? By our faith in Christ! We must be stedfast, unmoveable and always abound in the work of our Lord. Our labour is not in vain! Our afflictions are for His glory. Satan cannot attack us without the Lord’s permission. Remember Job? Satan went to ask God before he could touch him. Despite Job’s circumstances, he remained faithful; and because of his stedfast faithfulness, God rewarded his efforts by restoring his health and his household. If you feel like Job today, God can do the same thing for you.
 
The afflictions that we face in this life are for our good and for His glory.
 
Resist the enemy’s attack on your mind, your body, and your soul.
 
James 4:7
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
 
He cannot win with Jesus Christ on our side!
 
 
Bible Reading:
Judges 11-12  |  Acts 24  |  Psalm 82