Watch Out! Your Enemy, The Devil Is Trying To Get You!

We are admonished in 1 Peter 5:8 to stay alert for our enemy the devil, is looking for someone to eat. I like that Peter doesn't say that the enemy is eating up people, but "looking" for people to eat. He then goes on to say that we are to resist him in the faith, and not to be surprised that Christians all over are going through the same thing.

And this is not an isolated incident either. This is an all out attack on the believers in Jesus. And the devil is not even subtle in how he is going about it, no he is patiently waiting and watching for us to slip up somewhere so then he can attack and have us for lunch. One of the biggest problems that I see lately is that most Christians don't even act like the enemy is real, much less that he is working hard to devour us.

Today if you talk about the devil and what he is doing, most of the time people just roll their eyes and say, "Oh man, you're one of those wacky Christians." People just want to dismiss the fact that we have an enemy and that he is trying to steal, kill and destroy. They will chalk up bad things happening to circumstances, being in the wrong place at the wrong time or just coincidence. I think the saints in the Bible had a little bit better grip on this subject than we do.

Look at the lion in the picture I put in my blog. Do you notice how well he blends in with his surroundings? I mean you can see him there, but if you just took a casual or quick glance you might actually miss him. That is how the enemy works too. He blends in with society in such a way that you can actually miss him at work. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us how the enemy works; he steals, kills and destroys, that is what he does.

We were told by Peter to stay alert for our enemy. Staying alert does not mean take an occasional glance, it means:

1) to watch

2) give strict attention to, be cautious, active

a) to take heed lest through remission and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one.

We have to be the ones looking for the enemy, no one else can do it for us. And this is not to say that we have to be cowardly, or fearful while looking for him. After all we have the blood of Jesus, the name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives to counteract the works of the devil. But we have to be watching for him to be able to confront him, and not be caught

unaware.

We need to pay a little bit more attention to things in the spirit, and not get caught forgetting to pay attention to this fact that we have an enemy and that he is trying to trip us up. We are most definitely in the last days, and the return of Jesus is closer than any of us probably realize. But this does not mean that we need to go into a docile, holding pattern mentality. We need to stay alert, and be on guard for the attacks that the enemy will try on us.

While the enemy may have a bulls eye on our backs, we don't have to be his victim. Spend time in God's Word daily, pray and seek the face of God and then listen for the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit to make you aware of what is going on around you in the spiritual realm. The enemy cannot get us if we are aware of him coming. He is a coward, and chooses not to face us directly, because he knows that in a full out frontal attack on a Christian he will be withstood. But if he can trip us up and cause us to sin, then he can pounce on us once we are down.

And listen, if you've slipped up and sinned, don't stay there. Get up, turn to 1 John 1:9 which says that if you will confess your sin to God, that He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Doing that puts you right back on your feet and in right standing with God which keeps the enemy from munching on you.

Understand this too, once you have confessed your sin to God, he forgets it and will not remind you of it again. But when you hear that condemning voice in your head telling you how bad a person you really are, and how much you blew it this time, know that that is the enemy trying to trip you up again. You need to forgive yourself as well. The devil would like nothing better than once you've asked God to forgive you, for you to continue to beat yourself up about what you did. It's forgiven, now dust yourself off and go get back out there.

Our enemy the devil may be like a roaring lion, but that's all he can really do, roar. He can only eat up those who will let him. Get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip the enemy today!