Prowling
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
The Enemy (Satan) is real, he’s alive and well. God’s Word tells us The Enemy is the ruler of this world system we live in (Ephesians 2:2). The battle is real. I used to think that the more mature I became in Christ, the less intense the spiritual battle would be. I was wrong. The battle intensifies as you grow. The Enemy knows that tall trees fall the hardest. The more you mature spiritually, the more your influence grows, the closer your marriage gets, the more intense the battle becomes. But rest assured, the battle has been won by the finished work of Jesus on the cross. However, until we are with Jesus in eternity, there will be a fight. With that in mind, here are times when the enemy prowls the hardest.
-In failure: Look at Elijah from last week (1 Kings 19). When we are down to our last straw, The Enemy whispers for us to go ahead and deliver the knockout blow. He tells us to go ahead and prove we are a failure.
-In success: Look at David (2 Samuel 11-12). He achieved all he ever wanted, he had success. He laid back, checking out his kingdom, and there it was. He ended up committing adultery and murder all in one disastrous turn of events. In our success, The Enemy whispers that we have what it takes without God, we forget how broken we are.
-In conflict: The Enemy is the master accuser (Revelation 12:10). During conflict he whispers to us that there is no hope for this relationship, for this marriage, for this child, for this church. In the moment he tells us this conflict will never be resolved.
Don’t bite on The Enemy’s lies. He’s the father of lies (John 8:44). We don’t have what it takes to fight this battle. Only the finished blood of Jesus will conquer. After all, our weapons are not of this world.
2 Corinthians 10:4
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
