Today’s Reading, 1 Peter 1-5
Focal Scripture: 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.”
It’s not very often you get the playbook your enemy is planning on using against you. Being a coach, I would love to know the exact plan my opponent was going to use against my team. Why? Because it would help me prepare my team for success. It would also show me my team’s weaknesses. Knowing the plan, would allow me to be prepared for the coming encounter.
In today’s reading Peter tells us about our enemy. Our enemy is the devil himself. The devil is a fallen angel. A being who wanted to take God’s place. He is arrogant and prideful. He is also cunning and intelligent. However, he is not all powerful and he is not all knowing. He is also not able to be in more than one place. Even with these limitations he is still ruthless. Peter tells us that he is prowling around like a lion, looking to devour people. Peter wants us to be sober minded and alert to the one who is coming to attack us in our everyday lives. We have his playbook.
What is the devils playbook? It is to seek out our weaknesses and exploit them. Do you struggle with pride? Expect temptation that will push your pride to go further. Do you struggle with doubt? Expect the devil to bring trouble in your life that will make you doubt the Lord. The devil is looking to destroy and he knows what weaknesses are easy to exploit in our lives.
Since we know the devils playbook, what are you doing to combat this inevitable attack? We must first be self aware about our struggles. This means we must self examine and have mentors tell us where our danger areas are in our lives. We must also have our heads on a swivel and look for possible dangers. A smart enemy will be specific in their attack. They will lull you into a sense of comfort. Then at the right time will unleash their plan to gain a victory.
Make no doubt that is what the devil is doing in your life and in my life. The only way we can get victory is by being submitted to the Lord. Allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives and changing us to be more like Christ.
My recommendation is to prepare for battle by knowing the word of God and being a person of prayer. Then prepare for the battle. Where you are weak put up safety rails in your life. Become a person who can stand against the enemy because your faith is in the Lord. We know our enemy is coming for us, but thankfully our God is greater. Our victory is assured if we would rely on the Lord and not live life on our own.
Be vigilant and be prepared. Our God is greater and we already have the victory.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading 2 Peter 1-3
