From last time: I Peter 5:8; ‘Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.’

Nearly all English translations use the same word – devour. To devour is: to consume destructively and recklessly. Wow! This is more like a street fight than a boxing match with rules. It’s a battle for life and death. Satan does not just want to hurt me, he wants to destroy me. To survive will take more than just the starting points from verse 8 of being ‘sober and alert’.  

I Peter 5:9

“Take a decisive stand against him and resist his every attack with strong, vigorous faith.”

My action points here are to stand and resist, not to flee. Yes, I am to flee sexual immorality ( I Cor 6:18 and II Tim 2:22) but my response to the enemy is to stand and resist. 

James 4:7

“Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

It starts with submitting to God which prepares me to stand firm and to ‘resist’. Resist is to withstand, to fight against, to oppose. 

Question: Are you prepared for a street fight today? 

Action Point: I must be daily submitting to God so that I am ready to resist.