Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour. Take a firm stand against him, and be strong in your faith. 1 Peter 5:8
Our home is in a semi bushland setting where care has been taken to protect the environment and its natural inhabitants. We enjoy watching the birdlife, especially now it’s spring and there are families of ducks wandering around. Though of course there is always the cycle of life and there are predators roaming around.
Last week I was alerted by the screeching of a sulphur-crested cockatoo and a number of the noisy mynah birds. I knew it meant danger because I’d heard similar warnings before. The birds went crazy swooping low and squawking close to our house. I went out onto the front deck to investigate in time to seek a 2 metre long Lace Monitor Lizard cross from the empty block next door into our garden and disappear under our house. I didn’t go down for a closer look!
It didn’t particularly concern me as we have seen this happen before and they just wander through and out the other side and on their way. So why all the fuss? It’s spring and these lumbering fellows are really good at tree climbing and they rob the nests if the parent birds are not vigilant. It’s great that the neighbouring birds all cry “watch out!”
Peter warns us that our enemy the devil is roaming the earth in the same way looking for victims to devour. How does he do it? He pounces when we least expect it and it can come in many forms. Sickness, depression, discouragement, criticism, financial struggles, loss of loved ones, loss of job are just some of the ways that Satan uses to devour us. Sometimes things start small and if we don’t have Christian friends around us to encourage us and give us perspective then we are much more susceptible to ‘going under’. There have been times when I haven’t even realised that it was the devil attacking me. I thought it was ‘just me’ or ‘all in my mind’! It certainly was but it wasn’t just me, it was Satan, my enemy messing with my mind to put me in a place of vulnerability. Remember that Satan is out to rob, kill and destroy (John 10:10) but Jesus mission was to destroy the works of the enemy (1 John 3:8). With Jesus help we are to do the same.
We are surrounded by people wearing masks to cover their pain and unless we allow ourselves to get close to them we may never realise the danger they are in from the enemy of our souls. Satan is out to destroy lives and we need to be the ones to reach out, rally round, support and love people to a safe place and the Strong Place – Jesus.
Friends we have an amazing gift within us and that is the love of God that has been planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Will we allow that love to flow from us today to save a friend, a neighbour, a stranger from the devourer? It will cost in some way but the rewards are eternal.
Prayer: Loving God, thank you for pouring your love into my heart. Forgive me for not allowing it to flow freely to this hurting world. Grant me the grace and strength to love freely as you love me. Amen
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