Fighting back

1 Peter 5:8 - 9: Be alert and of sober mind.Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lionlooking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him,standing firm in the faith,because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

I wish I would remember this more often. Because when I flounder in anxious thoughts, hurt feelings or even physical difficulties, I forgot where my trouble comes from.

Sin   And the devil. A malevolent being who wishes none other but my discouragement and destruction.

And so I need to remember this. BE ALERT AND OF SOBER MIND. Watch out. Keep a clear head. The cry of the shepherd when the lion is about to attack the flock, the shout of the watchman on the walls who sees the enemy approaching.

The enemy? Manifested in...

• anxious thoughts
• feelings of depression
• low spirits
• discouragement
• a sense of isolation
• doubt and despair...

Nothing, of course, in comparison to the extreme physical persecution which so many believers are undergoing in other parts of the world, especially the Middle East. 

But a reminder to me to look out, beyond myself, forgetting myself. To 'fix my eyes on Jesus,the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross,scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."