Dear Friend,

Now available at online bookstores. 22 chapters teaching how cultivating God's Seeds of Greatness and applying God's seeds of success enables you to become a victor, not a victim. Also includes The Grasshopper Philosophy and See That You Excel. 196 pages,
6" x 9" paperback, $13.95 USD / £8.50 -- full details now online.

"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith..." (I Peter 5:8�9a ESV). You are a victorious son or daughter of God. That is an unchanging truth. However, it is also true that you have an enemy -- a defeated enemy and that only makes him madder. That enemy is out to get you. He is like a boxer in the ring who has lost the fight, the bell has gone yet he wants to keep on fighting. He's defeated, but he won't quit. The fact that you have an enemy should not fill you with fear but it should encourage you to re-examine the strength that God has given to you so that you can handle your enemy, the devil.

"Your adversary..." is the one who is against you, the one who is complaining about the joy, the health, wealth and happiness that you have. The Psalmist prayed, "Save me from the lion's mouth..." (Psalm 22:21). In the New Testament God says you can take steps to keep your head out of the lion's mouth.

I have a recording of a great comedian of a past era named Stanley Holloway. One of the wonderful monologues he gives is about Albert, the son of Mr and Mrs Ramsbottom. They went to Blackpool for a holiday but there were not many exciting things to do or watch, so they decided to visit the zoo. Now Albert had always been told that lions were ferocious creatures; they would eat you up as soon as look at you. When they got to the zoo and looked in the lion's enclosure, there was Wallace the lion, lying down in front of the cage with his head just against the bars, and he appeared to be sleeping. Young Albert thought that this creature couldn't be a lion because it was not like the lion he had been told about. His Dad had with him a walking stick with a horse's head handle, and Albert took the stick and shoved it into Wallace's ear. Of course, the lion wasn't too happy about this and grabbed the stick with his mouth and pulled Albert into the cage and ate him. The poor mother said afterwards she felt a little down in the mouth, and her husband said, "Yes, and I think Albert does, too!"

The Bible describes the devil as a lion, a prowling, roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. However, there are ways that you can stop him, in fact, there are ways that you can so strengthen yourself in the Lord that you can almost forget that he is around. In I Peter 5:8�9 there are four "Be's", four ways to keeping yourself out of the lion's mouth.

Be Sober-minded

The first "Be" is Be Sober-minded, self-controlled. It should come as no surprise that the Greek word translated "sober" means to be not intoxicated. When a driver of a car is not sober his reactions slow down, his concept of the physical world is altered and he does things he would not normally do. God says to us, "Be sober, be self-controlled, be aware with all your senses, totally sharp." Why should we do this? There is a lion roaming around, looking for someone to devour. This is an important key.

Be watchful

The second "Be" is Be watchful, be vigilant, be alert, be awake. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Stay awake, keep your eyes open, be alert to what is happening around you. Drill into your mind the truth that God wants only health, wealth and happiness for you. When you do, you will sense something going wrong before there are outward signs of it. You know that certain things are not in God's will for your life. Stay awake, because if you miss the first sign then that thing might be upon you before you realise it. So stay sober and stay awake. So the first two "Be's" are powerful keys for you to use so you can be sure that the devil doesn't get your head in his mouth -- be sober and be watchful.

Be resisting

Then the passage tells us another step to take -- Be Resisting. Some translations use the words "take a stand against". There is a difference between "resisting" and "taking a stand". To resist something means that you are putting pressure against an object to endeavour to stop its forward movement. An example of this is weight training, which is based upon resistance, putting effort into resisting the weight caused by gravity. On the other hand, taking a stand implies no active effort on your part at all, no striving, just standing firm.

You are never told to fight the devil. In Ephesians you are exhorted, "... give no opportunity to the devil" (Ephesians 4:27). In James you are again told to "resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). Now in I Peter you are told to "Withstand him..." (Amplified). You are not told to fight a defeated foe, because the moment you start fighting him you agree with his viewpoint that he is not yet defeated. Your task is to withstand. So Be Sober, Be Watchful and Be Resisting.

Be firm in the faith

"Resist him, firm in the faith..." (I Peter 5:9a). "Keep your foothold in the faith" is how Moffat translates it. You stand firm because you have so drilled yourself in what you are in Christ that nothing can move you from it. Be "steadfast in the faith" (KJV), "strong in the faith" (Goodspeed). "Standing firm" is a military term, used of "a body of heavy-armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep" (Kenneth Wuest). It implies something which cannot be easily pushed around. You are to stand so firm that nothing external can move you or get you to hesitate or doubt. You are what your believing is. Your whole life, your ability to withstand this roaring lion, is based on what you believe.

In conclusion

Remember, you are victorious against all the onslaughts of your enemy, the devil. The four keys to doing this are: Be Sober-minded, Be Watchful, Be Resisting and Be Firm in the faith. The "Be's" are very positive -- the subject is only negative if you fill your mind with the thought that the devil is going to get you. However, if you fill your mind with the truth that you are stronger than Satan, then it really doesn't matter what he tries to throw in your direction. Your faith will take care of it. The Bible clearly teaches it is the common lot of Christians to suffer persecution. But everyone likewise has the advantage of enjoying victory over the devil, for we are victorious ones, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.