Standing Firm

I have been reading Peter again this week-it is packed full of juicy delicious bits of God's plan for how He wants us to live. If you haven't spent serious time reading it, get you a napkin and plate, fork and knife out of the kitchen, sit down, and devour all the morsels in there. It will last you through breakfast, lunch, dinner, and breakfast.

Here is the revelation that came to me this morning through reading Peter-He calls us to be self-controlled and alert, to humble ourselves(1 Peter 5). He warns us to stand firm in the faith and resist the devil-because he 'prowls around you like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.' If that isn't a picture that puts a little bit of fear in your heart, then you have something wrong with you. A lion prowling around you? Have you seen one up close when it roars? There are a lot of teeth up in there. But stop the music-insert soundbite of record scratching-cue the revelation music-when you stand firm in knowing that God is the creator of the universe, that His grace is sufficient, that He made you for a purpose, that He loves you more than you could ever imagine, that He is waiting for you to tell Him 'I can't do this', that kind of standing firm in the faith-He comes into whatever temptation you are struggling with and He instantly calms the lion, and holds you close to Him. So if we take the temptation moments and stand firm in our faith that God's plan is better than our own-we experience life as God had planned all along. Freedom. Love. Hope. Trust. Compassion. Grace. Did I mention Love?

Therefore, stand firm my brothers and sisters, and we will all experience the grace and peace that is beyond our understanding, and the world will be a better place. United in Christ, the world has nothing on us.

Comments

Anonymous said…
What scares me even more is that the devil doesn't usually appear to be a lion to us, but rather, he lures us with his charm and worldly beauty. If we aren't leaning on God and trusting him to guide us, we won't see the lion and the teeth and feel the fear and desire to flee in terror! Instead, we will be deceived and drawn towards the very thing that will destroy us.
October 23, 2008 at 12:24 PM
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