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Listen:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8, NKJV).
Reflect:
To be watchful is to be vigilant, carefully observant, attentive, and sober-minded always. In this verse, the Bible admonishes us to be alert against that enemy of ours, the devil, who roams around like a lion roaring in fierce hunger, seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
Many times, the enemy comes in stealth mode, crouching at the doorsteps of our minds. He whispers defeat and doubts. He accuses us and makes suggestions to negate God’s promises. He is out to discourage us so he can put us in a position that will make it easy for him to devour us.
Our hearts are consistently thinking and imagining the worst-case scenario. We need to watch not only our actions but also our thoughts and imaginations. It is our responsibility to guard what feeds our thoughts. This requires discipline.
In the last couple of weeks, this warning became relevant as I struggled a bit with my health. I had to mount a fortress around my mind as the enemy tried hard to throw fear, doubts, and discouragement at me. It took everything I have in my spiritual arsenal to resist him.
Discouragement is a mind game the devil plays on us, so we lose our focus and distrust God when life goes contrary to our desires. The enemy has great tenacity to bring discouragement and fear. He does not give up trying. His purpose is to steal our joy and destroy our dream.
We must pay careful attention to our thoughts. When strong winds of life blow, we will be set adrift if our thoughts are not firmly anchored on God’s truth.
Prayer of Response:
“Thank You, Lord, for Your gracious warnings. Our hearts are prone to wander, especially when the storms of life swirls fiercely around us. We know the enemy wins when the storms get inside of us. We ask for the grace to be disciplined and alert not to open the doors of our heart to the enemy who seeks to destroy us. In Jesus Name. Amen.”
—Submitted by Irene Olumese
Irene is a lung transplant survivor and a bilateral amputee. She speaks and writes to inspire hope. As a Faith-Informed Transformational Trauma Coach, Irene helps those going through adversities to go beyond their traumatic experiences and find purpose through them. Irene is the Founder of the Feet of Grace Foundation, which provides prosthetic limbs to indigene amputees. She lives in Geneva, Switzerland, with her husband, Peter, and their two adult sons.
Photo by Jeremy Zero on Unsplash.
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