Enemy of Faith Part 1

John 10:10 may be one of the most popular verses, next to John 3:16.  Most of you can quote it without any hints, but just in case - (GNT) “The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.”  This has to be one of those verses we love, at the same time scriptures also tell us that we will have troubles, and there is an enemy.  Even though this enemy is a defeated one it will not stop him from trying to “steal, kill and destroy”.  1 Peter 5:8 (GNT) “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”  The greatest challenge, or at least one, is that we don’t “fall asleep”.  Even though there are many promises from God about Him being our helper, our shelter, our advocate, and so many more, we also have a promise from God that if we aren’t careful, if we don’t keep an eye out, then our enemy can easily devour us.  Now before we move to fast, first, notice this verse does tell us that this enemy is “like” a roaring lion.  Which means, he isn’t a lion. Only Jesus is the one true lion, but that won’t stop the devil from trying to act like a lion.  Next, we must look at the word “devour”.  This word is important, especially in light of the fact that this enemy has been defeated, by Jesus.  Devour, in this verse carries the idea “to drink, to lick up, even to overwhelm”.  Think about this, if our enemy can overwhelm you, then he can “drink, or lick you up”.  Why lick?  Because he is only like a lion, he is missing his teeth, you could almost say his bark is worse then his bite.  So what are we to do?  We need to first, know that we have an enemy, then the next step is found in the very next verse.  1 Peter 5:9 (GNT) “Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that other believers in all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings.”  What does it mean to “be firm”?  This word carries the idea of being strong, firm, immovable, solid, hard, rigid and steadfast.  You could also say “unshakable”.  Unshakable is even more interesting in that it means strongly felt and unable to be changed.  Now when we see this kind of definition it can almost look negative, but what if we looked at this as one who is not going to be changed even in the face of an enemy.  So many times, an enemy, natural or spiritual, just wants us to “blink”.  One must determine ahead of time that no matter how much an enemy may yell, or try to overwhelm, that you will not be moved, you will remain rigid and steadfast in your faith in what God has promised.  Now, also notice that not only do we need to be firm but we also must resist him.  To resist your enemy will require you to fight back.  But remember, we do not fight flesh and blood, rather our fight is a spiritual fight.  So, how do we fight against this enemy, especially since we can’t see him.  We fight with The Word of God.  We fight by reading The Word, confessing The Word, abiding in The Word.  We fight this enemy by standing on The Word.  Much love, Pastor Michael