Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “The fear of not having enough”
Our Bible verse for today: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith …” 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Don’t let Satan win.”
Yesterday I cited Peter as an example of a man who had great potential but who allowed Satan to fool and distract him, thereby draining away his potential and causing him to achieve much less than he was capable of. It was only after learning some painful lessons that Peter fully committed all that he had and all that he was to the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Once he did that, Peter blossomed and became a great man of God and a powerful force for good in the kingdom of God.
It was decades later that Peter shared his hard-won wisdom in a couple of letters to the Christian community. We know those letters as 1 & 2 Peter. In 1 Peter 5:8-9 Peter reminds us of the lesson he himself had learned from painful personal experience, Satan is real, he is mean, and he is deceptive. He will fool us and hurt us if we let him. But if we resist him, standing firm in what we know to be true, then he is powerless against us.
As was noted yesterday, this right here is one of the primary reasons that so many Christians are underachievers in the kingdom of God. They allow Satan to distract them and get them involved in things they have no business being involved in. When that happens not only are their own skills, abilities, talents, and resources drained away because they have been diverted into areas they should not be, but it also takes the Christian out of the realm in which God can bless them, thereby making sure they have none of God’s added capacity either.
God wants us to be generous and to bless others. Satan wants us to be selfish and look out only for ourselves. God wants us to be faithful and work hard to accomplish His purposes. Satan wants us to forget about God and His plans, and to focus instead on achieving what we want. God loves us and wants to shower us with blessings. Satan hates us and wants to hurt, destroy, and kill.
When we consecrate all that we have and all that we are to God and for His purposes, He will bless us with the life He wants us to have. That will always be the best life we could possibly have. If we resist Satan and stand for what we know to be true and right, Satan is defeated in our lives.
Don’t let Satan win. Stand against him and his lies.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 