4.l. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Job 1:6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Revelation 12:9-10    And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.  And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

1 Peter 5:8    Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Satan the deceiver and accuser.  The false one.  The liar. The tempter.  How many have never seen the love of Jesus Christ because of this liar?  How many have been tempted away by his lies?  How many have believed his accusations?  Satan will try to deceive us.  He will show us the tempting shining lights of health, wealth, prosperity, and fame.  He will accuse us and tell us we are unworthy of the Love of Jesus Christ.  He will tell us we are a failure.  He will tell us we are not or cannot be forgiven.  He will tell us God can’t help us or won’t help us.  Satan is very real.  He knows are weaknesses, pride, jealousy, envy, greed, and hatred.  He will prowl looking for the opportunity to attack us with lies and temptations for he knows our sinful nature much better than us.  How are we to stand against this foe?

Are we worthy of the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus Christ? No.  Are we good enough to warrant forgiveness? No.  Have we done anything that Jesus Christ should grant us eternity with Him? No.  Have we sinned? Yes.  Do we sin? Yes. Does Jesus Christ know all of our sins past and present? Yes.  Satan will use questions like these and offer answers that seem to proper and true, but they are lies intended to confuse, intimidate, worry, pleasure, gratify, and delight self-worth, self-esteem, self-regard, self-respect, self-love, self-importance, self-satisfaction, and self-reliance.  He does this to get us to reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to live self-centered lives that are blind and deaf to the leading of the Holy Spirit and the awesome power, might, strength, and love of God.

Jesus went to the cross while we were yet unworthy sinners.  He did this for us as we were and are.  He did this because He loved us.  He did this to give us hope.  He did this to give us purpose.  He did this to give us opportunity of forgiveness, joy, peace, strength, grace, mercy, and love in and through His redemption made possible and perfect through His sacrifice on the cross and the promise of the indwelling Holy Spirit to all those who believe in Him, confess their sin, repent, and by faith cling to, rely on, and trust in Him.  “Greater is He that is in you than he who is in the world!”

John 3:16-21  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

1.h. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Chronicles 21:1  And Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. And David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them. And Joab said, Jehovah make his people a hundred times as many as they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of guilt unto Israel? Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and a hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them; for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing: but now put away, I beseech thee, the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

Job 1:6-12    Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.  The LORD said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

Zechariah 3:1   Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

Matthew 4:3    And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

John 13:2   During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

Acts 5:3     But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

James 1:13     Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

James 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Satan is very real.  Satan temps us and is able to see weaknesses within us.  Satan is able to temp our lust for sex, want of and reliance in wealth and intelligence, and exploitation of our anger, pride, honor, and need for recognition, and a host of other self-seeking, self-centered fleshly and earthly desires.  Do we think we are immune to these attacks?  Do we even know when we are being attacked?  Is it possible that we give in so easily to our sinful nature that we don’t even need to be tempted?

If God’s word is not in our heart, mind, and soul there will be a good chance that we will yield to our sinful natures’ desires rather than needing to be tempted by Satan.  If God’s word is in our heart, mind, and soul then we need to be mindful of Satan’s temptations.  Satan’s attacks and temptations are to get us to yield to our sinful nature.  The only way we will know these attacks, is by knowing God’s word and testing our thoughts, actions, and words against it.  We need to seek to be filled with the wisdom and understanding of God’s word through time in it and yielding to the indwelling and filling and leading of the Holy Spirit.

God’s word within our heart, mind, and soul will strengthen us to be courageous, empower us to be victorious, and give us hope and faith to rely on, cling too, and trust in Jesus Christ.  Do not yield.  Do not give in.  Stay in His word and learn what is sinful nature and what is tempting to it.  Combat it with the word of God and an intentional choice to live humbly serving, honoring, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.