[My Dad was aboard the USS Tennessee when Pearl Harbor was attacked December 7, 1941. He returned there 60 years later for a great memorial service, thankful that a bomb that landed in his gun turret although wounding him, did not explode. It was a very emotional place to visit, especially the Battleship Arizona Memorial where hundreds of American sailors are still entombed at the bottom of the harbor. One of the many intriguing facts about that Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was that the United States made a deal to ship MILLIONS OF TONS OF SCRAP METAL TO JAPAN – metal which was reportedly used to build some of the very airplanes that bombed Pearl Harbor! As we know IT’S JUST NOT A GOOD IDEA TO GIVE YOUR ENEMY THINGS THAT HE CAN EVENTUALLY USE TO SINK YOU. We must be careful about sending ammo to the enemy of our soul, the devil.] “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO DEVOUR.” (1 Pet. 5:8) [Let’s look at three aspects of our life that potentially give our enemy the weapons with which to ruin us.] “…Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you…” (1 Pet. 5:5-6)
[FIRST: we must be very careful of pride. When it starts to be ALL ABOUT ME, when I allow my ego to get bigger and bigger, when I’m allowing life to revolve all around me, if I’m becoming more and more self-seeking, self-promoting, self-centered, I’m handing Satan the gun to shoot me with. Why? Because it’s never has been all about me. IT’S ALWAYS ALL ABOUT YOU LORD!] “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Pet. 5:7)
[SECOND, we cannot disobey 1 Pet. 5:7 . By having too much anxiety or worrying all the time, which allows Satan to come between us and our Lord. He can use our anxiety to get us to panic, to live in fear instead of faith. Our defense? RELEASE WHAT WE’RE WORRYING ABOUT TO THE ONE who’s taught us that “THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S.] “Resist him [the devil], standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” (1 Pet. 5:9)
[THIRD, when we’re going through a time of suffering. If we let our pain turn us away from God RATHER THAN TO GOD, Satan can exploit this to bring us down. Notice, all three of these satanic weapons: PRIDE, ANXIETY, AND SUFFERING have one strategy in common – TO GET US TO FOCUS ON SOMETHING OTHER THAN JESUS, focus on ourselves, focus on our worries, focus on our pain. He can beat us. HE CAN’T BEAT JESUS. It’s time TO SURRENDER IT ALL TO JESUS, and REFUSE TO SEND AMMUNITION TO OUR ENEMY!]
Be blessed as you praise The Lord:
SURRENDERING IT ALL TO JESUS today!
-Bill Stockham