Psalms 144:1 – Blessed be the Lord my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
2 Corinthians 10: 3-4a – For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal….
Ephesians 6: 11-12a – Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against ….
Scriptures such as Psalms 144:1, Ephesians 6: 10- 18, and 2 Corinthians 10:3-7 all point to the fact that we are in a fight or a war. It stands to reason then that if we are in a fight or a war, then we have an opponent or an adversary. Peter cautioned the believers in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” This verse implies: (1) that our survival in this warfare and, ultimately our success, hinges on our mental stance – sobriety and vigilance, and (2) the adversary’s strategy is likened to that of a lion; a predator who specializes in stealth, stalking, ambush, teamwork, and aggressive, destructive attacks.
We are commanded to be sober. Peter mentions this command, be sober, three times in this letter. In 1 Peter 1:13, he says, “gird up the loins of your mind, be sober…” and, in 1 Peter 4:7 he says, “be ye therefore sober, and watch….” But what does it mean to be sober? To be sober means to be calm and collected in spirit; to be temperate, dispassionate, and circumspect. If we dig deeper into the meanings of these words we will see that they are associated with our emotions and our feelings.
We are also commanded to be vigilant. Being vigilant means to be cautious, to be watchful, and to give strict attention to something. This same Greek word, gregoreo, which was translated into the English word vigilant is the same word used by Jesus in the gospels when he says,
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.- Matthew 24:42
And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. – Mark 13:37
And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. – Luke 12:39
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. – Matthew 26:41
Consequently, to win the fight against the adversary, we must first win the fight against ourselves. We must learn how to master our emotions and our minds. Like Paul, I must learn how to “keep under my body and bring it into subjection” (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Finally, the third thing we learn from our key verse is that the lion is seeking whom he may devour. We give the adversary permission to and access to devour us when we are not sober and vigilant; when we are not self-controlled and alert.
Our strategy for warfare then is to fight our flesh. If we are victorious over our flesh, then we are victorious over the adversary, because we would have then blocked every opening through which he could enter and devour. Then we can boldly proclaim, “no weapon formed against me shall prosper….” Attacks would be launched, and weapons will be formed but they will not be able to harm us, because they have NO ACCESS!
DIG DEEPER:
- Blog Post – Symptoms
- Bible Study – Our Adversary: Satan
- Prayer Room – A Cry for Discernment