January 30
The enemy will very well love to take you by surprise. He likes to hit you where you never expected but he’s incapable of doing so. He prowls around like a ROARING LION, meaning before he jumps into attack mode he has already tipped you off many times. Now whether you take that warning and do something about it it’s all up to you. Many times we ignore all the signs of a fall until the fall happens. The time when your husband or your wife suddenly began to despise everything you did it was time for you to start putting up a fight against the devil and not your spouse. The time when your father began drawing away from the family it wasn’t time for you to complain; rather it was time for you to get into battle mode. Again the devil cannot help the fact that he announces his coming or the fact that he unintentionally tips you off, but you can decide whether you see that warning or not. And you can do so by being sober-minded.
If you’re not sober-minded everything will pass over your head. Everything will be normal to you, and in a way become a nuisance to you. But when you are sober-minded and alert you know when to fight. If you’re alert you do not allow the warnings that the enemy wishes he could keep from you to go to waste. Rather you would gear up and wage war not at that spouse or that son or daughter or that family member, or that co-worker, but rather at the conniving enemy who is constructing everything that’s going on. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
The devil isn’t looking for a pastor or a minister or a singer or a motivational speaker. He’s looking for anyone and everyone. The innocent 13-year-old, the housewife, the breadwinner of the family, or even that owner of that new business. So do not think to yourself, “Well I’m not the pastor so the devil doesn’t want me.” Because that is not true. The truth is that he wants you because he knows that if he gets his hands on you and manages to keep you away from that pastor you think he’s after, you might never get that chance to hear what God wants you to hear. He wants you to think that way in an attempt to keep you from a chance at salvation. So do not exempt yourself or think less of yourself. The enemy wants to destroy everyone, so be sober-minded and take heed to the warning signs that he throws your way unintentionally.
1 Peter 5:8
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
