1 Peter 5: 7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering
What does prowl mean? To move about or wander stealthily in or as if in search of prey. : to roam over in a predatory manner.
It is a common misconception that the male lions are the ones that do the hunting. However if it be known correctly however, it is the female lions that go out hunting. Male lions get involved in the hunt only for the necessity of bringing in a prey that is larger than what the females can handle. Instead male lions are protectors of the ‘pride.’ They can be called on to assist the females, but their main job is to protect.
When lions hunt their first inclination is to watch. They look for what they see is the weakest. They look for the one that is alone with no support. Even the largest of animals can be taken down by a pack of lions. However since the verse speaks about Satan roaring like a singular lion, we will address what the verse intends for you to understand.
Why do lions roar? Lions roar to tell other lions where they are, to show how big they are and to warn lions from other prides to keep away from their home territory.
In other words Satan and his followers will adapt the same characteristics. They will tell you how grand they are, how much money they make and how many material things they can flash at you. Then you will have others who will expound on how much intelligence they have. They cause you to confuse politeness with accuracy. They have to show how grand they are in order to give you an impression of how important they see themselves. They want you to believe their arrogance as some type of divine power, when in reality it’s all a smokescreen.
So how do they roar? They roar by the use of these things and then send the weak in the congregation out to hunt for them. Who are the weak? The weak ones are those who seek to have what they have. They are the ones that want all the things the ‘materially blessed’ preacher has. They are those who wish to be like them instead of being the opposite which is Christ.
So they send the weak out in order to grow their church. They send the weak out to do the things that they themselves should be doing. But what happens? The weak run and run trying to grow the church numbers for the congregation to grow. So they invite people to church. As the congregation grows, the louder their roar and the bigger the territory. The more people the more power they gain as their influence goes out that they protect their kingdom or territory. But they forget that unless God builds it, they work in vain.
So what are you to do? You are to resist Satan. To resist is counteract what Satan tries to do. His voice will be loud in your ear as you try to do what God has commanded and replace it with what they have demanded. You are to stand firm and not run away. If you run away, Satan allows you to run, for he knows that you will eventually tire out. It is when you are tired out that you end up falling from exhaustion. So he waits for you to grow weary till you cannot run any longer. That is why we are to encourage others to run. We run with them not by condemning them, but by helping them continue to run. How do they run? They run by standing up in and for the purity of the promises of God in His Word. They stand up for the name or reputation that Christ had on this earth. If we stand with God, then those lions who wish to devour you, will have to devour God’s Word first. And that means death to any lion that Satan wishes to send out, including himself.
We must remember that Satan roars in order to get you running. When you run you will grow weary. When you grow weary you will fall and when you fall you are now the prey that belongs to the pride.
Therefore if you are not in Christ and the family of faith, you are in the ‘pride of life.’ We are not to grow weary in well doing.
Galatians 6:9Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.
When you are helping those who are in Christ, you will be considered prey to Satan. That is because Satan has to protect his territory. So why are you being preyed upon? Because you are a threat to the territory he so needs to protect.
So be sober minded; be someone who is rational and sensible and not someone who gives into myths and stories. For if you are not sober minded, you will lack the strength that comes from God and you will be running using your own strength.
Sofia Chokmah
Prophetic Press
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April 13, 2018
Prophetic Press Releases
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