About a roaring lion

1 Peter 5:8 - Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Do you hear the lion roaring against you? This counterfeit lion called the devil? You hear his roars all the time, giving you despair, giving you unrest, giving you distractions. Sometimes he roars "You are condemned!" Sometimes he roars "You are weak! You are useless!" Sometimes he roars "Nobody loves you!"

How is the child of God to respond?

"Resist him, standing firm in the faith..." (1 Peter 5:9). Do not give in to fear. Do not give in to his accusations. Do not give in to discouragement. Stand FIRM in your faith. Have faith that God is who He says He is.

And who is our God? Who is our Jesus? Is He not the Lion of the tribe of Judah?

My friend, when you are besieged by the roar of the lion from all sides, the Lion of the tribe of Judah roars out from within you and from the heavens. The Holy Spirit in you is the very same Spirit of God; and the Lord Jesus is interceding for us in the heavenly realms from the right hand of the throne of God.

"You are condemned!" And The Lion roars back, "No you are not condemned! Because I tasted the full wrath of God when I hung on the cross! There is no more condemnation for you, because you are in Christ Jesus! No accusation and no condemnation will touch you, because you are covered and shielded in my righteousness!"

"You are weak! You are worthless!" And you roar back, empowered by God on high. "Yes, I am weak, yes, I am useless, that is in my flesh. But in Christ Jesus I am made strong! In Christ Jesus I find the strength and the power and the grace to overcome sin! In Christ Jesus, I am not worthless, I am not useless! For I know that my worth, my credit, is not based on a righteousness of my own, but is solely dependent on the fact that I am a child of the living God! Devil, don't you dare accuse the Spirit of God in me as worthless! And useless you say? My God has so many things to say in response - I have been made a royal priest, I have been made a holy priest, I have been made an ambassador, I have been made a soldier, all for the glory of God and for loving service to my fellow man."

"Nobody loves you." The lion attempts a final blow. And by the Spirit of God, we cry, "Abba, Father!" And the Father roars from heaven with the sound of seven thunders. "This is my child, and my Spirit leads him, and I love him. I so loved him, that I gave my one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. This child has believed in Jesus."

I close with Psalm 91:13 - You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.