What Does the Devil Try To Do?

1 Peter 5

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Peter brings up another aspect for the church to consider as it faces its trials. As we live out our faith, part of the cause of our suffering is our enemy the devil. Here are the strategies Peter gives for dealing with our common enemy if we seek to live out the Christian life.

1. Be alert and of sober mind. It is important for us to know who the devil is and how he works. Although we don't have to see a devil in every bush, we need to be mindful that he is like a roaring lion looking to devour believers.

2. We do not need to afraid of our enemy as believers. We can resist him and have the power to command him to be gone. And how can we resist him, by standing firm in the faith! The ultimate goal of Satan is to cause us to lose faith. This was his original strategy in the garden when he said, "Did God really say you can't ..." The devil's main goal is to get us to not trust God nor His promises. He even tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness to no avail.

3. Finally, we know this is a kind of suffering that is not unique to us. Believers around the world are fighting the same battle we are. We are not alone in this resistance.

Although we would like to be naive about the devil and his empty promises, Peter tells us to be alert and be of sober mind. We need to be mindful of our enemy as we seek to follow Jesus and be used to help His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

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