BY LARALOVE
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:7-8
When I told a dear friend about something I had considered doing, she didn’t tell me right away what she thought. But she couldn’t hold out too long before she did. She was in a sense horrified. So was I, if the truth be told. But that wasn’t how I felt at the start of it all.
See, when Satan dangled his bait before my hungry eyes, and desperate heart, I opened wide my mouth and prepared to take a big greedy delicious bite. Imagine, after all the time I’d been following Jesus, after all the time I’d spent studying the Bible, after all the time I’d received godly counsel, after all the experience I’d had through the years doing wrong and learning how to do right, there I had found myself about to fall hook, line, and sinker for the devil’s tantalizing, scrumptious-seeming bait.
How could I have possibly been so on the verge of falling? Simple. I was vulnerable. I so very much wanted something to turn out a certain way, and so very much wanted for the journey there to be clear, easy, quick, and comfortable, without any hurdles and challenges, without any self-sacrifice, that I was wide open prey for the devil. I was in a position of vulnerability, self-seeking, and desperation. The perfect ingredients for falling right into temptation.
By God’s grace, I have an extremely strong relationship with Him, am continually spending time with Him and studying the Bible, stay very connected to His followers, and am constantly seeking Him and listening to Him speak by His Spirit to my heart. By His love and mercy, He rescued me from falling prey to the awful ravenous evil jaws of Satan and carried me away to safety in His everlasting loving kind merciful tender arms.
It should go without saying we should spend time with Jesus and the Bible every day of our lives, we should be vigilant in assembling with Christ followers at church, a Bible study, a house church, a small group, etc., and we should stay strongly connected in fellowship, by phone, email, etc. with fellow believers in the Lord.
And when we’re in a position of being especially vulnerable, we should be even more careful to hold on for dear life to the Lord and to His Word and refuse to give the devil even an inch.
Are you in a place of vulnerability right now? Cling to Jesus friend. Cleave to God’s Word. Cry out to the Lord. Reach out to Christ followers. Don’t let the devil take advantage of your vulnerability. Stay in the loving safety, wisdom, protection, refuge, hope, mercy, and joy of the Lord!
Courtesy of DAILY INSPIRATION