How to Kill A Roaring Lion

Be self-controlled and alert. 

Your enemy the devil prowls around 

like a roaring lion 

looking for someone to devour. 

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.


 All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
1 Peter 5:5-10

So the questions are:
Why do 91% of Christians decide to do the opposite of what God instructs them to do?
Why do so many of us choose a worldview and lifestyle of hypocrisy?
Why do we make a list of the things we plan to do and do the exact opposite?

Well my friends, as yesterday's post illustrated, each of us has a list and there are many ways this world can lead us in the wrong direction. If you want victory in your life, I would suggest that you make a copy of “Satan's Meeting”, and then take a highlighter and go through and mark all of the areas where you are vulnerable to attack in your life. That is where the "Roaring Lions" are hiding in the shadows waiting to attack you when you least expect it. I was recently watching one of those African Bush programs that showed a lion hunting it’s prey. The lion lay silently in hiding as the Zebra grazed on the prairie unaware of the danger that was only a few yards away. You know the rest. The problem is that the lion we are up against is much smarter than the lion on TV, and we are not as smart as the Zebras, and can’t run like them either. Wait a minute, "what do you mean, we're not as smart as Zebras" you say? Read the next paragraph and maybe you'll understand.

The verse above outlines God’s plan for defeating the Roaring Lions. The first step sounds kind of paradoxical. Be humble to others and God and His Word! Our natural man would tell us: Be tough! Be Brave! we need to get a gun and shoot the Lion ... but our problem is that the enemy is no ordinary lion. Eph. 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. Our problem is we have no fear or respect for the power of our real enemy. Most Christians probably don’t even believe that there is a literal evil demonic Satan or devil whose goal is to destroy them. So you see, in that way, many of us are more ignorant than a half-witted Zebra, who clearly understands the danger of the lion he faces. So, it seems to me that after you work through yesterdays post with that magic marker; it would be a good idea to walk through the eight foundational truths that are outlined in the “Jesus is the Truth” post, and decide what you believe and what you do not believe about Jesus and His word. For your benefit I will list them again here.
As you can see #6 says: “Satan is Real”

1. Moral truth absolutely exists.
2. This truth is defined by the Bible.
3. Jesus led a sinless life.
4. God is the all powerful and all knowing creator of the universe.
5. Salvation is a gift of God …. You can’t earn it.
6. Satan is real.
7. Followers are responsible to share their faith with others.
8. The Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.

Think about it for a minute. The Creator of the universe says: follow me and I will give you eternal life, grace, victory, peace, joy, happiness and bless your life beyond your imagination. And you respond, "I love you Lord, thank you for eternal life, but while I am still here I already have this mindset that has been in place for quite a while … I think I’ll just leave it on auto-pilot and meet up with you later". God says, “Humble yourself to my word and I will give you victory over all of those lions in your life". But you respond like a proud ignorant Zebra that stands his ground defiantly, and says “come and get me lion, lets get it on”. We are told to “Cast all your anxiety on Him” and “to be self-controlled and alert … “Resist the devil, standing firm in the faith”

How in the world can we do that … if we don’t believe in the devil? I know, I know … people will think we’re nuts if we go around finding demons under every rock. So would you suppose we would be wise to believe and follow God, or worry about what foolish people think? Especially people who have rejected your God and everything he stands for. Who is leading your life; God, Yourself, or somebody else’s beliefs and philosophies? How can "following yourself or somebody else" be "standing firm in your faith"?

Well, that is a lot to work on. We have two assignments.
1. Mark all of the areas where you are vulnerable to attack in your life as listed on "Satan's Meeting" post.
2. Review the eight foundational truths outlined above and decide: what you believe, and what you do not believe.

The good news is: that once you have your mind on the right track, God assures you that you will have an absolutely victorious life.

Here is God’s promise for Biblical lion hunters:
"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast"

I have focused for the most part on "Satan" and "Our need to Believe God's Word" here. We will make a case for each point above in future posts.
All God’s Best … Bob