“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 NKJV
“The Devil made me do it” is a well-known oft-quoted lie shifting the blame from you and me, but the choice is always ours.
God’s Word says: “the devil is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
Understandably, the devil is powerful, but God is most powerful, and He always limits the devil’s powers.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:10-11 NKJV
In “Discover Your Destiny,” Dave Breese says: “There is a fierce and malignant personal being who uses the world and the flesh to attempt to thwart the design of God in the life of the redeemed person. His name is Satan. He is the devil … The Christian discovers that his old enemy, though mortally wounded by Christ on the cross, is still dangerous.”
Dave Breese said, “The individual who properly understands his strength in Christ should never be defeated. He will stand without exception in the midst of every storm of life. He can be living proof that Jesus Christ in every case turns defeat into victory, sorrow into joy, making even the weakest people who trust in Him more than conquerors through Him that loves them.”
Breese wrote: “God in His wisdom has given ample provision to solve every lingering problem. No enemy without or within should ever be able to conquer you,” if indeed you have made the personal decision to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“The devil is to be the object of offensive action on the part of every Christian. To resist the devil means to expose him, to denounce him, to warn others of his activities.”
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 NKJV
Warren W. Wiersbe says, “If sinners listen to Satan, and follow his ways, they will end up where he ends up – in the torments of hell. Only two eternal destinies await every person: everlasting punishment for those who reject Christ or eternal life for those who trust Him. Hell (‘the lake of fire’) is a witness to the righteous character of God. He must judge sin. Hell is also a witness to human responsibility, the fact that people are not robots or helpless victims but creatures able to make choices. God does not send people to hell; they send themselves by rejecting the Savior. Hell is also a witness to the awfulness of sin. If we once saw sin as God sees it, we would understand why a place such as hell exists.”
One of Satan’s favorite ploys is to diminish the meaning of words identified in the Bible as total truth and make them swear words.
Hell is a real place – a place of torment designed for the devil and his angels, and the eternal destination for every person who has not made the personal decision to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” being born again and heading for Heaven, to receive “the gift of God eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15 NKJV
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” 2 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV
“‘Be vigilant’ means to be alert to the spiritual pitfalls of life and take appropriate steps to make certain that we do not stumble. “Your adversary’: Satan is our avowed enemy. He never ceases from being hostile toward us” (Earl Radmacher, Nelson Study Bible.)
Every person everywhere is headed for hell until and unless he or she turns to Jesus Christ and believes on Him, asking for His forgiveness for every sin and shortcoming and being willing to “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead“ (Romans 10:9). Heaven will be the eternal home of everyone who will “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Make certain that this has happened in your heart, and invite every possible person to ultimately join you in Heaven forever.
You can be vigilant. Will you?