Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Hello, nice people.

It was sprinkling some rain earlier…but didn’t get us wet while we did our little walk/jog thing. We didn’t do much ball throwing this morning. We decided to not do so until the dogs came up with a ball that they had earlier. It wasn’t till near the end that Hondo finally came up with a ball in his mouth. I then activated the ball I had in my pocket so that we were able to carry on with business as usual.

I hope to spend enough time at the controls of the sawmill to finish up this remaining bunch of cedar logs. I think there are only about 9 of them. It shouldn’t take too long since they are relatively small diameters—up to about 12” at the small end. They will all be cut to 1”x6” fence boards.

Oh, oh—there’s a big ugly black cloud moving in overhead. I think I know what’s going to happen.

May blessings and strength be yours in adequate measure for today.

Love, Dad/Ray.

There is much in this chapter that is worthy of our attention, but I think I will settle on the exhortation from Peter to “be self-controlled and alert.” Why is this advice important to Peter? Because he recognizes something that most people, even some believers, don’t—“your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

Have you ever observed a cat stalking a mouse? While the mouse is watching and alert, the cat is dead still. But when the attention of the mouse is shifted to something else like eating or sniffing around, and he wanders a little too far from his protective hole, that’s when the cat moves in closer. He’ll keep that approach up till he is within striking distance. At that point the mouse is no match for the cat. The same tactic is used by humans when hunting deer or any other kind of game. That strategy works underwater too—I’ve used it effectively countless times while spear fishing.

The point is that Satan is no match for us as long as we are self-controlled, alert, and strong in the Lord. But when we shift our attention from that focus and priority, and the residue of our NATURAL SIN NATURE is given less control, allowing ourselves to become careless and distracted by other things that are in conflict with the Word and the will of our Lord, we make ourselves vulnerable to this stalking enemy, at which time we are no match for Satan.

It is very good to know that we are given options and resources to successfully “resist him” (v. 9). How? By “standing firm in the faith.” What do we mean by this faith? It’s the great assurance that Christ within is our personal Savior, Security, and Sovereign. It includes the belief that apart from a close relationship with Him there is no hope of winning over Satan and his stalking devices. Believe it…and live it. We’re talking about the key that guarantees a life of Christian victory and sets one apart from the weak, wimpy, ignorant, and contaminated version thereof.