God Has The Power

DEVOTION 1 PETER HE HAS THE POWER 1 Peter 5:8-11 8 Be self-controlled and alert. 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 your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 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. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. NIV Perhaps within the context of this statement, suffering might be defined as something other than being under some form of persecution from non-believers, or those who violently oppose our faith. Maybe, just maybe this suffering is being exposed to all sorts of temptations from the devil. Temptations which are so desirable that it actually causes us to suffer in the sense of wanting, but knowing we should not, and then when we fail to resist and give in, having such a guilty, ashamed feeling that we suffer within our own self, thinking how could we have done that, and will God punish us, or not forgive us for being so weak. Maybe this is the common suffering of all the brothers throughout the world, no matter what cultural or society they live in. Whether we live in a free society where we can openly express our faith or if we live in a society where Christianity is opposed and oppressed, we all are tempted by the enemy of our souls. He certainly does not devour our bodies, but rather our souls, our spirit, trying with all his power to cause us to turn from God. Even if we do fail, and give in from time to time to temptation, we are still to stand firm in our faith, resisting that guilt and shame which the devil delights in, and stand knowing God is on our side, and his love and forgiveness will be everlasting. If we do not lose sight of our position in Christ, even in the midst of failure, God will restore us and make us strong and steadfast. It does matter what the devil attempts to do in order to get us to turn away from God, if we resist him, he will flee from us. Yes we fail, yes we are not perfect, yes we still need to always be aware of the devils plot to destroy us, yes we need to resist as much as we can, but it is for certain we will not be able to attain perfection and be completely free of sin. That is why God will restore us. He knows our weakness, our inability to sustain a live without sin, but restoration puts away guilt and shame. Restoration defeats the devil and his schemes to destroy us. God has the power, forever and ever. We are his children and he will protect us, even in those situations when we are weak, for he has the power.