Peace to You in the Messiah

Meditations in the Season of Lent

April 6, 2022

Peace to You in the Messiah

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8

Read: 1 Peter 5:8-14

Jesus told us about our enemy, Satan, the force of evil in the world. In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells us Satan is a liar, the father of all lies; the truth is not in him. Also, that Satan’s mission is to steal, kill and destroy the people of God. The Apostle Paul also identified this threat to the new community of believers and instructs us that “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) In the following verses, Paul provides us with our weapons against the evil forces: God’s righteousness, the Good News, faith, our salvation, the word of God, and prayer.

Peter follows this same formula. He calls us to stand firm against the forces of evil, and to be strong in our faith. (v. 9) He also reminds us we are not alone; “our family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering.”

I have no doubt that the forces of evil, the great enemy of God, are directing the attack on Ukraine which has caused the death of so many civilians, including hundreds of children. Since the Age of Enlightenment, the world’s culture has tended to put humankind at the center of life and removed God from world affairs. Modern culture looks at Peter’s admonishment to watch out for our great enemy, the devil as silliness from antiquity. We do so at our peril. The warnings by Jesus, and Peter, and Paul are as relevant to our lives today as they were in Jerusalem and Rome 2,000 years ago.

My Takeaway: For the title of today’s meditation, I used N. T. Wright’s translation of verse 14. We seek the life in Christ as our way of life because there is peace for us in the Messiah, Christ Jesus.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.