Consider the scriptures
#1 – 1 Peter 5:8-9
1 Peter 5:8-9 KJV
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. So resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world.”
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. So resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world.” – 1 Peter 5:8-9
1 Peter 5:8 is often quoted by preachers and teachers, but rarely have I ever heard verse 9 included.
They want you to be aware that the devil is always on the prowl looking for someone to devour but they don’t give you the next verse which is a key to overcoming.
It’s saying to be firm in your faith.
How can we be firm in our faith?
1 Peter 5:8 and 5:9 isn’t where this lesson begins.
Look at 1 Peter 5:6-7.
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, having cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7
Being humble before God is not some outward act of humbleness for all men to see. It isn’t even about serving God.
It is you acknowledging that you can do nothing apart from Him and recognizing that you can be free of worry and anxiety because you are assured that Jesus cares about you.
We can do nothing without Jesus, but we are never without Jesus because He is always with us.
We have the fullness of God’s Spirit in us.
Being sober in spirit means being sober of mind. While sober in cultural context could mean to abstain from drinking wine, this is about having a peace in your mind that stabilizes your mind from cares, worries and anxieties.
You can have a firmness of faith to resist the devil when you acknowledge the source of your faith is the Son of God Himself. We live by His faith.