1 Peter 5:8–11

Satan wants to keep us so busy that we have no time left in our day to think about spiritual truths in Jesus. 

He wants to keep us complacent…neither hot nor cold.

Jesus taught us to pray this in the Lord’s Prayer…

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

May the Lord Bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you.
May God give you grace not to sell yourselves short,
Grace to risk something big for something good,
Grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth, and too small for anything but love.
May God take your minds and think through them.
May God take your lips and speak through them.
May God take your hands and work through them.
May God take your hearts and set them on fire.
William Sloane Coffin

1 Peter 5:8–11

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. The New King James Version

Be sober means to be self-disciplined, to think rationally and not foolishly. Be vigilant means to be alert to the spiritual pitfalls of life and take appropriate steps to make certain that we do not stumble. 

Satan is our avowed enemy. He never ceases from being hostile toward us; he is constantly accusing us before God. Satan is both cunning and cruel. He attacks when least expected and desires to destroy completely those whom he attacks. 

We are not commanded to run, but to resist—to fight rather than flee. Victory comes when we remain committed to God, because He is greater than our enemy.

Like a doctor setting a broken bone, God will mend our broken lives and make us whole. God will make our way stable, despite the instability we feel living in a world that inflicts suffering upon us. God will give us the ability to succeed in all that we do for Him. 

As a consequence of our facing the attacks of our enemy, God will build in us a firm foundation that will make us steadfast and immovable. 

God is in control of all things both in this world and throughout eternity.

Responding to the Word of God by saying “amen” echoes a Jewish practice of declaring that everything that had been said is true and that the hearers were committed to putting into practice that truth. The NKJV Study Bible

The new testament uses both “Satan” and “devil” as terms for the chief figure of evil in the Bible. The Hebrew term satan used in the old testament means “adversary”. 

Peter alerts his audience to the devil’s constant threat to the people of God. Within the wider context of the passage, Peter’s use of animal imagery depicts God’s people as vulnerable sheep in desperate need of their shepherd’s protection from all sorts of threats, including persecution and preying animals like the devil. 

Believers throughout the Roman empire were suffering both localized persecution as well as opposition from the devil. Peter offers his audience a final word of comfort. He reminds them that God will empower and ultimately glorify those who remain steadfast in their faith under the weight of their present suffering. Faithlife Study Bible

Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Colossians 2:5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.