Soul Sister Time

            You have an enemy who is after your peace and joy in Christ every day.  Your enemy’s best strategy is to remain incognito.  Your enemy stirs up emotions, discord, problems in your life every day, but he is quick to hide and let someone else take the blame.  He gets you to think your enemy is your brother, your child, or your boss.  The true enemy you need to see is the enemy of your soul!             Peter’s best advice regarding fighting the devil is to be aware.  He wrote: Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).  Peter is the one who should know.  He was the one Satan sifted like wheat on the eve of Jesus’ crucifixion.  I’m not sure what sifting by the devil exactly means, but I do know it is not good.  It hurt.  Peter crie...

 In the early 70’s Flip Wilson, a popular comedian, made the phrase famous—The Devil made me do it!  It’s easy to joke about the devil, ignore him, or make too much of his power in our spiritual lives.  Paul gives us a balanced approach to facing off with the devil in Ephesians 6.  It is unwise to ignore him but unnecessary to fear him.  I had the privilege to be under the teaching of J.I. Packer recently, and his thoughts regarding Paul’s instructions to all Christians from Ephesians 6 were inspiring.  Packer suggests that Christians today are not instructed effectively about our faith.  In this passage, Paul is giving us the Christian instruction necessary to receive the victory we are lacking in our daily walk with Christ.   An explanation of the failure of Christians to live as Christians may be found in their lack of understanding of what the Christian life is about.   Packer’s outline included seven catechismal questions; your...