1 Peter 5:8-9 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

I feel the Lord just gave me more understanding of this passage than I have had before, even though it is very familiar. I had always thought of “resisting the devil” in strictly spiritual terms, but the Lord used the current US political context to help me understand that this is resisting on every level. Being “meek and mild” doesn’t mean being a doormat! The devil wants Christians to “roll over and play dead,” or at least cower in a corner, every time he roars, but that’s not the image I get from this passage, and it’s not the Biblical example, either. People are quick to point to how Jesus didn’t resist when He was arrested, tried, beaten, and crucified, overlooking the fact that He had a very specific reason for acting that way. Paul, on the other hand, used “ninja techniques” to escape capture, (Acts 98:23-25) and famously made full use of his Roman citizenship as a political tool later in his ministry. Recent events in the US demonstrate that standing up to anti-Christian bullies can make them get ugly, but it can also make them back down, or make their efforts backfire on them. Particularly in the American context, with a Constitution founded on Biblical principles, there is every reason for Christians to stand up and not back down. The caveat here is that it must be done in humility and love, but there is no reason to cower in fear. The devil attacks on all levels, and if he can get us to adopt his methods, he’s won, whatever the short-term effects. We are to resist him in the power of the Holy Spirit, not with “dirty tricks.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Ephesians 6:10-12)

In following the US political situation via the Internet I am encouraged by some of what I see going on, but I am saddened by some of the comments I see written by people who are supposedly “on the right side.” Sometimes it gets really ugly, and I realize that such people have already been defeated, and I pray for them. I am not in the physical location to be politically active, but my prayers are indeed part of the overall battle. At the same time, with all of that going on politically, I must not be distracted from the twin realities that Jesus is Lord, and true victory comes when someone is born again by grace through faith. The fact that God has given some people over to a depraved mind (Romans 1:28-33) doesn’t mean that He doesn’t still love them and desire that they repent. I am to be diligent and faithful in praying that His Name be hallowed, His kingdom come, and His will be done, both in the US and in Japan.

Father, sometimes I get caught up in the excitement of the battle. I spend too much time reading about it! Help me seek and apply Your priorities for my time and energy so that I may resist all the tricks of the devil, the small as well as the large. Thank You for all You enabled me to do yesterday. Help me be faithful at every task You have for me today, so that Your will may be done on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!