1 Peter 5:8-9  ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith.’

DAILY READING  • James 3; Jeremiah 25-26; Psalm 131

On December 14th 2010, during a school board meeting at the Bay County school in Panama city Florida, the husband of a fired school employee  walked in. The Board members thought  he had come to make a complaint, however, when he stood  before them, they suddenly realized that he had a gun.

There had been no armed security in the school compound that day, but by divine providence, a retired police officer, who acted as the school’s Security chief, who was meant to be on vacation, decided to head towards the school to be part of the  Board meeting.

As the shooter lined up the board members, against the wall,  these men and women who were Christians knew their only hope of rescue was God.  And as they called upon God, He intervened. As the man began to shoot, the first board member he shot, was the school’s superintendent. What was amazing was that he shot him from about 8 feet away, at point blank  and yet the superintendent was not hit. He was saved by a notebook held in front of him. When the man took a second shot at another Board member, the gun failed to fire. Before he could take another shot, the retired cop, who had arrived at the meeting, stepped into the room and shot back at him. The shooter then faced the retired cop and released a volley of bullets in his direction. Five bullets circled around the head of the retired cop, hitting the wall, but none hit his head.  As the shooter shot randomly around the room at the Board members., miraculously no one was hit by any bullet.  Eventually the shooter turned the gun on his own head and killed himself.

Within hours, the Bay County school board incident was in the center of national news. In front of the world, the school board members shared that is was God who saved their lives. The Board members said that their faith in God had been strong, and they knew He was with them in that room and that was what had stopped the bullets from hitting any of them.

1 Peter 5:8-9 says ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith.’

Faith is the weapon with which we can resist every attack of the enemy. We live in a world where the enemy goes about looking for whom to devour, therefore we cannot afford to live life by chance. In the dangerous environment of the world today, we must live vigilant and sober and ever spiritually prepared to overcome.  And this we do by daily, deliberately, ensuring we are spiritually armed.

The victory that overcomes the world is our faith, this is why we must be constantly ready with the weapon of faith. When we are full of faith, we will always be victorious in every conflict. And we know that faith comes from hearing God’s Word.

Every believer has the responsibility to go in pursuit of the Word. When you study your Bible, it should be a deliberate action of storing up faith and  preparing yourself against the day of battle. When challenge arises, there should be strength within you to rise up to it. You don’t have to wait for trouble, before you begin to seek faith from the Word, it may be too late then.  Life is a warfare and not a fanfare; it is a battle ground and not a playground. The truth is that the battles of life come suddenly, without time for preparation. This is why you must be prepared. Therefore live ready and build up your faith in advance.

Truly, the victory that overcomes the world is our faith. Therefore decide today to begin to store up the Word of God in enough quantity in your heart. When you are armed with faith, certainly you will be able to steadfastly resist every attack and triumph always.

PRAYER

Lord,  thank You for the granting me the grace to live ready by building up my faith through the constant study of Your word. Indeed by faith, I know that I am more than a conqueror in every conflict of life in Jesus Name.

Quote

When you apply The Word of God, it will work for you, anywhere and anytime- WORDBITE 222.