Who’s Your Daddy?

            A friend shared with me the other day a funny story:

            Two boys were walking home from Sunday church after hearing a

strong sermon on the devil. One boy said to the other, “What do you think  

about all this Satan stuff?”

            The other boy replied, “Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It's probably just your dad.”

            Peter realizes that Satan is not a myth: 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings (I Pet. 5:8-9.)

            

Don’t Ignore this Warning!

            Ignoring warnings can be dangerous. TODAY IN THE WORD wrote, several years ago, about a Hessian commander, who learned that lesson the hard way.

            During the Revolutionary War, a loyalist spy appeared at the headquarters of Hessian commander, Colonel Johann Rall, carrying an urgent message. General George Washington and his Continental army had secretly crossed the Delaware River that morning and were advancing on Trenton, New Jersey, where the Hessians were encamped.

            The spy was denied an audience with the commander and instead, wrote his message on a piece of paper. A porter took the note to the Hessian colonel, but because Rall was involved in a poker game, he stuffed the unread note into his pocket.

            When the guards at the Hessian camp began firing their muskets in a futile attempt to stop Washington’s army, Rall was still playing cards. Without time to organize, the Hessian army was captured. The battle occurred the day after Christmas, 1776, giving the colonists a late present—their first major victory of the war.

            The apostle Peter two thousand years ago sent us all a warning:

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 Pet. 5:8-9).

A Spiritual Hacker

Charlie Miller is a hacker. He finds ways to break into other people’s computers. He does this to help companies protect their computers and software.

Over the past few years, Charlie has made it a habit of breaking into Apple Macs. Charlie owns a Mac book Pro, and iPhone, and four Apple computers. He loves them. That is why he hacks – he wishes to show the vulnerability of Mac products.

Once Charlie gets inside the computer, the integrity of the host computer is compromised. Left unchecked, Charlie can control the computer’s output until it shuts down.

Reading about this, I could not help but think about a spiritual hacker. He looks for every entry point he can find in a person. No matter how small the portal, if there is an opening, he is going to get inside. Then, he seeks to spread his virus. He would be especially pleased to destroy the host.

Peter tells us to watch out for this hacker, “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.”

That is sound advice from the apostle Peter. We can protect ourselves from this spiritual hacker by walking with God, getting into his word, meditating upon his word, praying, practicing other spiritual disciplines, fellowshipping with other Christians, partnering with our families in our spiritual walk, and through many more strategies. May God help us keep the devil out.