Stand Firm

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety {ALL YOUR ANXIETY} on Him because He cares for you.  {GOD-maker of the universe!!!! CARES for YOU!!!!}  Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, {yes! ADVERSARY: opponent, enemy, antagonist, combatant, challenger, foe, (in case you still don’t get it)} THE DEVIL, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone (like you, believer in God) to devour.  But resist him, firm in your faith (it says FIRM), knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.  After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself (now listen carefully to this…) perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.  To Him be dominion forever and ever. AMEN."  1 Peter 5:6-11

Paul goes on to say, “I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God.  Stand firm in it!”  In Ephesians 6, Paul tells us to "take up the armor of God so that we can resist in the evil day and having done everything, to stand firm.”  There are many verses in the epistles that say to stand firm.  Many times we look at those verses and think that’s just talking about persecution.  These epistles were written to the believers to encourage them through the intense persecution they were experiencing.  However, we must be instructed by these same verses.  We may not yet experience the extreme persecution of those believers.  But as Christians, we are stalked by the same adversary.  And the battle we fight, whatever the battle, is intense.  Martin Luther’s great song of the faith, “ A Mighty Fortress”, pens it well:

“And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us: The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure, one little word shall fell him.”

This is the Word of the LORD:  “Stand firm…He, HIMSELF, will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”  There are times in our lives when there is absolutely no strength.  We are weary, depressed, “undone”.  We may not know what to do in a particular situation.  But as believers, we know Whom we have believed and we can stand firm.  And the results, well observe the definitions of the words from 1 Peter 5:

Perfect (improve, polish, hone, refine, fine-tune) Confirm (verify, prove, validate, authenticate, vindicate, support, uphold, guarantee)  Strengthen (make strong, build up, buttress, toughen, reinforce) Establish (exhibit, manifest, institute, create, construct)

I really like the “exhibit” definition.  We are on exhibition.  We are walking exhibitions of the One True God.  Yes, we have bad days.  But we must not waver, doubt, despair, crash, or have a melt down.  We must stand firm.  Keep standing firm!