Be Vigilant for the Adversary

I kayaked for the second day in a row since my cancer surgery two months ago. What peace and delight! Herons abounded as usual, bringing me great joy. I meandered slowly in quiet coves to avoid the weekend motorboats when I saw what looked like a stick in the water. Then it raised its head with a gaping white mouth.

Shuddering, I skedaddled out of there. If it was just a stick I didn't hang around long enough to find out. I remembered reading that cottonmouths have been known to leap out of the water and into boats. It may have been a stick, but sticks don't usually rise out of the water with white mouths wide open.

I like the quiet coves much more than the open water, but alas, so do the snakes.

Danger is always lurking where you least expect it. Nice quiet, sheltered, placid cove...and then a poisonous cottonmouth rears its evil head. I hate to disturb the peace of kayaking with the need for vigilant scouting of danger, but it is foolish not to.

There is a spiritual lesson lurking here as well. We all should be on guard. We all have an adversary often hidden where we least expect him. His desire is to destroy our peace, and our soul. The Bible warns us that he is disguised as an angel of light and his purpose is to deceive and destroy us. Our enemy is a 'prowling lion' looking for someone to devour, a snake pretending to be a harmless stick.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.1 Peter 5:8

This stinks. Who wants to ruin the joy of life by having to be on continual alert for the enemy of our soul? The Bible is clear. We have an adversary. He is powerful, and he is looking for opportunities to confound and harm us. The danger is probably most present when we scoff and downplay the risk.

However, if we are not careful, sticks could turn out to be cottonmouth snakes jumping in our kayak. It does no good to pretend the danger doesn't exist. Be vigilant friends. The adversary is real, cunning, and deceptive. We are to flee from the first sign of evil, and always strengthen ourselves with the power of the Gospel, the armor of God.

I head off soon this morning to the sidewalks of the local abortion center, in hopes of turning mamas hearts back to their unborn children. So many of them deride our counsel to seek righteousness rather than this dangerous path they are on. They do not see evil. They see an apparently easy solution to a terrible problem. They see a stick, but it is a cottonmouth snake, and its bite is fatal.

**************
Two exciting developments on the book front. Yesterday, my second book in my #1 Best Selling Horse Series hit #1 again while my new release was #4. I loved seeing both on the leader board amazon rankings! The series book is on sale for 99 cents. Click HERE to purchase.
Unlikely Friends, my new release is only 2.99, and will make you smile. Click HERE to purchase.
**************

Ephesians 2:2 

In which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

Luke 22:31

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,

Matthew 12:29

Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,

Matthew 13:19

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.