He says this. He says: notice that your adversary the devil prowls like a roaring lion. The word adversary is someone who has a go at you legally. It means literally, the prosecutor in the court; so any of you who've ever been to court, and there may be one or two here, and you've been to court - not very nice going to court. I remember going to court many years ago, and it wasn't a very nice experience at all, and there you are, and you stand in the dock. You feel terrible, absolutely shocking. There's some policeman over there reading a speeding charge out. Speeding charge -used to go to court in those days, so fortunately you don't have to do that now, just pay the fine. But in those days you had to go to court; so went to court, and there it is, you've got a judge sitting up there, and there he sits up on the box; and here you are, standing looking absolutely embarrassed and humiliated; and then there's some person stands up and reads: Your Honour, on the such and such a day of such such the accused - and you're the accused now - and so they read out what you were doing, the wheelies you were doing on the, you know, the whatever you were doing, going too fast or however it was.
In this case, I was travelling too fast in an old V8, down in Waikanae actually; and so going a bit too fast. So what happened was, I had to stand there, and they read out the charges; and of course the issue was, I had no defence, because I was actually guilty; so all I could do was plead guilty, and I had to pay the fine. But for you and I as a Christian, someone else has made the stand to pay the fine. Someone else has made it possible to get a victory. Someone else has made it possible for you, on every occasion, to win out against the failures, the accusations; and so the Bible says: stand, resist the devil.
Why do you need to resist him? Because the Bible says how he operates. He says: he's like a roaring lion. He isn't a lion. He hasn't got teeth. He's like a lion; and lions seek to intimidate the people around them, seek to intimidate their prey; so often when a lion begins to roar, the animals just get absolutely petrified and scared. They don't know what to do, and that's part of his strategy against them. I wonder how many today are facing something that terrifies you, and frightens you, something that comes up against you, and it seems to intimidate you, so you feel and you have these thoughts: I'm so little in the face of this. I've got so little strength, so little ability. I've got so little to do, that I could get through this thing.
See that is the strategy the devil works against you, and it doesn't stop when you get older. It's all your life, the same thing keeps coming. The devil roars from time to time, trying to shut you down. Now why does he try and intimidate you? He tries to intimidate you, and fill you with fear, so that you will turn from God's assignment for your life; so you'll turn, and shut down. If you've become passive, shut down in your prayer life, you've already had something come against you. Who knows what it was, but isn't it time to stand up, and fight again? Isn't it time that you got back into the battle? Isn't it time you did what Jesus said, and that He says very clearly. He says: resist! Don't roll over and be a pansy. Resist! Make a decision where you're going in life, what you're wanting to accomplish, and step up and believe that God will get you there. He will get you there.
You've got an issue in your marriage, God will help you solve it. God an issue with your personal relationships? God will help you solve it. You're facing some difficulties in life, God will help you solve it. Why? He wants to be on your side. He is on your side. Bible says: thanks be to God who always gives us victory in Christ. Want to think about this, how victorious are you today over your emotions? I notice some people coming in today, and they're in heaviness. That's a resistance of the enemy. You've got to stand up to that kind of stuff.