When The Fire Goes Out The Lion Moves In!

1 Peter 5:8, 9 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

Proverbs 26:13 “The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.”

A doctor and his wife from America flew into the jungles of Africa for a day of bird watching and photography. When night fell they went to bed in their tent with a campfire outside. They had been warned to keep logs on the fire all night or the lions would come in. The fire was blazing hot when they both fell into a deep sleep. Sadly, they left no one to feed the fire and the fire became smoldering embers. When darkness settled in, a lioness stuck her head into the tent and tore off the head of the doctor right in front of his wife.

(1) The devil loves to attack where there is darkness instead of fire!
When the fire is burning hot, people are talking about what God is showing them, scriptures they have read, and God using them in witnessing. But something happens where they become overly-familiar with the fire and don’t continue to put logs on the fire.

Revelation 2:1-5 “Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

(2) The devil loves to go after the stragglers and those who pull away from the safety of the fold!

Romans 12:4, 5 “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”

In Africa, lions will lay out watching herds. They know their own strength, but they also know the strength of numbers. When they look at a herd of zebras, they know if they attack one and the herd stampedes, they could be injured. When they see one rebelliously remove him self and independently feed away from the herd it becomes their target. When that zebra gets far enough away from the pack, the lions will pounce, pull it into the tall grass, go for the jugular, and begin eating the meat, even before the herd even knew what happened.
Stay in the strength of fellowship. Don’t be a straggler and remove yourself from family of God. The lion is watching.

Hebrews 6:18 CEV “God cannot tell lies! And so his promises and vows are two things that can never be changed. We have run to God for safety. Now his promises should greatly encourage us to take hold of the hope that is right in front of us.”

Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

(3) The devil moves in to feed where there is stubbornness, contention, and constant bickering!

Hebrews 12:14-16 “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.”

When buffalo become aware of a marauding lion, they make a circle and lock their horns. When they sense a lion is lurking nearby, they instinctively lock their horns and put their hind quarters in and make a big circle. The babies are inside the circle of protection of the buffalos. Whenever there is a male and female buffalo with a disagreement and are being stubborn, there is a gap in the circle. The lion will keep circling until he finds a gap and the lion will rush in toward that gap. The buffalos will then rush off and stampede and leave their young vulnerable to the attack of the enemy.

Isaiah 38:14-16 “Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me. What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.”

(4) The devil moves in when the Father’s Word is disobeyed!

1 Samuel 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

There was a boy one day in the field with his father in Zimbabwe. He said, “Dad, I know there a lot of chores to setup camp, but I saw a deer. Will you give me permission to go kill that deer and bring back meat for the whole camp tonight?” The father said, "No, it is too late. The darkness is almost upon us and you must stay here and help setup camp." The boy disobeyed his Father and went into the jungle searching for the deer.  He saw it the distance, fired a shot, and the deer fell. As the boy approached the deer, it ran off into the woods and the boy pursued it. It became dark and he lost his way in the woods. The smell of the blood brought two lions into his path and the boy climbed up tree 2 get away from them. He stayed in that tree all night with only two bullets left in his gun. When morning came the boy knew he needed to fire a shot so his father would know where he was. He used his remaining bullet to kill one of the two lions that started to make an attempt to climb the tree. As the second lion angrily pounced toward the tree, the father came out of the jungle and shot it. As the boy gets down from the tree, the father pushes the tree and it crashes down. One more blow and the tree would have fallen because it was eaten with termites.

Proverbs 17:11 “An evil man seeketh only rebellion: therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.”

God is not trying to keep you from having fun. God knows where the mine fields are. He knows if you do what He forbids, you will lose your life, wife, health, joy. It doesn’t mean you are destroyed forever, but that you may be in intensive care for a while.