1 Peter
5:7 Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you. Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about
seeking to whom he may devour.
Faith furnishes a
firm ground to tread upon the enemy of our soul. Without this firm foundation we cannot
advance the ground of our promised land.
Faith that Jesus Christ has
completely provided for His people through His finished work enables us to set
down the weight of our problems. Jesus
says He has given us ALL things that
pertain to life and godliness(2 Pet1 :3).
His provisions are pressing on us , but first we must lay down/let go of
that which is taking our attention, to receive His covenanted wholeness for
our souls.
Faith does the
casting or the giving up of the care unto God, and faith does the receiving of the abundance of continual promised
supply. Our cares bring a division in our soul, separating us into parts,
attempting to weaken our faith. This
separation scatters us in different directions, which can lead to us
concentrating our thoughts upon our trouble - literally giving thoughts to
trouble. Our cares can break apart our
promised land that has been assigned to us. As. Dr. Caroline Leaf says,’ our thoughts
occupy mental real estate in our minds.’
When we do not guard our thoughts, part of our promised land (our sound
mind), our mental property will be
invaded , taken over by our troubling concerns and enemy settlements. In Matt 6:31 Jesus teaches us “Take no
thought” saying “what shall we eat,” “what shall we drink” for he already knows
we have need of these things. As we hold
to these cares, we are frustrating the supply of grace and provision already pressing
on us. The finished work bought for us a
promised allotment, portion, share, a destiny, an assigned position in His
kingdom. We are inheritors of the
blessings of Abraham!!! The Greek root
meaning for care is ‘to differ’. When we
hold onto our care, of lack, hopelessness, addictions, fear, or any trouble
besetting us, we are disagreeing or
differing with the covenant promises that God brought us into, we are believing
something different than God believes. When we surrender to Him our cares, we are
simply agreeing with HIS TRUTH of provision and wholeness in our lives in every
area! Faith is to agree
with God, to have the same opinion of, to be of the same mind, to see eye to
eye, to be united with, to say YES!
The verse continues with a caution to be watchful unto
prayer, alert, aroused from passivity, to rise against one, to take our stand
in Christ’s authority against our adversary so as to possess our inheritance.
Our adversary is our opponent at law, the prosecuting attorney arguing a case
at law in a courtroom. He is equipped to
bring the lawsuit of darkness against the believer, seeking binding, and
damaging and devastating consequences.
His aim is to bring a judicial verdict which declares some disapproval
or approval, a sentence of condemnation.
The Greek roots say “to point out, to show or exhibit, to expose
oneself to the view of one, giving evidence and proof”. The devil is
also referred to in this verse meaning false, slanderous accuser, backbiter,
one gives allusion to, one who reminds of, or gives reasons of because and a criticizer
to hurt and malign, to sever or condemn a relationship. The roots of devil in this scripture give us
a picture of being violently displaced from a position gained. He knows our position
in Christ, often more than we know it. Also pictured is a tree casting its fruit
because it has been violently shaken by the wind. We, the believer are this tree and when we
are shaken by a trouble, or care we have a choice to either hold onto our fruit/our
goods/our promises, or to let them it go.
The devils plans and purposes for our promise land is to cause us to let
it go, let it be taken, let it be stolen.
The scripture says he goes around as roaring lion. Satan would have us believe he has overcoming
power and authority. When in fact he has been striped of all his power - for this
reason, Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. As a lion prowls, the devil is seeking to be
our companion, to encompass us all around/at every side, he seeks to demand of
us, require of us, follow us, tread down and crush us. The enemy is ever
plotting against our life, and comes to devour us. This word devour in the Greek means to drink down/to swallow. It is the same Greek word used in 1
Cor.15:54, “Death has been swallowed up
in Victory”. Its so interesting how the
Holy Spirit records these two verses, where the enemy is seeking to swallow us
up in destruction, he and all of his plans have already been swallowed up in the Victory won for us
at the Cross.
Jesus has conquered all for us! Through his victory our inheritance is
sure! By His unfailing love and amazing
Grace we can REST assured our cares are taken care
of!
