MONDAY, February 16th, 2009

Well, Ladies and Gentleman, I must tell you the guys of Suncoast Youth Group faught the feirce and brutal and unforgiving WILD last night and SURVIVED!!!! If you were a guy and you did not come... (MICHAEL STRATTON) :)

No but seriously! We had a BLAST!!! The guys are already planning the next trip and we are looking to plan this one in the end of April. Dont worry Girls, you will be able to join us on this one! A couple of the guys could not stop talking about how much they missed the girls all night... (JOHN MASSEY)

Well, lets get on to the spiritual part of this devotion!!

I Peter 5

1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:
2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “ God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

12 By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.
13 She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son.
14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Wow! this is one cool passage! It has several important lessons! Verse 5 is so important to understand! Our natural man, the flesh loves to "love itself", it seems way to easy to follow the flesh and be proud, but we must remind ourself that when we choose to live in a spirit of pride, we also choose to be far from God. This verse is clear: GOD RESISTETH THE PROUD!!

Have you ever resisted someone? I mean, you saw them at Wal-Mart or the Mall or something, and you duck down, and walk all the way in the opposite direction of where you wanted to go, because you are trying to resist seeing that someone...? Well, that is the idea here, God wants nothing to do with a PROUD servant! Because the fact is that a proud servant is Generally only the servant of HIMSELF! Instead we should be humble!

Not only does God resist the proud but he POURS OUT GRACE to the Humble! Oh how wonderful that is! I want God's grace poured out all over me!

Then verse 8, is definitely one that you should MEMORIZE!!! YOUR ENEMY THE DEVIL WANTS TO EAT YOU UP AND DESTROY YOU!! This is so important to remind ourselves, there have been MANY TIMES IN MY LIFE where I was so decieved by that nasty lion who wanted to destroy me, I thought he was just a little house cat, something to play around with, but that is NOT the case... Satan wants to destroy ME! Satan wants to destroy this youth group! My Family! My Friends! My Church! My Ministry! My Children! EVERYTHING I HAVE SATAN HATES!

He is no one to "play" with! Stay away from sin! It is dangerous! It will destroy you!