1 Peter 5:6-9 "Humble yourselves, therefore..." John 8:44 "You are from your father the devil..."

Comment:

PASSAGE: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary, the devil, prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering" (1 Peter 5:6-9 NRSV).   COMMENT: It is recognized today that this letter was not written by the apostle Peter—the Greek is too fluid, the style too educated, and it contains references to events that transpired after Peter's death. The letter was most likely written in the last decade of the first Christian century by a follower of Peter—an elder of the church in Rome. It is addressed to newly converted Christians who find that their new faith makes them unwelcome in their own families and among old friends. This is certainly an issue many can relate to today—a sense of enforced loneliness inherent in rising upward in spiritual awareness.   The author's advice, in the passage quoted above, is threefold: turn your anxiety over to God, stay vigilant so that these problems don't lure you back into negative thinking, and recognize your connection with all others—not just Christians, but "in all the world"—who are going through similar experiences. In other words, don't try to deal with your feelings and fears from your limited human perspective; surrender them to the Power of God within you. Don't brood and dwell on perceived wrongs that are being done to you, because that kind of negative thought energy can pull us back into fear-based thinking. And open your heart to connect with all others, awake and aware and spiritually growing, who are also finding it challenging to leave old attitudes behind.   PASSAGE: "You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44 NRSV).   COMMENT: It's important to note here that Jesus is speaking, not to his disciples or to his other followers, but to those religious authorities who are dogging him, challenging him, accusing him and upholding a rigid religious understanding rooted in fear-based obedience to the terrible and distant Power of God. “The devil” is the embodiment of the collective power of our fear-based thoughts and beliefs. It achieves an illusion of power in our lives because we empower it with our belief in it. In that sense it is 'the father' of our own negative thoughts, judgments and fears. That fear-based energy is 'a murderer' because the ultimate fear it clings to is a fear of death—and by causing us to believe in the reality of death, it indeed can be seen to “murder” us, because it is our belief in death as a final and terrible thing that makes it so. There is, I think, no better definition of the devil anywhere than that "he is a liar and the father of lies." The devil is the result of our collective belief in duality, lack, limitation and an angry God. Nothing about that belief system is true; it's all lies. If we choose to believe the lies, we empower the devil in our own consciousness, and we strengthen that negative energy in our collective consciousness. If we place our faith instead in the truth—our innate Oneness with God, the creative Presence of the Christ as the source and reality of our own being—the lies fade away and our life experience begins to express that new spiritual awareness.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed