Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. I Peter 5:8 (KJV)

The Apostle Peter warns us to be sober and vigilant. We are to be on our guard against the enemy. Peter calls him the adversary. Adversary in the original language is actually a legal term, referring to a prosecuting attorney. In Revelation 12:10 he is called the accuser of the brethren, also a term for someone who is making accusations in a court of law. He loves to bring cases against us in the courts of heaven.

You see, the devil is always on the prowl, looking for legal loopholes to gain access to our lives. When he finds one, he seizes the opportunity to bring destruction. For example, when we get into strife with someone, it is a door for him to enter. When we fail to forgive, the enemy has the ability to enter and create illness and other problems. When we speak words contrary to the Bible, it gives him authority to attack us.

Yes, we are saved by the blood of Jesus and we are going to heaven, but by operating outside the direction of God, we allow the enemy to cause problems in our lives. In other words, our words and actions can give him the right to bring sickness, lack, fear, division, and all kinds of problems. It is time we close up the loopholes that grant him access.

Go to the Lord and ask Him to show you areas of your life where you have been letting the devil in. Once He has shown you, ask the Holy Spirit to help you to correct these things. It is a daily, ongoing effort, but as we work to close up these loopholes, we will find that the attacks of the enemy become fewer and fewer and are shorter in duration. That is why Peter told us to be sober and vigilant. When we guard against the actions that serve as legal loopholes for the devil, we shut him out of our lives. And that is what victorious living is all about.