Red Lip Society

It was Back to School Sunday at my church this weekend.  We always send our kids back to school with a bang!  This year our service was called “Mascots” and my pastor used live animals for illustration in the sermon.  This was my favorite Back to School message yet.

DISCLAIMER: I am an animal lover and I would be the first one to be in an uproar if these animals had been mistreated in any way.  They are very well cared for by their handlers and were well cared for while they were visiting with us at the church.  The TN Wildlife Federation was on property to make sure that the animals and the humans were all safe.

All the points in the message were good, but it was the point at the end that stuck with me and I wanted to share the thought with you.

One of the animals on the platform was a mountain lion. She was so pretty! A very dainty lady.

Did you know mountain lions are not considered a part of the “big cat” family?  It is because they can not roar.  They physically can not.  Their larynx is so restricted that their “roar” is a scream.  (I YouTubed that sound and I don’t know about you, but it sounds scary enough to send me packin’.)  The mountain lion is not considered as part of the Lion Family.  They only share characteristics.  It is sometimes called the False Lion.

On the other side of the stage sat a beautiful, white lion.  He was calm and he was confident and regal in his demeanor.

I was part of the team that helped load in the animals.  The animal handler told all of us to not get within five feet of the lion’s cage until the safety fencing had been put in place.  We were told, if he wanted to, he could reach out and grab us before anyone knew what had happened.

Even though both of these animals share the name of “lion”, only the one has been used in the symbols of royalty.  Only the one is referred to as King of the Jungle.  The other animal, beautiful as she was in her own right, has no such distinctions.

In 1 Peter 5:8 the Bible says,

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around LIKE a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

The devil roams around LIKE a lion, but he is not THE lion.  He is the impostor seeking to devour and destroy.

In Revelation 5:5 we read,

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered,

There is nothing fake, there is no mistaken identity, when it comes to the Lion.  And there is nothing fake and no mistaken identity when it comes to Jesus Christ.  Just like the lion, He is always recognizable by His enemies.

In Matthew 8:28-29, we read how the enemy recognized who He was and WHAT He was immediately:

And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

Even the false lion knows the real lion when he sees him and recognizes his power.

What is trying to devour you today?  I hear so many people talking about fear and anxiety….about depression.  It is all through my Facebook feed. These things are literally crippling people….literally devouring them.

We have to stay in the Word and in constant communion with God.  We have to know who we are and whose we are so that when the one that is like the lion comes prowling we will not be devoured.

So I just encourage you today to not live in fear but to live confident that you are in the pride (the family) of the real lion.  He protects His pack.

Don’t let fear of the false lion keep you from stepping up and stepping out into what God has for you.  Fear is a liar!  It will rob you of your potential.  Fear will rob you of your dreams.  Fear will rob you of the future that God has planned for you.

All throughout scripture, we see beautiful examples of people that could have been devoured by the fear of the enemy but chose instead to be bold and step out knowing that they were under the protection of the real Lion.

What if Esther had let the fear of failure and certain death keep her from stepping forward and standing up in front of her husband, the King?  A whole nation would have died.

What if Hannah had let the fear of what people would think of her keep her from going to the temple and crying out to God?  The prophet Samuel would have never been born.

What if Bathsheba had let the fear of losing her first child keep her from having another one?  Solomon, who was one of the wisest men that ever lived and the King that finally built the temple in Jerusalem, would have never been born.  (Hello! The book of Proverbs!)

What if the woman with the issue of blood had let the fear of what could have happened to her when she approached and touched a man, who was not her husband, out in public keep her from reaching out to touch the hem of the garment of  Jesus?  She would not have been healed.

What if Moses had been afraid of what his “adoptive” family would have thought about him walking into the court of Pharaoh and saying, “Let God’s people go!”? The Jews would have never escaped the bondage of Egypt.

What if blind Bartimaeus would have been too afraid to call out to Jesus or had listened to the people telling him to be quiet?  He would have never seen.

What if Jesus had been afraid of the pain of the cross? Afraid of the ridicule and mockery He knew He was about to experience?  We would have never been restored to the relationship that Jehovah God always desired to have with each of us.

So whatever challenges you are facing, just know that you are in good company!  Remember who you are and whose you are and I promise you that you may come out feeling a little battered but you will not be devoured.

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.