Dear Crosswalkers,
The number one human predator in the United States, aside from other humans, is the mountain lion. It is estimated that there are between 4 and 6 thousand big cats in California. However, statistically speaking, a person is one thousand times more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a mountain lion! Anyway, here’s a chilling story with some practical value and a great spiritual application.
Author and naturalist Craig Childs was on foot doing research on the lions in Arizona's Blue Range Wilderness. As he approached a water hole from downwind, he saw a mountain lion drinking water. The lion did not notice his presence. When it finished drinking, it walked slowly away into a cluster of junipers. After a few minutes, Childs went to the water hole to identify tracks in the mud and record notes.
Now get this: Just before he bends down to look closer, he scans the perimeter, and there among the shadows of the junipers, 30 feet away, he sees a pair of eyes. He expects the lion to run away, but instead it walks into the sunlight toward him. Childs pulls his knife and stares intently into the eyes of the lion. He knows what he must do, and more importantly, he knows what he must not do. He writes:
Mountain lions are known to take down animals six, seven, and eight times their size. Their method: attack from behind, clamp onto the spine at the base of the prey's skull, snap the spine. The top few vertebrae are the target, housing respiratory and motor skills that cease instantly when the cord is cut…
I hold firm to my ground and do not even intimate that I will back off. If I run, it is certain I will have a mountain lion all over me… The mountain lion begins to move to my left, and I turn, keeping my face on it, my knife at my right side. It paces to my right, trying to get around on my other side, to get behind me. I turn right, staring at it….My stare is about the only defense I have.
Childs maintains his stand, refusing to give his back to the mountain lion. The lion continues to try to provoke him to run, turning left, then right, back and forth, moving closer until it is just ten feet away from him! Are you nervous yet for this poor man? Finally and mercifully, the standoff ends. The lion turns and walks away—defeated by a man who knew what never to do in its presence.
The application is clear. We have a spiritual enemy who is as dangerous as a hungry lion, and yet awareness of his schemes is the key to victory.
1 Peter 5:8-9 (NLT) - Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith…
2 Corinthians 2:11 (NIV) -… In order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
Last week we saw how important it is to have a quiet time with God. Of course, the minute you plan to be alone with God there will be opposition and obstacles. We must not be unaware. This Sunday we have a great passage that will encourage us to invest our lives in others by bringing them to Jesus. Of course, the minute we commit to doing this, there will be spiritual opposition. There will be more obstacles. We will also be focusing on the fact that we are better together. There is strength in numbers. Crosswalk has over 20 Fall groups or classes that give you an opportunity to connect with others! Please prayerfully take advantage of these opportunities. The devil will want you to put off any involvement in connecting with others. There will be obstacles to your involvement in our Fall groups. We must not be unaware of the devil's schemes. He wants you disconnected because you are much more vulnerable when you are alone.
This will be a great Sunday at Crosswalk! We will have Teacher Appreciation Day and honor our Sunnyvale Christian School teachers, our public school teachers, home school teachers, and Sunday School teachers. All teachers come and be blessed and prayed over!
See you in Church!
Pastor John
