Good Morning Girls!  One of my favorite treats is steak.  Not just any steak though.  I like a nice filet mignon....grilled to perfection.  I love filet mignon because when grilled properly I can cut it with a butter knife.  Each delicious bite simply melts in my mouth.  There is no fat.  No bone.  No leftovers!

As I am sure many of you can identify with, there has not been a lot of room in the budget for filet mignon!  So why then would I torture myself, and possible you as well, with the image of a buttery bite of steak melting in your mouth without hardly chewing?

The reason is simple.  Though I love a good filet mignon, I do not want to BE a filet mignon!  No.  I want to be a t-bone.  I want to have a little gristle.  I want to have a bone that makes it difficult to cut around.  I want to be difficult to chew. 

Still confused?  Well it says in 1 Peter 5:8 Stay Alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  So I figure if the devil tries to devour me, I am not going to make it easy on him.  I am not going to be a buttery piece of filet.  I am going to show him that I am tough......I'm a fighter!  I've got a little gristle to me.....and if he gets frustrated and tries to swallow me whole.....well the bone of my faith will get lodged in his throat and he will choke to death!

Girls, we may get chewed up a bit.  But if we remain tough in our fight of faith, I believe the lion will get sick of chewing and spit us out!  We will leave a bad taste in his mouth!  He will be picking gristle out of his teeth for days.  He will move on to someone with a little less bone and a little more butter.  Please Girls.....don't let that be you!

Spend some time with the Lord asking Him to show you how to get your gristle back!  I know for me it was to sing praises!  I pictured the lion screaming "Someone shut this thing up!  I am trying to eat here!"  that made me laugh.....and the enemy hates being laughed at!  I know he's hungry because I would not satisfy him this morning! 

You know what else gave me a little extra faith bone today?  It was the verse that immediately follows the warning of the lion.  It made me think of you all.....and it made me smile and toughened me up!

1 Peter 5:9  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. (the thought of you suffering did not make me smile....the thought of all your gristle did!)

Love, peace, and a boatload of gristle to you all-
Jen