James 4:7
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7 NIV
Let's admit it. Most of us would like for spiritual growth to be easy. We want our ability to withstand tempation to require little effort. We want the Holy Spirit to do the work and God to protect us from too much stress and strain. Thankfully, God does empower us through his Holy Spirit.
However, He does remind us that for the Spirit to work powerfully in our lives, we must intentionally submit our wills to God and we must resist the devil. If we will put up a fight against him and his temptations, he will flee from us. Let's do our part, trusting that God will more than uphold His promises.
As Christians, we are not under law but under grace. As God's children who are saved by grace through faith in Christ, we can walk in spirit and truth or we can live our life in the lust of the flesh. We can yield to the work of the Holy Spirit within or we can submit to the evil influences of Satan.
As believers, we can allow sin to rule and reign in our mortal body and give in to the sinful desires of our fleshly nature or we can consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can allow sin and Satan to have authority over our bodies or, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can nail our old sin nature to the Cross and present our members to God as instruments for righteousness, holy and acceptable unto God. We have these choices because we are not under law but under grace.
Whenever we allow sin to govern our choices and impact behavior for evil, we place ourselves back under the influence of Satan. Oh we do not lose our eternal security. We remain positioned in Christ, accepted in the Beloved, set apart unto God, and united with Him.
However, instead of living as a spiritual believer and walking in spirit and truth to the glory of God, we behave as a carnal Christian walking in the desires of the flesh. We heed to Satan's temptations as we succumb to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life.
James contrasts the gracious wisdom of God with the foolish wisdom of the world, and calls Christians to be "spiritually-minded" and not "carnally-minded." He exhorts us to meekness and purity, spirituality and sincerity, and warns against envy and strife, boasting and deceit.
He also gives us various steps to achieving a spiritual walk including submission to God, drawing near to our Heavenly Father, humbling ourselves before the mighty hand of God, and not giving Satan a foothold in our life.
But one very important exhortation is: "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." In order to overcome the temptations of the enemy, we are simply instructed to resist, resist the devil, resist the temptation, resist the sin, resist the evil.
Submitting isn’t easy. Our flesh doesn’t like the idea of someone telling us what to do and how to live our lives. But here’s the thing. God created us. He knows us, and He loves us more than we even love ourselves. So when He tells us how to live, it’s not because He’s mean or controlling. Instead, it’s because He really loves us. He wants the best for us.
When we submit our lives to Him, we find fulfillment. God knows what will really bring us peace. And when we live our lives for Him, we will be more at peace than living without Him!!!
Father, thank You for this day and that we are no longer under the domain of Satan but we are children of God who are under grace and not under the Law. Open the floodgates of heaven and flood my friend and family with Your abundant blessings today. Lord, we pray that we may walk in spirit and truth to Your praise and honor. Lord, in Your power, we pray that we will resist the influences of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Help us to walk in meekness, purity, spirituality, and sincerity all the days of our lives to Your praise and glory. Lord, use us to be someone’s blessing today.
Father, we love You. Amen !
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