Resist the Devil

Resist the Devil. James 4, verses 7 through 10, are some of the most profound verses in the Bible. We live in a culture that, for the most part, not only does not believe in God but also does not really believe in the devil.

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

James 4:7-10, NKJV

Resist the Devil - The Battle!

Living for Christ is a battle. It is a battle between desiring to live for Christ and battling our own sin nature, the world, and the devil.

God is real and so is the devil! The believer in Christ understands this, as the devil is most often behind the believer's prevailing sins. The devil stands before God and accuses God's children, and he is also constantly bombarding the believer with accusations of inconsistency and sin.

Yet there is hope. We are told that we can resist the devil and he will flee from us. However, before stating this, James says, "Submit to God." The two go together. We cannot resist the devil if we are not drawing near to God.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV

We understand from 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but with the temptation makes the way of escape, that we can bear it.

In other words, we cannot escape sin or resist the devil without the power of God. It is God who makes the way of escape for us so that we can truly resist the devil.

Resist the Devil - Double-minded

James immediately follows this instruction with the following verses.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

These verses seem to be a little out of sync with what was just said. That is largely due to the fact that we do not understand the traditions of the Jewish people during James' day. Cleansing was necessary before coming to God, but why does he say, "Lament and mourn and weep!"

Like many of those in our culture, religion and daily life were two totally different entities. James called the people double-minded. In other words, they were religious, but in their daily lives they lived to please men and not to please God. However, to live for the world is to be an enemy of God.

How does our society tend to treat the devil? The devil is merely the source of much jesting, mocking, and laughing. James says, "Don't laugh or mock. The devil is real. Let your laughter be turned to morning and your joy to gloom.

Resist the Devil - Humble Yourselves

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Here is the conclusion of the matter. We must humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. How much does the Lord see? Can we ever hide from God? The Lord sees everything--not only our outward appearance, but also our hearts and souls. We can never hide anything from God.

James is encouraging those who call themselves believers to humble themselves before God every day, all of the time. What is God's response?

He will lift you up! So, when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. And, when we humble ourselves before God, He will lift us up. What can be more glorious? We, who in the realm of the entire world's existence are nothing, will be lifted up by God, the Creator of our world and the heavens.

Nothing else truly matters in our lives. The question we must ask ourselves is this? What is next? I am in my seventh decade. Where have the years gone? Yesterday I was a child at home and today I am looking at the end of my life. What is next? What will happen after we leave this world?

Do not wait! God is God and the devil is very real. Will we continue to choose to live for the things of this world or will we choose to live for God who will not only lift us up now, but will lift us up at the end of our lives to live with Him forever?

Go to Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross for our sins and was raised on the 3rd day. He is sitting at the right hand of God, interceding for His children, and He is preparing us place for us.

1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

John 14:1-3, KJV

These words of Christ, from John 14, tells us that He is now preparing a place for us so that we may also go to be with Christ forever!

I pray that today you will resist the devil and humble yourselves before the Lord Jesus Christ. Today is the day of salvation!

God Bless You,

Linda