Humility and Resistance

In review of James 4:7 it says, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you”

Bottom Line:

Submit to God. Resist the enemy and he will flee.

What this means to me:

I am to humble myself before God. I am to resist the devil and he will flee from me.

Today's passage from James 4 comes right after James tells me that "God will opposes the proud, but give grace to the humble." So he tells me to humble myself before God. If I resist the devil, he will flee from me. If I come close to God, God will come close to me. I should think about my life and my choices. Is my loyalty being divided between God and the world? I should be sorrowful for those things that I have followed (and maybe still following), that take me and my focus away from him. Instead of exalting myself, I should be humble before the Lord. For in His timing he will lift me up.

As I get knocked down by life’s circumstances, I should not give an alibi or give up. Rather I should give it another try. God does not sponsor flops, nor does he manufacture junk. I am not a victim, I am a victor. All things are possible for me.

When it seems the enemy is throwing the kitchen sink at me, I can rise up and fight! I can put on the full armor of God and start waging war against the enemy.  As I humble myself before God and resist the enemy, God will begin to bind those things on earth that are against me. I can take heart in knowing that in the end, if I am faithful, I will gain the reward he has planned out for me.

One thing is true about my time here on earth, I’m never going to outgrow warfare. So James encourages me to stand in there and fight like the champion God made me to be. In the long run God designed me for victory!