Resist

I'll be honest...I have been reading a particular scripture text for years and I just realized something about that text in my world.  The bible says in James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  Maybe I'm slow (as I say often), or possibly wasn't paying attention to this text as much as I should.

James says when we resist the devil he WILL flee from us!!!  Do you realize how powerful this is!?!?!?   Right before this James first tells us to submit to God...How hard is this?  Real hard if you enjoy your independence.  Killing self will possibly be the toughest challenge you will ever have to face.  I'll be honest enough to tell you that in my world always saying: "Yes Lord" is something that I don't always love to do.  However James tells us that if we are going to cause the devil to literally leave us, the FIRST thing we have to do is SUBMIT to God.  If you have strong problems submitting to God, you will always have the misfortune of the devil hanging around...

Do you ever want to make the devil leave you?  Then you must resist him.  To resist something means to ignore, to push away, to leave alone.  This tells me that many of us invite the devil.  He doesn't leave us because he is invited in one way or another in our company.  Maybe by what we watch, possibly by the people we hang out with, or the places that we go...

We question or may ask: Why doesn't the devil leave me alone, why don't I feel guilty about disobedience to God?  How come I'm not the person I should be in Christ?  I have been frustrated sometimes with myself because of continued disobedience to God, haven't you? But God spoke to me this past week and let me know that the reason my struggle oftentimes with the devil is so real is because I NEVER resist him; instead I invite him...SMH!!!

Anyone want power to resist the devil today, so that he will run from you?  If we want this power, then we must submit to God.  Ask him for the power of being obedient.  If we are obedient to God, we will always cause the enemy to run!