Somewhere, sometime, in our lives, we face those things or people, that we consider our enemies. An enemy is someone or something, that seeks to harm you in some way. It may be a person who slanders your name, seeking to ruin your reputation. It may be because of jealousy or because they are your rival. You represent competition to them and the only way they feel they can succeed is to destroy you. It can also be a habit that seems to control you, such as drugs or alcohol. No matter what it is God has provided the means for Christians to overcome and defeat their enemies.
Sometimes it’s through an escape route. Sometimes the best way to fight is to leave. Understand that you are not the only one that has ever fought the battle you are facing. God will always be there to help you know how to bear it.
I Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”
Always there must be submission to God’s will if we are to have His help. Submission must come before we have the power to resist.
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
The word submit is a military term that means, “get into proper rank.” If you have ever been around anyone that was in the military they will let you know in a hurry, if you want to survive, you must submit unconditionally. There are no areas of your life that are yours if God is to be your Lord. To be the Lord of something is to be in total control. If there are any areas you are holding back then He is not your Lord. We must submit to him by yielding our will to his will. It would be wonderful if submission were a one-time act, but unfortunately for me, it is a daily opportunity. It seems when I think I’ve given everything to Him, the Holy Spirit reveals something else to me. When I yield to His prompting I enter the process called sanctification, it is the act of becoming more like Christ and it will continue until I die. When I submit it not only puts me under His direction but under His protection.
Once we have submitted to God we must draw near to him, the closer we are to Him the safer we will feel. The protection from the enemy allows us to serve in confidence. The only way to achieve this is to confess our sins to God and seek forgiveness. We must keep the lines of communication open. If there is unconfessed sin in my life, God will not answer my prayers.
James 4:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”
Psalm 66:18 “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:”
God longs for us to draw close to Him. He will not share us with anyone else. Exodus 34:14 lets us know, in no uncertain terms, that He is a jealous God. Sometimes we see our enemies and are ready to fight but other times we become a wishy-washy, double-minded Christian. When this is our pattern, we will never be able to truly defeat the enemies that come against us. We must not think we can take the enemy as a friend sometimes and fight it at other times. It must be settled in our minds and determined in our hearts that God alone is first.
We need to humble ourselves before God. Understand that He and He alone is our defender and we can’t defeat our enemies on our own. We may think we can win a few battles here and there, but the war will only be won through Christ. He is greater than any foe we may have, and when He dwells within us He makes us strong. He is greater than anything in this world. We can win over our enemies with Him!
I John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.“
