In yesterday’s devotion, we looked at three enemies that want to turn you away from God. They were the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. Today we will look how we can overcome these attacks. For every attack, God does make a way to escape.
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.”
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
- The very first thing James tells us is to submit to God. 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 is any area 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. It’s called sanctification, and it will continue until I die.
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.”
- Once we have submitted to God we must draw near to him. 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.
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. A wishy-washy, double-minded Christian will never draw close to God. It must be settled in our minds and determined in our hearts that God alone is first. Seek Him, and you will find. The more you seek Him, the more you will know him. The more you know Him the more you will love Him. When your love grows stronger your submission gets sweeter and easier.
James 4:9 -10 “Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
- We need to humble ourselves before God. It is possible to have an outward compliance without an inward humility. The opposite of humility is pride, a sin God hates. The sin of pride is the salutation of self. It so easily creeps in, and is one of the hardest sins to eliminate. You can have pride in being humble. This is false humility. Have you ever known someone who seemed to be looking for a compliment, and when you give it they begin to downgrade themselves? It’s as if they want you to continue to brag on them, but say the opposite. I think we have all been there if we will be honest. I believe pride is the base nature of man. The desired result of our conduct is humility but if we think we have it, we don’t! We need to always be evaluating our lives to see sin the way God sees it. We should never take sin lightly or laugh at sin. One mark of true humility is facing the seriousness of our sin and dealing with it God’s way.
