Today one of the biggest crazes for entertainment is escape houses. Almost every city has one or several. You enter a room where you get clues on how to find your way out. You may have a series of rooms before you get to the outside. I’ve never played this game, but it is supposed to be one that thrill-seekers love. You willingly allow yourself to be trapped in a room where you must solve puzzles to get out. While this is a new form of entertainment that has caught on in America, it is a reality for many who feel trapped in their sin. They have yielded to the three areas that trap us, the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. There is a way to escape these attacks, but we must be willing to follow the route God has provided. 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 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 the sanctification process, 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 outward compliance without an inward humility. The opposite of humility is pride, a sin that 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 they 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 our 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.
God loves us and wants us to be successful in our Christian life. His desire is for us to desire Him so much that no matter what comes our way, we trust Him to provide all that we need to escape sin. In I Corinthians 10:13 he has promised us a way to escape, but just like those in escape houses, you have to look for the clues to get out. God’s clues are held in His word, and we can understand them through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells within those who have been saved.
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.”
