“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
Many people love to pass the blame onto someone else. In the corporate and political world you often see people blaming other people for making them do something wrong. Even in the family many people blame parents or one child will blame another for things they themselves do wrong. One very common phrase a lot of people like to make is “the devil made me do it”. Very few people like to take the blame for what they do.
In reality, no one can make you do something you do not want to do. The problem comes in when the pressure to do something you don’t want to do is raised higher and higher. Most people will cave under the pressure, once it gets strong enough, to do something they do not want to do. This pressure can come from friends, family, enemies, and even the devil himself.
In this passage, however, we see that one is first to submit to God. This is letting God have complete control of your life. All your actions, thoughts, and words should be done with God’s direction. Allow God to work in and through you.
Once you submit to God you must, then, resist the devil. The devil will do all he can to get you to fall to temptation. He will use any method necessary, such as your family, friends, co-workers, and even your enemies, to get you to fall. God has given you the power to resist the devil. He has no power over you unless you allow him to have that power. When you resist the devil and turn to God, the devil must flee away from you; but you must do the resisting and the submission. If you do one without the other, you will lose. You have no power in yourself…it is all God’s power.
Today submit your life to God. Let Him have complete control. Resist the devil. Resist all temptations that come against you.
I pray that today God will help you to submit to Him; that God will help you to resist the devil; that God will strengthen you in resisting all temptation; and that God will bring you through to a victory in the battles of temptation that will come your way.
Leave a Reply