Submit to God Resist the Devil

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

            Lord, You are: holy, righteous, just, loving, patient, gracious, mercy, almighty, all knowing, unchangeable, and truth.  We are none of those things.  Some we can become because of the precious gracious gift of salvation.  You tell us to be as holy, perfect (mature), loving, patient, gracious, merciful, longsuffering, just, truthful and steadfast as You are.  Since we struggle so much within ourselves with bitter envy and selfish ambition it makes perfect sense, (since in our own strength we cannot be any of these things You want us to be) to submit ourselves to God.

            We say we don’t want the devil to rule over us but we do not first submit ourselves to God.  We underestimate the enemy and think we can stand against him in our own strength.  How foolish and arrogant we are!  Lord, we need YOUR almighty strength, power, and wisdom as our weapons for without them we are undone.  Our foolishness is like us trying to go up against a mighty army, equipped with planes, tanks, missiles, and even an atomic bomb, with a hula-hoop and a water pistol!  RIDICULOUS!  (Unless of course You are planning on doing something miraculous like you did with Gideon.)

            In our “self” state the word “submit” grates against our pride and arrogance.  We perceive it to be like being an unwilling slave, captive, or prisoner who must grovel, bow, and do whatever is commanded.  That’s why wives resist Your command to be submissive to their husbands.  However; if we willingly ditch our “self”, pride, and arrogance out of love for our Master, it becomes a totally different story altogether.

            Why would we not want to submit to God who means us no harm, who loves us unconditionally, wants the best for us, who is never cruel, unjust, unloving, evil, untruthful, or mean, and is always gracious and merciful?  Unlike being in forced bondage like we are to sin, we now are free to become willing bond slaves.  Only then can we resist the devil and he must flee from us.  We must remember that he is a defeated foe and that, although very powerful formidable enemy, he is no match for You, Lord!

            Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. (1John 4:4)  Hallelujah!  Praise be to my Lord and King; ruler over all that is, sustainer and lover of my soul, encourager and protector of my heart, provider, and the everlasting God!
AMEN AND AMEN