Theme Scripture: James 4:7
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Being a twelve year old serving God is not an easy thing for me. Constantly being bombarded by the influences to let go of the faith and live in the lifestyle of the world. Constantly being attacked spiritually by the enemy with guilt, condemnation, and accusation. Life is tough!
One day I was pondering about the mistakes I made in my life and the major stronghold that I wanted to break free from and uprooted out of my life – forever. I had been praying for weeks and months for God to deliver me from it but I always found myself making the same mistakes over and over again. Then came one Sunday morning (which I refer to as "Freedom Sunday"). I was seriously moaning, groaning, and weeping about the sin in my life that needed to go. Then the speaker for the morning came up to the podium and began to preach his God-inspired, anointed, and appointed sermon. I did not walk out the building the same way I came. I went home that day set free, delivered, and full of joy.
A couple of weeks before I started this blog, I was praying. While I was praying, the Holy Ghost told me to go to James 4:7. Listening to his voice, I grabbed my Bible and flipped it open to the verse he told me to go to which read…
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
The Lord then said "That’s what I want you to teach on for the first lesson of your blog". I simply responded with a "Yes, Lord".
When I was writing this lesson, my eyes were opened by the Spirit of God. The reason why I was delivered was because I submitted and resisted. You see, the reason why all of my attempts to resist the enemy failed was because I didn't submit to God. I relied on my own power. But as soon as I left it in the master's hands, I was delivered.
A lot of people can quote "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Everybody knows that. But the major part everyone forgets: "Submit yourselves therefore to God." If you haven’t noticed, submission is the antonym, or opposite of Resistance. I have to submit to one and resist the other, completely. Submitting to God requires your mind, will emotions, body, soul, and spirit. Same thing with resisting the devil. In order to get your deliverance ("and he will flee from you"), you need to submit to God and resist the devil. Let me break it down for you.
1. Submission ( James 4: 7a)
Submission: an act of submitting to the authority or control of another
Submit: to yield oneself to the authority or will of another
Yield: to surrender
Did it click? Did you catch it yet? Submitting to God is the surrendering to his authority, to his control, to his will. When you submit yourself to God, you’re simply saying "God, I trust you!" You are not relying on your own power or strength but on God’s divine power. You are letting go of self. You are letting go of "I’m going to do it" and holding on to "He’s going to do it". You’re saying "God, I am going to follow your leading and guidance, whatever you say I am going to do." You are surrendering your will for his will, your power for his power, your spirit for his spirit, self-help for God-help. You are handing over yourself into the hands of the master.
2. Resistance (James 4:7b)
Resistance: an act or instance of resisting (opposition)
the act or capacity to resist
Resist: to exert oneself so as to counteract or defeat (temptation)
You see, resistance is a part of our nature. The definition says the "capacity to resist". It’s already embedded in us. However, that resistance is against God. It’s the resistance that does not like being under anybody. It’s the resistance that doesn’t want to be second, that doesn’t want to be told what to do. It’s the resistance that doesn’t want to conform our will to God’s will. It’s the resistance that wants to be in control. See, Satan had that resistance when he tried to overthrow God. That became a sin. We all know, Satan is the father of sin. Since we were born into sin, we take on the attributes of our father (Satan at the time) [John 8: 41 – 44, Romans 3: 10-18, 1 John 3: 8 -10, John 1:12, Ephesians 1: 5]. Resistance is Satan’s weapon. However, when we are converted and become God’s child, God doesn’t take the resistance weapon away but tells us to use that weapon against its creator, Satan. So now, you are beating the devil with his own weapon. Now we are using resistance for the glory of God and the shame of the devil. Are you getting this? We are withstanding the force of temptation to the point of its defeat. We are counteracting the temptation by resisting it. We are saying "Satan, do your worst. I don’t care what you do and throw at me, I will not give in! I will not give in! I will not budge! I will not be moved!" We are then supplied with divine intervention and strength to fulfill what we declared and decreed which is according to the will of God. God gives us the power to overcome that temptation, move on with our lives, and continue on the path which God has set before us.
The Lord also gives us a greater tool of his own to help us in our resistance. It’s called the Word! The Sword of the Spirit. What that weapon does is a. let the devil know why you aren’t budging, b. encourages you to keep on resisting sin, and c. provide you with the supernatural authority of God to let the enemy know that God is your backup. What also happens is that the Word gives you an energy boost. So, when the enemy is tempting you and you’re resisting, the Word lets the enemy know "I am not budging because…" It also lets the enemy know that you are standing on God’s word and that you have the entire host of heaven- even God himself backing you up. It gives you encouragement and the energy boost to keep on resisting.
Only when you submit and resist will you achieve victory over temptation and sin and receive your deliverance. Use what you’ve learned in this lesson in your daily spiritual warfare, I guarantee your deliverance because it is in the Word "and he will flee from you." I guarantee your victory in the name of Jesus. Be encouraged my brethren. Victory comes when you submit and resist.
