WITH GOD'S HELP WE CAN RESIST THE DEVIL

Proclamation:

“Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and He will come near to you … Humble yourselves before The Lord, and He will lift you up.”  James 4:7-10 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by James, the half brother of Jesus, The Christ, (Galatians 1:19) under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers who scattered after the crucifixion of Christ. (James 1:1)  He wrote this letter to provide them with practical advice on Christian living.  He begins this fourth chapter by telling them that they desire things which are for their pleasure.  They pray and ask for the wrong things and that is why their prayers are not answered. (James 4:1-3)  He said that they act like worldly people and that those who like the world are enemies of God. (James 4:4)  He tells them that they need to submit themselves to The Lord God and resist the devil.  If they humble themselves before The Lord, He will lift them up.  He ends by telling them that to know what is right and to choose not to do it, is to commit a sin. (James 4:17)

Application:

Most of us like this verse because it says that if we resist the devil that he will flee from us.  The problem is that we do not have the power to resist the devil on our own.  We missed the first part of this verse which says that we need to submit ourselves to The Lord God.  If we would first submit ourselves to Him, then He would give us the power to resist the devil and cause him to flee from us.  We need to keep in mind that we by ourselves are nothing and powerless.  It is only by the grace, strength, and help from The Lord God that we are able to accomplish anything.  We need to humble ourselves before Him.  We should not even talk about the things that we are going to do, or are planning to do, without acknowledging Him.  We should say that we will do this or that, if it is The Lord’s will. (James 4:13-16)