Submission to God

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. James 4:7-10 NLT

The devil will be persistent to defeat Christians. The devil and the world will always be at war with God. Satan’s favorite weapon to defeat believers is pride. This is what the serpent in the Garden of Eden used so that Adam and Eve will give in to temptation. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Satan’s appeal was for Adam and Eve to realize that they can be God if they violate the command of God not to eat the fruit. It is by submitting to God’s authority that we can resist the wiles of the devil. When we trust God and His grace working in us, Satan knows that we have the resources available so we can repel him from luring us using worldly pleasures. In order for us to maintain a distance away from Satan, we have to be drawn closer to God. The pursuit of worldly pleasures becomes unappealing when we grow loving God. We should not give the devil an opportunity to establish a foothold in our lives (see Ephesians 4:27). Submission to God involves inward humility. When we know that we are taking sin lightly by allowing ourselves to give in to temptations, we should experience brokenness within that will prompt us to come to God in repentance. When this happens, James said, “Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief” (James 4:9). The Lord Jesus Christ promised in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:34 NASB). Submission to God will not only keep Satan at a distance from us, it will also provide us a meaningful relationship with God. God wants us to experience the joy of knowing and growing in our relationship with Him while we are here on earth so that when we see Him in His coming face to face, He will lift us up in honor (James 4:10).

Blessings,