Resist The Dev il And He Will Flee from You

JAMES 4:7-10
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
”‭‭James‬ ‭4:7-10‬ ‭NKJV‬
‬https://www.bible.com/114/jas.4.7-10.nkj

v

God and the devil are at war, and we are stuck in the middle, for their is battle over our very souls (MATHEW 16:26).
But here’s the Good News, we don’t have to wait until the end to see who wins.
God has already defeated the devil (REVELATION 12:10-12) and all he stands for will be totally eliminated (REVELATION 20:15).
Satan is here making life miserable for many. But Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
‭‭John‬ ‭10:10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
Satan will continue to try with his many evil schemes to tempt you into sin, cause you pain and suffering, and to stop your service to God, and he has many ways to do just that.
But with the help of the Holy Spirit, you can resist him and all he throws at you, and he shall flee from you.
Sin opens the door for these devils to enter in through one’s flesh to make his body the dwelling place of unclean spirits and demons.
Once in, they have access to influence one’s very soul, the mind, will, and emotions, and bring all kinds of sickness, mental health issues, fear, depression, insomnia, nightmares, addictions, and all kinds of curses.
Furthermore, they enter not just through one’s din, but also through the sins of our ancestors (ROMANS 5:22-19).
But Jesus gave us authority over these demonic entities, to cast them out (LUKE 10:17).
James said, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
That is to say, come to Christ in total submission, laying everything down at the cross with a mind set to sin no more, and allow God to change even the way we think, that we become transformed by the renewing of our minds (ROMANS 12:1-2).
It means to lay all that you are, all that you believe, and all that you own. You past, your future, your goals and ambitions and all pride at Jesus feet, trusting Him with every aspect of life.
James went on to say, resist (rebuke) the devil and he shall flee from you.
That is to verbally call him out as did Jesus (LUKE 4:35-31).
But the truth is, you cannot do this on your own strength or authority, you need the help of the Holy Spirit.
You need His leading, His guidance, His Strength and His authority.
Therefore my beloved, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
Jesus said, ““If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14:15-18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
He is the One who guarantees our salvation (2 CORINTHIANS 1:22; EPHESIANS 1:14).
But if you are to receive the Spirit, you need to know Jesus.
Those who do not take the time to know Him cannot see or know the Spirit (JOHN 14:17).
Many people attend church every week, even prophecy and perform miracles in Jesus name. But on the day of judgement, Jesus will say to them, “Go away, I don’t know you (MATHEW 7:21-23).
Of course Jesus knows them, He is their creator, He knew us all before we was in our mother’s womb (JEREMIAH 1:5).
He loves us all, but if we are not willing to get to know Him today, on the day of judgement, He will say, go away, I don’t know you.
The only way to draw near to God and really know Him, is through relationship.
Only through relationship can we get to know anyone.
It is only through Jesus, that you can come to the Father in heaven (JOHN 14:6).
It is He who shall decide your eternal future, so surely it makes sense to get know Him.
Salvation is not about being a good person, doing good works and keeping God’s Laws, it is about knowing Jesus and putting one’s trust in Him. Good deeds cannot save anyone, it is too late for that, for we have all sinned.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬-‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬
My beloved, when you start to really work on your relationship with Christ, you will come to truly know Him and trust Him and believe.
It is this simple, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””
‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬
To humble yourself before God means recognising that one’s worth comes from Him alone; it means leaning on His power and guidance, and not going our own understanding and independent ways.
It means knowing that we can do nothing good in our own strength and abilities, and being totally dependent on Christ.
It is all knowing that our abilities and strength are in Him alone.
“Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
We don’t deserve God’s favour, but God’s loves us and wants to lift us up and give us worth and dignity despite our faults, failures, and shortcomings.
He wants us to have life, and have it more abundantly (JOHN 10:10).
Not by power, nor by might, but through faith in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit of the living God.
The truth is, ““Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:7-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.