Submit to God

 In Daily Devotional

James 4:7

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

How does one “submit to God”? By countering the lies, accusations and hopelessness of the enemy with the truth, acceptance and eternal hope of the Word of God. We must know what God says about us in His Word in order for us to successfully combat and take captive what the enemy says about us, or accuses us with. And when we confess God’s Word about our situation we are able to “draw near to God”. Doesn’t this make good sense?

For example, we read in Luke 4:1-14, that Jesus Himself countered the enemy’s temptations successfully when He came out of the wilderness by recognizing the devil’s voice and responding to him with the Word of God. Note that the scripture Jesus utilized was very specific to the area of temptation. Jesus knew what the Word said and used it to counter the enemy. We must do likewise.

The Word operates alongside the Spirit. When we proclaim the Word we are submitting to God the Father and the Holy Spirit empowers us to resist the devil. When we know the Truth, Who is the Living Word, Jesus, we will apply His teaching to our lives, and the truth will set us free (John 8:31-32).

TODAY’S CHALLENGE:

Ask the Father to give you a hunger and thirst for His Word. Talk to your Friend and Teacher, the Holy Spirit, about showing you the specific scriptures you need to counter the lies of the enemy.

The Word is a weapon! Use it.

Dive Deeper: Study James 4; and, compare James 4:7-8; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Ephesians 6:10-18; Hebrews 10:19-22; and Jeremiah 29:13.