Resist The Devil And He Will Flee From You
Sin Lets The Devil In
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.nkjv
James gives us five ways to come close to God:
1) Humbly submit to God, yielding to His authority and will, under the Lordship of Christ, commit your life to Him and His control, being willing to follow Him.
2) Resist (Rebuke) the devil and He shall flee from you.
Stand firm against the devil, do not allow Him to tempt or entice you into sin. Everything one does that is not in alignment with God’s plans and purposes is sin and let’s the devil in, even the sin of one’s descendants.
Furthermore, they don’t just leave when one repents; they like squatters, makes your house (your body) their home and you become demonised, taking possession of many rooms, and those demons will have a massive influence on your health, emotions, behaviours, actions, and decisions.
They, like the fake news media, will whisper lies and negativity to stir up the emotions to bring temptations, anger, rage, torment, self pity, fear, and such things to draw you away from the truth.
Paul said, “But I beg you that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
II Corinthians 10:2-6 NKJV
When one lets a demon in, he doesn’t move in alone, he will bring his friends. Like all squatters, they will need to be brought before the Judge, the boxes ticked through repentance, and evicted to bring deliverance (MATHEW 17:14-23 is a good example of this).
Thank God these demons are subject to us in Jesus name and we can cast them out (LUKE 10:17), for deliverance is key to a changed life.
Therefore, submit to God, rebuke them verbally, commanding them to come out by name.
If you don’t know their name, ask them, and they will tell you because they are subject to you in Jesus name (LUKE 10:17).
3) Cleanse your hands and purify your heart:
That is to say lead a pure life. Be cleansed from sin and stay cleansed, shuttling down your sinful desires, putting your old sinful nature to death and be born again into Christ righteousness and replacing them with the desire to experience God’s purity.
Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.””
John 3:3-8 NKJV
4) Take responsibility for your own behaviour.
Repent, Let your laughter turn to mourning and your joy turn to gloom. Receive by God’s grace, His forgiveness and then He will lift you up to move on with no shame, “For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.””
Romans 10:11 NKJV
But remember, you must forgive those who sinned against you and repent of any un-forgiveness or offence you had, “”For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV
It can be very difficult to forgive. But the truth is, in the very moment you forgive, you cut the tie that holds you to the pain that one relives over and over again every time he comes into offence when remembering the act, which produces the desire to seek vengeance.
That’s not to say you must be “best friends,” or that you must allow him or her to harm you again. It is to say, you have cancelled the debt, just like Christ cancelled your debt of sin when He died on a cross.
He or she no longer owes you anything and all vengeance is gone, which is correct because Jesus paid your aggressor’s debt of sin too.
Besides our Father in heaven said, “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.’”
Deuteronomy 32:35 NKJV
If you are to expect God’s grace to pour out on you, surely you must hope that God’s grace will pour out on others too, even your aggressors, after all, we are all in the same boat, sinners in need of a Saviour.
Whilst we are all victims to others, others are victims to us.
Therefore, look at one’s self and it shall become easier to forgive.
My beloved, in the very moment you forgive, you are no longer the victim, but the victor. You immediately gain victory over your aggressor just as Christ gained victory over the devil.
5) Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up (see also 1 PETER 5:6).
Bowing in humility is to recognise our worth comes from God alone. That without Him, we have no purposeful future.
To humble one’s self in the sight of the Lord, is to put your trust in His authority, power, and guidance, and not go our own independent way.
My brethren, not one of us deserves God’s favour, but His love for us is so great that despite our shortcomings, our faults and failures, He still wants to lift us up in honour.
The truth is, in our own strength and abilities we can do nothing good that is lasting or pleasing to God, and eternal death awaits us all. “”Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:37-39 NKJV
If you haven’t already, give your life to Christ today, tomorrow may well be too late.
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
