“Submit Yourself To God. Resist The Devil!”

“Submit Yourself To God. Resist The Devil!”(Jam.4:6b-10).
James says the causes of fights and quarrels amongst us is the desires that battle within. External battles are only manifestations of the internal battles of our innerbeings! “Pride is the reason why we want to be the head and not the tail!” As if the tail is of no importance. Ask a cow without tail and it will tell you the importance of the tail! It is pride that motivates us to want to be seen as the best. It is pride that alienates us from God.
But “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Pride causes us to cherish friendship with the world, which is hatred towards God.
Friendship with the world is what the devil uses to entice us and make us his disciples as well as his agents of mayhem in the world.
There is just one way to overcome the devil: “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Peter had friendship with the world, so when Jesus told them that he was going to Jerusalem where he will be killed, Peter began to rebuke him. Jesus told him, “Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”(Mt.16:21-27)
While Peter had in mind the things of men, Jesus had in mind the things of God. He humbled himself to his Father’s will. We too should do the same.
Satan told God, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he had?…But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
Shame to Satan; after he took every thing from Job in one day, Job resisted him! Rather, when Job heard all the bad news of having lost everything in one day, “he fell to the ground in worship.” He “did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
Like Job, we came naked and will return naked. The Lord is the one who gives and takes as it pleases him (Job 1:1-22). When we accept this truth, we learn to be humble.
My friend, this is a timely reminder of what we should do during this season of Lent. We are sinners. We should purify our hearts and stop being double-minded. We should grieve and mourn for our sins.
Above all,“humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.”
Yes, Job humbled himself before the Lord and his fortune and everything were restored tenfold. Jesus humbled himself and was lifted up from the grave.
Sunday prayer: Holy Spirit abide with me to enable me to humble myself before the Lord and resist the devil. Amen!
Have a blessed Sunday! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang