“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” –James 4:7
Many can testify that a series of run-ins with the devil characterize the Christian life we know. When you accept the Lord Jesus Christ, you have become committed to doing the things that are pleasing in God’s sight. The devil will do everything in his power to try and derail your destiny. And the closer you get to God, the greater the temptations will be from the enemy.
The Apostle Paul says in Romans 7:19:
“For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”
If we’re being honest, it can sometimes be hard to say no to temptations. You may say no, but sometimes you feel that you don’t have the character to sustain a lifestyle that runs away from temptations. But, when you look at your inability to say no, you will realize that acting on these temptations can cause you to miss out on God’s best for your life.
When you reflect on your life and your personal history, you begin to look at your destiny. What would the world look like if Adam and Eve just said “no” or Samson rejected Delilah’s advances? What would have happened if David restrained himself from his attraction to Bathsheba? What would history look like? What would our lives look like if we said no to temptation?
You must learn to have spiritual discipline and fortitude in your life. This is why the Bible tells us to submit ourselves to God. When you are truly submitted to God, only then can you resist the devil, and he will flee from you. You have to be under God and decide that you are no longer first in your life. You must let Him have authority over you. Whatever you stand under is what you understand in life. Until His will becomes your will, you will not have the authority God wants you to have to resist the devil. The only way you’re going to get the victory is for you to commit to God.
God wants to do great things in the life of His people. He wants to do great things in your vocation, but it will hinge upon your ability to look truthfully at some stuff in your life and make appropriate changes. The enemy may try to fool you into thinking that you don’t have a destiny, that he will take your family, or that you will bring you to destruction, but you can choose to no longer believe in his lies. Don’t go down the enemy’s road through deception.
Look at the success of football or basketball teams. How do they attain success? Before the game, they train and spend time studying their opponent. They need to know what their opponent will do and how they might approach them. They talk and discuss how they will face the other team. The same goes for us. If we want to succeed in overcoming the enemy when he tempts us, we need to go back through the Scriptures.
Beware of the Wiles of the Devil
James says we must resist the devil, and he will flee from us. We must be aware because the enemy wants to get you by yourself. He always wants to pull you over to the side by yourself when you are going through something. When you want others to leave you alone and refuse to fellowship or seek help from fellow believers, it might be easier for the enemy to take you down. When he pulls you from the church, from the people you love who would speak the truth to you, your isolation becomes a set-up for a demonic interrogation.
The devil will come no matter how big your Bible is or how many tongues you can speak in. He won’t show himself as an enemy. He will come looking like an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). He will come looking like the things you like. He will come at you with things that are appealing to you. He knows how to package something that triggers your weakness.
When the devil brings challenges to the very fiber of your faith, you need to realize that he has a strategic plan. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). He will come to you with what appeals to you.
The enemy is also aware of your tastes. He knows how to package the temptation because the presentation is crucial. He will present the temptation attractively so that even if you know it might hurt you, it will make you look twice. Once temptation comes, it leads to deeper issues. In Judges 14:1-3, the temptation came to Samson because he had a thing for Philistine women. Despite his father’s warning, he continued to ask for Philistine women. So, when the Philistines conspired against Samson, they looked into his tendencies.
Sin simply means missing the mark. If your objective is to fulfill the plan of God and you miss this mark, you sin. On the other hand, transgression means to violate boundaries. Iniquity is when you have a tendency toward a thing. You may not have done something, but it’s in you to do it. This is what is considered one’s own lust, whether the person knows it. The devil is waiting for the right time when he can set you up and attack you when you are most vulnerable.
Jesus is God in the flesh. He’s the Son of God, but He’s also the Son of Man. In His humanity, He was tempted by Satan. In Matthew 4, it is written that Jesus fasted for 40 days, and He was hungry. But on the 40th day, His most vulnerable day, that’s when He was tempted. The same happened to Eve. She was tempted at her most vulnerable state. She was hungry, and Adam was out of place.
When you are at your most vulnerable point, this is when you need to be careful spiritually. Many of us have great ups and downs because of the people we allow in our life to be around us, especially those we talk to. When we go through spiritual highs, pouring out, and coming down off the mountain, we find ourselves empty. We are then at our most vulnerable position. When you come down from the mountain, there’s no one there to pour into you. This is why you have to ask for things from God. Don’t just ask when you’re at the peak or the bottom of your life. Ask God to give you momentum instead of going through the ups and downs. Ask God for something that can keep you while you’re on the road. Ask God to give you something when you find yourselves in unique situations.
The enemy is determined to take your victory away from you. He has a systematic plan to do it. The goal is to get you to operate in your carnality because you’re either in your flesh or living in the spirit. The flesh is always warring against the spirit. When temptation comes, if you are operating in your carnality, you open yourself to the devil.
If you no longer want to live in the flesh, you must draw the line and stop the enemy from destroying your purpose. You must understand that if you have a relationship with God, He will bring you peace. When you are in Christ, He will give you the conviction and power to help you make wise choices.
You can’t control what happens with your choices. But you can act intentionally to accomplish a predetermined objective. You can decide based on the aim of where you’re trying to go and what you’re trying to do. You can make good, godly decisions in your life. The decisions you make must come from a clean vessel. There can’t be unforgiveness, hurt, or pain inside you because they will color and offset your choices.
The devil doesn’t play with us. He wants to kill and destroy you. He wants to take everything he can from you. With every choice you make, there will always be consequences. You always have a choice.
Every decision has consequences. You can decide, but you do not have the right to determine the consequences of your decision. You will never have that authority. The Holy Spirit will remind you why you made a decision and must live with a consequence. God does not bless your mess.
On the other hand, with every right choice and decision you make, the enemy will always challenge it. That’s how you know that the decision was God’s will. The decisions that you make must be in line with the purpose, plan, and destiny that God has for your life. Let this be your guide when you make the most critical decisions. And when you make this decision, you need to put things down on paper and understand the value of what’s most important in your life. If you are unaware of your purpose and what should be prioritized in your life, it will be easy for the enemy to take you down. One wrong move can derail you from the total purpose and destiny of God in your life. Taking the wrong drink, riding with the wrong people, or reacting rashly out of anger might destroy what you’ve built over the years. That’s why we need help saying no. When you say no to the enemy, he will challenge your intention. But when you realize that you’ve got too much of God’s Word in you, it will be easier to dodge the enemy’s arrows. We’re so thankful for God’s Word because it keeps us from falling.
There is a way that seems right unto man, but in the end, it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12). The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23). When you are being tempted to move into sin, you need to have something in your spirit that’s going to rise and speak God’s truth into your whole being.
The Role of Worship
There is a need to understand the power of keeping your attention on the things of God. You have to focus on Him because faithfulness comes from an attentive mind. Many Christians might be attention-deficit in the spirit. Some of them might be sitting in church but with their minds wandering. We must remember that the enemy is competing for our attention. You need to have conviction.
If we want to sharpen our focus and faithfulness, it starts with us being worshipers. We worship when we meditate on the Word day and night. The enemy hates worship because it takes the attention away from him and from us. When we worship, God gets the glory. He alone deserves all the glory. When you worship, you declare you will not be distracted by your circumstances or temptation. You are basking in the presence of God. It doesn’t matter what’s going on around you.
Worship can save you from a lot of sin. When you get in the presence of God, you are in another dimension. When you worship, you let God control your destiny. You decide to surrender yourself to Him. The decisions you make for your life must be in the hands of God. When you’re a follower of Jesus, you walk around with authority. You must believe what God has promised for your life.
If you believe Jesus Christ is in you, His anointing is yours. When you are submitted to Christ, He will fight your battles. You can lay your hands on the sick. You can bless your children and others around you. You can lay your hands on yourself. When you understand that you have authority in Christ, you have the prophet, priest, and King. You have the power of His Name and His written Word. You have the rhema and the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.
God is our help in times of trouble. He wants us to come boldly before His throne. He is our High Priest who wants to help and assist us. He wants to be there for us. He promises to be with us forever.
Secure your divine purpose and destiny. Claim that you will have what God has promised you will have. Declare over your life today that you will say “no” to every attack and lie of the enemy. Decide to resist the devil until he flees from you.
Watch the entire message “How to Resist the Devil” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCuxCobeByA&t=3s
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