Have you ever connected submission to
God to be the key to spiritual warfare? We must go in the strength of the Lord
and humbly place ourselves under His Lordship as we fight the good fight of
faith. And, as we draw near to God, He draws close to us. As you dig into the
Word today, be mindful of your heart’s posture to the Lord, and how precious
your relationship is with Him!
As you read today's passage, look for these
words or phrases: submit, resist,
draw near, purify, miserable, humble, and exalt.
Passage for the
week: James 4:7-10 (NASB)
7 Submit
therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw
near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners;
and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be miserable and mourn
and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the
presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Questions for thought: Take a few moments to
answer these questions before you go on to the next section.
What
does it mean to submit yourself to God?
How do
you actually resist the devil? (See 1 John 2:14 and 4:4 for some additional insight on
this)
What
does God do when, in humility, you draw near to Him?
After we
have drawn near to God and are close to Him, what will be our response?
How do
we purify our hearts and cleanse our hands?
What is
the point of James telling us to be miserable, to mourn, and to weep? Why would we have a reason to do this? Read 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 for help on
this.
As we
repent and become humble before the Lord, what does the Lord promise to do for
us?
MEDITATE on this:
James next shows us what humility looks like. Submit yourselves, then, to God. This means
to “line up under.” James is using this
word to describe a willing surrender to God’s authority as the One who is in
control of everything. When we are truly
humble, then we will then be able to be loyal to God, obey His commands, and
follow His leadership in our lives.
James then tells us to “resist the devil.” This literally
means “to take your stand against.” We
are able to do this ONLY when we have submitted to God and are operating under
His power. We need to remember that the
devil is a defeated foe, and that Christ has already won the battle against
him! When we take our stand
against the devil in the power of God, he flees; he may threaten disaster, but
it is all a lie. It only has power if believed.
In the next verse we are encouraged to come near to God. The picture is that of a
person coming to offer sacrifice in the temple and coming near to God in the
ceremony. We are told to wash our
hands and purify our hearts. This
is another OT picture (Ex. 30:19–21), illustrating the removal of sinful
practices. The double-minded is
the person who tries to serve both God and the world needs to have a heart that
is completely devoted to God alone. These actions should be also be accompanied
by a mourning and a sorrow for our sin against God. Repentance consists of sorrow for sin plus a
turning from sin and, where possible, making restitution for the damage caused
by one’s sin.
However, James does not leave us there in our
sadness over our sin. James includes
promises within his call to repentance. As we come near to God, God will come near to us. He will lift us up and
will not leave a humble heart mourning!
He will accept our repentant heart and respond with His love, raising us
up from our mourning into the warmth of His love.
Praying for that you would Love Christ
PASSIONATELY, Know Christ DEEPLY, and Enjoy Christ FULLY!!!
Pastor Stephen
No comments:
Post a Comment