Ten Commandments Part II – Submit & Resist

“Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you.” James 4:7

Did you know that in addition to God giving Moses THE Ten Commandments, He also led James to give us an additional set? I have nearly completed my study of James, which by the way, is a good one for a personal study. Directed at women, the study is titled, “Growing in Wisdom & Faith” by Elizabeth George.

The commands from James helps direct us to draw near(er) to God and away from the world. This week’s devotions will be a look at each of them. Doing a series is a little different for me, but I feel this is where I am being led this week. My prayer is that it will be helpful to us all.

Today’s verse contains the first two commands from James….submit and resist. The key is that we choose correctly whom we submit to and whom we need to resist. First, we should review the meaning of each word. From Webster’s 1828 we find the following:

Submit - To yield, resign or surrender to the power, will or authority of another

Resist - to stand against; to withstand; hence, to act in opposition, or to oppose

In this verse, we are being instructed to resist; the devil, the temptation, the sin and the evil! When confronted with the temptation we are to simply say, “NO!” We are to resist the devil and all his devious schemes, designed to woo us into a multitude of sinful activities that would discredit our testimony and dishonor God. When we resist Satan, he will flee from us.

Under the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to nail our old sin nature to the Cross and present ourselves to God as instruments for righteousness; holy and acceptable unto God. We have these choices because we are not under the law but under His grace.

Join me in this closing prayer today.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, that I am no longer under the domain of Satan but am a child of God who is under grace and not under the Law. I pray that I may walk in spirit and truth to Your praise and honour. In Your power, I pray that I will resist the influences of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Help me to walk in meekness, purity, spirituality, and sincerity all the days of my life, to Your praise and glory. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

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