Submit and Seek

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

(James 4:7)

Submission is such a hard word for us to digest in this world. We are told to get what is rightfully ours, look out for number one, and it's a dog-eat-dog world. But this is how the world operates, not the Christ-follower!

The first thing we must do is submit to the will of God. We have to seek His will for our lives. This involves giving up what we may want and living a life of sacrifice! It is nothing short of what Christ did for us as He left the eternal security of heaven to enter this filthy world and be a sacrifice on our behalf!

In submitting to the Lord, we must spend time with Him in reading His Word, attending bible studies with other like believers, and worshipping as a corporate body (Hebrews 10:25). We need to live a disciplined life and not be given over to every new fad or bright idea!

Now for the second part of the verse: As we remain focused on things of God (Philippians 4:8), we are already resisting the devil! I realize that like Paul, there is a war going on between right and wrong within my body. (Romans 7:14-25) As we draw closer to the Lord, He in turn comes closer to us in a very personal and intimate way!(James 4:8)But we must hate the sin within us and realize how much we indeed need His Spirit to keep us. We cannot live a holy life on our own power!

We all need to realize how much we need the Holy Spirit and how much we need one another. We truly must be one. Like the prophets of old, we all need to seek after God on a personal level to see Him work in our lives. Pray for one another. Pray with one another. Be in communion with God and fellow believers. Listen as James closes out his epistle:

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

(James 5:13-20)