Resist the Devil

   Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7
   How many times have we heard this scripture preached? It has become an answer to a problem without any meaning. How many times has someone told you when you asked them about some temptation you were facing," oh resist the devil and he will flee"? Has anyone ever told you how to resist the devil? Or what is necessary to resist the devil?
Suppose for example you were one who went to fortunetellers before you got saved. Well, you know after you got saved that you weren't suppose to go to fortunetellers anymore. But what about the horoscopes? "Well that's just in the paper," you say. But isn't that the same thing? Wanting to know about your future? You may not read tea leaves or tarot cards anymore but if you are still reading those horoscopes even in fun then it is not resisting the devil. That is something he will use to try to get you back where he wants you under his influence. "But I never act on what it says I only read it for fun," you may say. Nonetheless that can overshadow what you do that day. You must put away all things of that nature if you have been prone to listening ot those things for advice.
   I'm not just talking about fortunetellers and things either. Satan will attack from your weakest points. If you were prone to alcohol and God delivered you then Satan will put alcohol before you in every possible way, from a friend inviting you out to a wedding where champagne is served. If you used sex as a way of dealing with things, he will put temptation to engage in sex again any way he can. If you aren't married, and have been very promiscuous in the past he will start having the really good looking guys or girls start asking you out and getting you in a situation where its hard to say no.
   Whatever you weaknesses were before then that is what Satan will use to try to get his influence back over you. This is where you really have to resist and not let yourself be put in a situation where it is hard to fight.
   The other part of this is to submit. Boy is that a hard one. We as humans don't want anyone or anything telling us what to do. We want to keep things all nice and neat and under our control. As long as its under our control we can handle anything. Its when we have the big things happen that we realize hey there's nothing we can do about it. We don't have too much problem asking God to help us deal with the big things even though we still want him to do it our way. But God wants us to submit entirely to him. This is especially hard for a control freak who has got to be in total control of everything all the time. God despises a proud person, and what is a control freak besides proud? They want to be able to say, "Look what I have done," instead of " look what God has done." Submit yourself to God and see what kind of difference it makes in your life. Then maybe God won't have to send the hard things to break you down so he can work on you. If we learn to trust God with the little things look what kind of miracle we can expect from the big things.
   We say, "oh I trust God with everything" but do we? Do we trust that he really will supply our needs? Do you really trust that he will heal your child? Do you really trust that he will save your children? Do you trust that he can heal your marriage? Submit yourself to him totally and see what kind of miracles God can do.