We have an enemy we cannot see, but he is active in this world. The same enemy that deceived Eve is the same enemy that deceives us today, and his tactics haven’t changed. The devil is a liar. His number one weapon is deception. His tactics got Eve to question God and His goodness. These same tactics are used on us today in an attempt to get us to question God and His goodness. He attacks our minds with lies about ourselves and God. He tries to convince us that we know what’s best for us. This battle being waged is not really about us, but about God. How do we fight such an enemy?
We find the answer in James 4:7. “Submit yourselves, then, to GOd. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The first thing we need to do is submit to God. But what does it mean to submit to God? To submit means to voluntarily yield our own will to the authority, love, and directions of God. Submitting to God is a sign of weakness. It’s partnering with the strength of the One who created and sustains all things. When we submit to God’s authority we gain the power necessary to win the battle against an enemy set out to destroy us. By submitting to God’s authority we change our direction. We no longer fight to go our own way. Instead, we allow God to direct our steps through life. So, winning the battle for our minds starts with submission to God.
Once we have submitted to God we can resist the devil. Resist means to actively oppose, withstand, or refrain from yielding to something. We must actively resist the devil. We must take every thought captive. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5). We need to take every thought we have and measure according to the knowledge of God. The enemy is looking to get us to believe his distorted view of God’s truths. Resistance is the way to victory in our battle. We have to refrain from believing the lies. Lies like, “you're not good enough”, “God could never love you”, and “you’re too far gone for grace to save you.”
The result of our submitting to God and resisting our enemy is that our enemy, the devil, will flee from us. He will go scurrying off. Our enemy knows he can’t stand against the power of God. He knows he is defeated. The devil thought he had won, but then, Jesus rose from the dead and walked out of the borrowed tomb he was placed in. The power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us. In order to use this power to win the battle we must submit to the One who has this power, God. So I encourage you to submit to God, resist the devil, and gain victory today.
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