Stand!

Stand!

James 4:7 AMP

[7] So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. 

The background to the verse above is a warning by James to his audience: be careful about what you set your desires and affections are. There is a power behind focus: whatever it is that is able to catch and hold your attention has the power to run your life and to either ruin it or redeem it. This is why the warning of James in the earlier verses before the one above is instructive for us today: I cannot be a friend of the world and be a friend of God at the same time. It is impossible to seek to please both at the same time, as both have diametrically opposite views, directions, pursuits, purposes, authorities, and destinations. 

No matter how long I travel in the wrong direction, it does not bring me any closer to my intended destination. This is why a personal experience of, and encounter with Jesus, is fundamental to the counsel in the verse above. How can anyone submit to the authority and governance of a God who he has no knowledge of? How can you submit to a God you do not even know He exists? In this age of information and technology, where knowledge of the workings of the world's systems and processes seems to be man's most important asset, it is hard to make a case for the importance of the knowledge of God. 

To submit is to 'accept or yield to a superior force, or to the authority or will of another person'. In the context of the verse above, it is not something you can force down the throat of anyone. Actually, it is just a matter of time, as God is the Authority that all men on earth will one day submit to, either by free will or by compulsion. Whilst I am on earth, I get to choose to submit to Him of my own free will. I get to show that I love Him, and seek His will over my life's choices and decisions. It is important to note, too, that the order is very important: you do not get power to resist the devil until your allegiance to God is settled and sorted. 

The devil has been in the business of stealing, killing, and destroying since the earth was created, but God is before all things and is therefore wiser and stronger than all. The devil can threaten, but he is also subject to the power and authority of God. Remember: though he does not like it, even the devil is forced to submit to God. When I stand in the power of God, then the devil cannot overcome me. It matters in and by whose authority I am standing and speaking. The devil must flee when God backs up the man who is under His command. Be sure where you stand. Be sure who is backing you up. God's time of favour is here.