Submit to God and Resist the Devil
To resist means to withstand, strive against or oppose. To withstand the action or effect of something/body.
There must be willingness and an effort on the part of the person who is resisting that will not only be obvious but that should be strong enough to ward off the activities of the one being resisted. When you are resisting someone or something you do not cooperate with the thing or enhance or enable or empower it in any way.
Our text brings out the necessary foundation we need to look at before we can effectively resist the devil. We must be submissive to God. That is, give our lives to God, know what His WORD and His will is, concerning our lives and the issue we are dealing with, be aligned to God’s will and purpose for that thing. Confess and stand on His WORD, pray fervently about the matter, carry out all we are to do in absolute obedience to God’s WORD then we can effectively resist the devil.
Why are we to resist the devil?
- The root cause of most of the problems we face in life are originated by the devil. 2nd Cor 2 v 11 tells us that when we are ignorant of the devices of the devil he will take advantage of us. If you fail to recognize the activities of the devil in your marriage you will be fighting in the flesh with your husband and the devil will take advantage of that to cause a separation or even a divorce.
- If you do not recognize the devices of the devil in the life of your child, you will not be able to handle him/her effectively and when you are not effective the child may be lost forever. That rebellion is a spirit from the pit of hell.
WHAT ARE THE DEVICES OF THE DEVIL AND HOW DO THEY MANIFEST IN OUR LIVES?
- The devil can attack our thoughts – when we begin to think bad thoughts about other people and ourselves. The devil may attack our thoughts through depression, heaviness, a feeling of unhappiness, unworthiness, regret, constantly remembering how you failed and not letting it go but you keep playing it over and over in your mind. We may misunderstand an issue about somebody else and without clarifying from that person we begin to judge the person in our hearts, we subtly develop a dislike for the person which if not dealt with leads to us resisting the person rather than the devil.
- The devil can attack our emotions – when we do not submit our emotions to the Holy Spirit according to Ephesians 5 v 8 – 10 which says “now that we are in the light we should walk as children of the light, the fruit of the spirit must be evident in us, this is the only thing that will be acceptable to God.” If before, you were short tempered you must submit to God because you are now in the light. When our emotions are attacked by the devil we display what is written in Galatians 5 v 19-21, envying, hatred, wrath, strife, but when we submit to God we will have positive emotions like what is written in Galatians 5 v 22, the fruit of the spirit such as love, joy, peace, gentleness, longsuffering, faith, etc. We can control our emotions by renewing our minds and by so doing we are resisting the devil. Another major weapon of attack on our emotion is FEAR – 2 Tim 1 v 7. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.
- The devil can attack our bodies through sickness/ disease – We need to resist the devil by first taking care of our bodies by eating right, taking adequate rest and paying attention to our body. When we are sick we need to confess the Word of God and stand on it even though we may take medications. Proverbs 12 v 18. You still need to pray for divine healing and divine health. Confess the Words of God on healing Isaiah 53 v 5, Romans 8 v 11, Proverbs 4 v 20 – 22 tells us that the Word of God is health to our flesh.
- The devil can attack our relationships e.g. Marriage, friendships, family. We must resist by acting with maturity, praying for the other parties. Ephesians 4 v 15 enjoins us to speak the truth in love. Ephesians 4 v 25 -27 is highly instructive for Christian relationships. When we submit to God, then we can resist the devil in the place of prayer, actions and our faith.
- The devil can attack our finances – We must submit to God by giving, paying our tithes, offering, sowing seeds, helping the needy and widows, etc
PRAYERS
- Oh Lord, release the grace for me to submit all to you in Jesus name.
- I resist every strategy; plan of the devil in my
– Life
– Marriage
– Finances
– the life of my husband / Child
– Ministry etc in Jesus Name. - I resist every sickness/disease in my body. My body! reject cancer, diabetes, arthritis, organ failure, high blood pressure, heart-related diseases, ulcer, etc.
Shalom.
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