James 4:7


Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you ~ James 4:7

To submit to God means we are to give up that willful part of ourselves. It is the part that says “I”. It is not easy, for “I” fights hard and strong to take control. For me personally, that “I” said I would not move more than 2.5 hours away from my grandchildren. Submitting to God meant I would live for 10 years 2.5 hours by flight and 3,000 or so km’s away from my grandchildren. Submitting to God means that I will go to the church He calls me to, when He calls me, even if it is away from a people I care very, very deeply about. For me, submitting to God means I won’t put myself first, but I will put Him first, even when I question what He wants me to do. For you, it could be a myriad of different ways in which you have, or will, submit to God. Maybe for you it is to stay in a marriage that has many challenges, but you do so because God called you into it. We all submit, or we don’t. With God there is no in-between. The challenge is to resist, and here, James terms it as the devil, but certainly anything that is against God is the enemy. If we cannot resist the “I” factor, we succumb to temptations of every kind, and we reject God. If we do resist, the temptation will disappear. We may have to fight it again tomorrow, but, today, the “I” will not win – God will, and so will i.
Devotion by Pastor Julia

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