Resisting the devil

Resisting the devil means standing against his attacks, refusing to give in to his advances. How are believers to do that? First and fundamentally, writes James, they are to draw near to God. Isn’t that a rich phrase, a provocative image? God’s children are to approach Him, move toward Him, live in His fellowship. They are to meet every pressure to abandon the Lord with fresh purpose to draw near Him and walk with Him.

“It’s common knowledge that ‘God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.’ So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” James 4:6-10 MSG

The trap: a devotional

According to the Bible, Satan is alive and well, constantly trying to trip us up. Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:8, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Satan wants to have us, and he will use every trick he can think of to try to make us untrue to God. And the closer we live to the Lord, the harder Satan will attack. He comes to us when we are weak. He comes to us when we are down. And he tries to take us away from God.

In the words of James, we have to “resist the devil.” But to resist Satan we have to first acknowledge that he is real. We have to realize that he wants to destroy us.

We also have to know our own weaknesses when it comes to resisting Satan. Every day we need to pray as Christ taught us: “Rescue us every time we face tribulation and set us free from evil…” (Matthew 6:13 TPT).

We are in a spiritual war

The question is not whether or not we will be engaged in a spiritual war. That ship has already sailed. The question is, will we win or lose in this spiritual war? Will we advance or retreat? Will we gain ground or lose ground? There are no other alternatives. If you belong to Jesus Christ, you can’t sit this battle out. You can’t choose to be a pacifist—or you will find yourself crushed on the battlefield.

The devil isn’t happy about you turning to Christ, and he isn’t going to take this lying down. He will do everything he can to trip you up, discourage you, or defeat you on this battlefield. Anyone who chooses to be on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ will face severe opposition from Satan and his followers—the legions of demons under his command.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. AMP