Resist the Devil

“The meanest thing in the world is the devil.”

—HENRY WARD BEECHER

So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.

—James 4:7

God’s Word teaches us that if we submit ourselves to God and resist the devil, he will flee (see James 4:7). If we don’t resist the devil’s lies and temptations, he will eventually rule over us in every area. He is an aggressive enemy and we must not be passive about resisting him.

The devil wants our lives to be miserable and complicated. He wants to steal our joy, our peace, and every good thing Jesus died to give us. Decide today that you will exercise your rights as a child of God and enjoy the life He wants you to have. We often think if something is God’s will for us, it will just automatically happen, but that is not true. We need to exercise our faith, which includes resisting the devil.

If you heard someone breaking into your home in the middle of the night, would you just lie in bed and assume God would take care of it? No, of course you wouldn’t. You would jump out of bed, get something to use for protection, pray, and try to call for help. If you needed to, you would aggressively protect yourself and your family from the intruder. Why don’t we behave the same way when the devil tries to break into our lives and steal God’s good plan?

It is time to be more aggressive. If we stay on the attack we won’t spend so much time under attack. Remember that God in you is greater than any enemy you have. The simple thing to do is resist the devil at his onset. The longer you wait, the more of a foothold he will gain.