We read in James 4: 7, 8 “Submit therefore to God, Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts you double minded.” James was a bond servant of God and was writing to the twelve tribes who were dispersed aboard.(James 1:1) The message was to the Christians who were dispersed after the execution of Stephen. James explains the practical aspects of christian faith. Christians at that time believed faith was intellectual and that it no longer mattered how they lived so long as they believed in Jesus. It is a warning to us that faith should not stay in our intellectual level but should sink into our hearts. True faith will always produce the works in faith. There will be a change in our lives as when we have a true faith.
We can see James did not have faith in Jesus initially but later on when Jesus revealed to him (1Cor 15:7) he believed in him. James got the revelation when he saw Jesus just as Paul who got revelation of Jesus on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9:3-5) We need to submit all our areas in our lives (complete submission). If we submit to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us. If we submit to God, He will be on our side against Satan. We can see a similar accusation in Zechariah 3:1, 2 where Satan is accusing Joshua the High Priest. We can see in verse 2 the Lord rebuking Satan saying that this man is a child of God and that he is a burning stick that He snatched out of the fire. This is a picture of Jesus our Advocate pleading for us saying “Take away his filthy clothes, Put new clothes on him.” Joshua is now standing clothed in the righteousness of Christ. That is how we must see all of God’s children. We should not have an accusing spirit. (Zechariah 3:5) Here we see Zechariah is excited to see the festal robes of Joshua and tells them to put a clean turban on his head. He joined Jesus in making his filthy brother glorious. We need to share in this ministry of making your brother glorious. The angel of the Lord then admonishes Joshua, “If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts.” We read in Zechariah 4:6 “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying “Not by my might not by power but My Spirit says the Lord of hosts.” It is the Holy spirit which is helping us to overcome and flatten every mountain in our lives. When the church moves in this way filled with the Holy Spirit, the Gates of hell will not be able to prevail against it.
1 Peter 5:5 “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Another area in our lives should be humility to one another. God is opposed to the proud and His Grace is there for the humble. 1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time.” The mighty hand of God is the circumstances that God allows us in our life. Sickness, trials and difficulties are the areas we will face and God wants us to humble ourselves under them accepting it joyfully in our lives. God will surely exalt you in these circumstances. Jesus submitted himself in the mighty hand of God. It pleased Him to crush him. Then one day the Father raised Him up. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. We need to cast our anxiety on him (this we need to do from our side) as he cares for you. If we are gripped by this truth then we can experience that in our daily lives. We read in verse 8 “Be of sober spirit be on the alert .Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” We need to be alert all times to resist the devil as Satan is there trying to trap us. When we submit ourselves to God humbling under the mighty hand of Jesus he won’t be able to harm us. Resist him firm in your faith (verse 9) and let God’s name may be glorified through our lives.
May God bless us all.
