Recipe for Victory

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." James 4:7, 8a

In the context of today's verse, the word "therefore" is used by James to indicate a better way to deal with human pride. Because the human heart is proud by fallen nature it steers away from dependence on someone else.

In the previous verse James quotes Proverbs 3:34: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James continues: "Therefore submit to God." The Greek word 'submit' is translated as obey, be subject to. So, if we are humble and see our need of Jesus, He will give grace (and more grace, as we need it. Verse 6). Grace is a small word, but what does it mean? The Greek renders the word grace as the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life. Grace is heaven's gift to help us cope with sin and the problems of life. Grace is His presence when the going gets tough.

How do we resist the devil? By prayer and study of the Word, just as Jesus resisted the devil in His wilderness temptation. When you pray and claim God's promises in His word, the devil runs! Think of resistance as you, building a wall to keep the enemy out. The thicker and higher the wall, the harder it is for the enemy to break through. The building blocks you use for the wall are verses of scripture, and the mortar in the joints is prayer. It takes effort to build the wall, to resist the devil. But we aren't left to build alone.

James continues: Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. All it takes is you, praying in the crisis, "Lord, I need You." And He's there, in a flash! He stands at your side, and the enemy cannot advance. He has to flee.

And so we have a threefold recipe for victory in the battle of life: submit to God; resist the devil; draw near to God. Take courage, we cannot lose!