Journal Entry ~ 04/29/19

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? - James 4:1

Further down in James 4, we are told to humble ourselves and to resist the devil as a way out of the conflict or struggles we find ourselves in. We cannot pass over these instructions lightly. 

Daily, we need to remind ourselves there is a spiritual battle around us, there is someone fighting for our hearts that we need to resist. When we are deep within the trenches of a difficult spiritual battle, the conflict we experience, the heart-breaking emotions that we walk through as a result the trials we are enduring, are so often the result of our listening to the lies of the enemy. The enemy wants your heart, and he is sneaky in the way he goes about getting a foothold. He will convince you the suffering you experience is the result of someone else’s sin, and he will set up camp in your heart nursing that wound so you never find freedom from the pain. 

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  You can trust in that promise - the enemy will flee from you, God will make sure of it. The problem can often be recognizing when the devil is tempting you and when you need to resist him. That's the importance of the verses that come just before about humbling ourselves. We can be so blinded by our pride. We so often set off in our own thoughts and plans for how this situation should be handled, and we keep God on the sidelines. When we are wrapped up in our prideful thoughts, the enemy doesn't have any problem waltzing right into our lives. 

If we truly want to resist the devil and the temptations in our lives - from those negative thoughts to losing our patience - then we need to humble ourselves. But we cannot do that alone. We need to get on our knees and ask God to reveal our pride to us. When we see it, we need to confess and repent, then submit ourselves once again to our holy and mighty God. This is how we resist the devil. 

Press on ~ you are loved. 💗