When James called believers to resist the devil, he also said that the result of such an action would cause Satan to flee. In other words, one of the ways to get the devil and his influence out of our lives is to resist him, to push against what evil would tempt us to do, and to live according to a prior and binding act of submission to God. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." (James 4:7-8) The plan of James is simple. It simply entails choosing not to put ourselves in a position where the evil one can have any influence over us.
It is true that books have been written with page after page about spiritual warfare, or the discipline of dealing with this antagonistic and destructive one who exists to destroy and thwart the plan of God. But, the simple truth is that the devil is best handled not by not doing negative things, but in seeking the positive choice which is a part of submitting our entire life to God.
Most of us do a fairly good job of submitting parts of our life to God, but the process of total submission is another issue for us. How far away we are from total submission is best seen when we review our actions in the unguarded moments of our life, the moments when no one is watching, and when we simply act without pausing to think about our actions. Resisting and submission go hand in hand when it comes to dealing with the undermining power of the evil one in our lives.
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