A Nugget from New Life Network
(excerpts from Dr. Larry Ollison)
Scripture for the Day Feb.22, 2019
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
The question is often asked, “How can I get the devil off of my case?” The Word of God tells us clearly how to get the devil to flee from us. If you want to see the devil’s backside instead of his face, then listen to this simple formula in God’s Word.
We know that the Book of James in the New Testament was written to born-again believers and this is extremely important. It is important because some sections of the Christian church believe that since Satan is already defeated he is therefore no more a danger to believers. That type of thinking and preaching is very dangerous.
What that type of thinking and preaching fails to understand is that Satan still stands at the door of your heart and knocks (wonder where he got that from). Now, you have a choice who you will let in. If you let Satan in, then you have given him power over you. If you resist him, and only let Jesus and His Word in, then Satan will flee. Satan only has the power over you that you give him. He can gain that power by you letting him in with your actions or in-actions or by believing one of his many lies.
As a born-again believer, you have benefits the world does not have. There are promises and formulas about life that when applied by the world, will not work. But when they are applied by the born-again believer, they work flawlessly. James 4:7 is an example of this principle. Here, James says submit to God and resist the devil and the devil will flee. But how do we submit to God? We submit to Him by submitting to His will.
If you are in the military and you submit yourself to a superior officer, it means that you do everything the superior officer tells you to do. If he or she says to do fifty push-ups, you don’t argue. You do fifty push-ups. If he or she says to march in the rain, you don’t argue. You march in the rain. Submitting to God is the same principle. If God says don’t lie, you do not lie. If God says speak His Word, then you speak His Word. If God says to tithe, you don’t argue. You don’t debate the subject. You just do it cheerfully and willingly.
The second part of this formula is to resist the devil. If you are on a diet, you might “hear” a piece of chocolate cake crying out to you and saying, “Eat me! Eat me!” You resist by not doing what the chocolate cake says to do! Once again, this is the same type principle. To resist the devil means you do not listen to his plans and you do not obey his words. You guard your heart by not allowing things you know are straight from Hell to enter by the eye or ear gates.
Quite simply, James 4:7 says obey God and give no place to the devil and he will flee. Of course, the devil is relentless and he never gives up. We see that when he tempted Jesus several times in the wilderness and finally “departed from Him for a season” (Luke 4:13 KJV). That means he will be back but it has been my experience that you can become so relentless in your resistance in an area that Satan will stop trying to tempt you in that particular area.
Continue submitting to God and continue resisting the devil (as Jesus did) and each time you will see him flee. Do not succumb to the false doctrine that Satan is no longer a Spirit that you have to deal with. As long as evil exists it has a master and it will come knocking. But know this. As a born-again believer you have the power to tread on demonic forces and over all the power of the enemy but you must tread and you must resist!!! You can’t just ignore it. That is where we get our word ignorant from.
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)
