Submitting to the Lord is our first line of defense when fear rears its ugly head. And guess who loves it when we live in fear? Our spiritual enemy. Fear is his playground.
Thankfully, we have a plan of attack. God has given us a spiritual dress code in Ephesians 6:10-18. We must be fully equipped with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit and a prayerful heart. Once we're appropriately clothed, we can heed the words of James, the half-brother of Jesus:
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NIV
Before we start rebuking or resisting the devil, we must ask ourselves if we've fully surrendered and submitted to God. Submitting to God means fully abandoning our lives to Him. With our spiritual armor fully in place and prayer in our hearts, we're yielding to the One who has the ultimate authority. We're given the strength to resist the devil when we surrender our entire lives to God. And then guess what happens? The devil flees.
Yet, what we often try to do instead is first resist the devil or rebuke him, when we have yet to really submit to God. Resisting the devil is hard when we haven't submitted our will, our ways, and our wants to God. Submitting to God is not only the first step, but our submission to God is actually us resisting Satan at the same time.
We have the tools at hand. Let's take steps toward fully giving our lives to our good God, for when we do, the devil has no power over us.
Verses of the day:
Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.
James 4:7 (NIV)
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
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