James (W8D4) Submit & Resist
Week 8. Thursday: Submit and Resist
PRAY: Ask God to speak to you from His Word.
READ: James 4:7-10
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
UNDERSTAND: get a deeper understanding of the key words
Submit yourselves to God: The Greek word for submit here is hypotassō meaning to obey, to arrange yourself under another, to give up control.
Resist the devil (Greek: anthistēmi diabolos): to set one’s self against, to oppose. Resisting the devil is an active daily decision (Ephesians 6:13). Jesus gave us an example of how to resist the devil in Luke 4:1-13.
Come near to God: The only way to effectively resist the devil is to stay near to God. This is the only way to maintain strength against temptation. The Greek term eggizō means to draw near and join together.
Wash your hands: This refers to cleansing ourselves from sin (Psalm 51:1-12).
Purify your hearts: This refers to evaluating what you really love; God or the world. This is why he uses the term double-minded which refers to being uncertain, doubtful, and divided.
Grieve, mourn, and wail: Apparently the audience James was writing to saw their sin as something to laugh about. James is saying they should be grieving of their sin.
Humble yourselves...he will lift you up: When we exalt ourselves God will humble us for our own good. When we humble ourselves God lifts us up for our good.
APPLY: What is this passage calling me to do?
In what areas of your life are you not submitting to God?
In what ways can you come near to God?
What do you need to change in your life in order to humble yourself?
PRAY: Ask God to lift you up as you humble yourself before Him.
