Two details in today’s verse from the Bible deserve our... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7.

Two details in today's verse from the Bible deserve our particular attention.

In the first place, we are assured that the devil will flee from us, if we resist him. This means that we, as believers, are not spared the enemy's temptations. We are saved and freed from his power; so, as the Lord's own people, we shall certainly reach our heavenly goal. Nevertheless the enemy will use his cunning to make us stumble with the consequence that the Lord will be dishonoured and our peace of heart will be troubled.

If we are not watchful, the tempter will find our weak spot. We need to realise what we read in Romans 6:11: "Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin." In His perfection the Lord Jesus could say, by way of a contrast, "The ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me" (John 14:30).

We are not, and will not be, perfect and sinless like our Lord, so long as we are on earth, but we can follow His example and oppose the devil with the Word of God, the "sword of the Spirit" to make him flee, as the Lord did (cf. Ephesians 6:17; Matthew 4:1 -11).

In the second place, today's verse connects the assurance with a condition: it tells us to "submit to God", i.e. obey Him and use the "sword of the Spirit" successfully. The Lord Jesus was constantly obedient to God. If obedience is lacking with us, quoting the Word of God will not be accompanied by the power of the Spirit.

The result of this is clearly that we often fail in conflicts.

Today's reading: Job 38:39-39:18 · Acts 18:23-28