Monday – July 25th – James 4:7 -----
4:7) Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The Daily Walk Bible inspirational thought for today:
GOD IS NOT MADE GREATER WHEN YOU WORSHIP HIM, BUT YOU ARE MADE GREATER WHEN YOU SERVE HIM.*
Today is Monday! Today starts off the last week in the month of July. Today also kicks off a new week for us to “be the change” needed in our world, our culture, our society, our community, our church, our family, and ourselves. Our inspirational thought today reminds us that as followers of Jesus we can best be the change when we are serving Him. To serve Jesus can take a variety of forms and there is something for everyone regardless of age, stamina, skill level, or time constraints. Serving is more than packing up and going to somewhere else. Serving can be as simple as blessing a friend, neighbor, or family member with a word of encouragement or a helping hand. As we begin this week make a plan to serve at least one person each day of this week. The difference we make in a person’s life can have a kingdom impact.
I
In our pick verse today, we are focusing on the second half of verse seven. James stressed the importance of our needing to submit ourselves to God so that we would be in the right spiritual spot to successfully engage in spiritual warfare. Today, James gives us the ammunition we need to send the devil packing. In an overly simplified statement – we are to resist the devil. I must admit it is much easier to quote this verse than to always find the gumption to stand in resistance to the carefully crafted temptations offered to us by the devil. However, when we submit to God, our new Lord, we have in turn rejected and resisted our old lord, the devil. There is no middle ground, no safe area of neutrality in spiritual warfare. When the power of the Holy Spirit helps us recognize temptations for what they are the devil loses his power and the result is his disappearance. Just as the devil left Jesus after the tempting in the wilderness, he will also flee from us when we resist him. Holy Spirit assisted resistance will always win us the battle, but that doesn’t mean the war is over. In the wilderness temptation story, the last verse said the devil departed until a more opportune time. Resisting the devil is a daily, on-going, never let our guard down defense that works when we have willing submitted ourselves to God.
Blessings
Pastor Jim
Tuesday – July 26th – James 4:8
*Tyndale. The Daily Walk Bible NLT (Daily Walk: Full Size) (Kindle Location 38660). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
4:7) Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The Daily Walk Bible inspirational thought for today:
GOD IS NOT MADE GREATER WHEN YOU WORSHIP HIM, BUT YOU ARE MADE GREATER WHEN YOU SERVE HIM.*
Today is Monday! Today starts off the last week in the month of July. Today also kicks off a new week for us to “be the change” needed in our world, our culture, our society, our community, our church, our family, and ourselves. Our inspirational thought today reminds us that as followers of Jesus we can best be the change when we are serving Him. To serve Jesus can take a variety of forms and there is something for everyone regardless of age, stamina, skill level, or time constraints. Serving is more than packing up and going to somewhere else. Serving can be as simple as blessing a friend, neighbor, or family member with a word of encouragement or a helping hand. As we begin this week make a plan to serve at least one person each day of this week. The difference we make in a person’s life can have a kingdom impact.
I
In our pick verse today, we are focusing on the second half of verse seven. James stressed the importance of our needing to submit ourselves to God so that we would be in the right spiritual spot to successfully engage in spiritual warfare. Today, James gives us the ammunition we need to send the devil packing. In an overly simplified statement – we are to resist the devil. I must admit it is much easier to quote this verse than to always find the gumption to stand in resistance to the carefully crafted temptations offered to us by the devil. However, when we submit to God, our new Lord, we have in turn rejected and resisted our old lord, the devil. There is no middle ground, no safe area of neutrality in spiritual warfare. When the power of the Holy Spirit helps us recognize temptations for what they are the devil loses his power and the result is his disappearance. Just as the devil left Jesus after the tempting in the wilderness, he will also flee from us when we resist him. Holy Spirit assisted resistance will always win us the battle, but that doesn’t mean the war is over. In the wilderness temptation story, the last verse said the devil departed until a more opportune time. Resisting the devil is a daily, on-going, never let our guard down defense that works when we have willing submitted ourselves to God.
Blessings
Pastor Jim
Tuesday – July 26th – James 4:8
*Tyndale. The Daily Walk Bible NLT (Daily Walk: Full Size) (Kindle Location 38660). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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