Daily Devotion (February 20, 2025)
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”
We will submit either to God or to the devil. It is our choice.
James writes in chapter 4 that fights and quarrels come from our personal desires. The heart that is in not submitted to God will submit to Satan. I looked at my wrist this morning and saw a wrist band this these letters on it: “WWJD”. What would Jesus do. Submission to God is a personal choice. It is a choice each one makes during the day. We resist the devil by choosing to follow Jesus.
Conflicts arise from unfulfilled desires and passion that wage war within us. There are several causes for the conflict within us. It can be the desire for power, recognition, material possessions or just plain selfish ambitions.
The conflict could be coveting what others have. It could come from a lack of communication with God in prayer. Or our motives may be wrong. Is our motive to do the will of God or is it a self-centered motive?
In Jeremiah 29:13 God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jesus says in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who ask receives; the one who seeks finds; and the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Deuteronomy 4:29: “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Proverbs 8:17: “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.”
James 4:8: “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”