"Submit" Is Not a Dirty Word

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 

“God opposes the proud

    but shows favor to the humble.”

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. (James 4:1-10, NIV)

 

 

REFLECTIONS:

Isn’t it interesting that we recognize Pride and Arrogance in others a LOT quicker than in ourselves? As the scripture above says, our fights and quarrels come from our desires that battle within us.  I wouldn’t say I’d “kill” for any of the desires I’ve struggled with, but I DO admit that there are times that I really want what I want.  We see it in little children as they play when they both want the same toy at the same time.  It gets “ugly” for a moment.  Unless we learn to temper those selfish desires it will cause the “ugly” to pop up in us as adults as well.  

 

But don’t you just LOVE being around a truly humble person, one who knows who they are and Whose they are? They seem to “rest” in whatever their circumstances are at the time.  I used to work with a friend who could do that.  I remember an especially frustrating time that I was concerned that she might lose her job.  She simply said… “I don’t work for _____ (her boss), I work for God.”  And she meant it.  She knew God had her back and trusted that He would take care of the situation as He saw fit.  I learned a valuable lesson that day!

 

Taking an HONEST look at our own heart is a very humbling exercise.  If I look at the areas I am struggling (within myself or with another person) and if I take pride out of the picture… then I can honestly evaluate my motives.  If our motives are good, we can ask God for the desires of our hearts.  But if you’re honest and your desires are not good for you…you probably need to back off, reevaluate, and SUBMIT your desires to Christ—in alignment with what you know is right.  Verses 7-8 say: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.”  You can test this… it’s true.  I’ve been in situations where the devil would pop up and tempt me.  I learned to claim this verse and did exactly as it said. I kept telling him “NO!” and eventually the temptations became fewer and fewer, until it went away completely.  As you are saying NO to the devil remember to “come near to God and He will come near to you.” That’s a super sweet spot to be in.

 

I have a great example of resisting the devil that I learned by accident (or probably the quiet teaching of our Holy Spirit).  About 15 years ago we had two Foster sons living with us who were about 8 years old when they first arrived.  #1 was fairly “normal,” just very active.  #2 had some moderate brain damage due to a military doctor erroneously prescribing an adult dose of medicine for a 2-year old child.  I knew almost nothing about mental illnesses at that time.  Both boys came heavily medicated due to ADHD (Attention Deficit HYPER Disorder).  My husband was much more proficient with some medical training and we wanted to help these boys get off as many meds as possible.  

 

Part of our Foster Parenting required that we routinely take the boys to meet with their Psychologist, so they could renew their psychiatric prescriptions.  I absolutely HATED these appointments.  The doctor would talk down to the boys (and quite honestly, to me).  He would go thru the motions so he could write up more Rx for them.  I would try to convince him to see if we could reduce the meds and maybe eventually get the boys off some of them.  Larry and I were successful on a small scale.  

 

#2 came to us “hearing voices.”  As an 8-year old, he described them as “cowboys and Indians” that lived in his stomach.  The “bad” ones would tell him to call us names and do mean things to us… to hurt us.  In my ignorance (or innocence) I asked him to tell me each time he “heard” them.  One day, he was lying on the sofa with his shirt off.  He told me they were fighting inside him and it hurt, so he laid down.  I literally watched as his stomach writhed from side to side and movement that looked like a late term baby moving in a mother’s womb.  I knew what he described to me was real.  I could SEE it.  I asked him what they were saying.  It was always something like “call her a B…”  “Hit her.” And more…   #2 knew things like this were not allowed in our home.  So I sat there (divinely guided, I’m certain) beside him and calmly talked him thru it.  I told him to tell the bad guys they were not welcome in our home… and that ONLY JESUS could tell #2 what to do and how to act.  They needed to just “GO AWAY!” Thank GOD that worked.  But they would come back again… and again (as the enemy does).  We instructed #2 to tell them those same things EVERY TIME they came back.  I kept picturing the roaming demoniac in the cemetery that the Bible talks about.  “Resist the enemy and he will flee.” After a few months, “they” stopped coming to bother #2.  The Psychologist (not a Christian) was very intrigued by our response to the voices.   He asked me why we instructed #2 as we did.  I told him about the demonized man in the Bible and seeing the writhing in #2 convinced me it was real.  Not knowing anything else to do, we chose GOD!  Only Jesus can tell us what to do.  The “cowboys and Indians” are not welcome in our house.  Basically we were “resisting the enemy”… and he eventually fled.   #2 became a believer while he was in our home.  He now has all the same authority we have to resist everything the devil throws his (or our) way.

 

 

TODAY'S CHALLENGE:

I challenge you to take an HONEST look at your own heart.  What areas are you struggling within yourself or with another person?  Is pride getting in the way?  If so, honestly admit it and remove it. With pride out of the picture… how do your motives look now?  If your motives are good, ask God for the desires of your heart.  If you’re honest and your desires are not good for you… you should probably back off, reevaluate, and SUBMIT your desires to Christ—in alignment with what you know is right.  Verses 7-8 say: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.”  The FIRST part is to “Submit yourselves to God.”  Next time you are tempted to do (or think) something you know is wrong… IF YOU MEAN IT… tell the devil to get lost.  He’s not welcome.  Don’t let him hang around and you wallow in his mud pit.  He’ll probably pop back in every now and then just to see if you are still “strong,” or if he can once again tempt you back into those dark places.  Stay strong… RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE!  At the same time, pick up your Bible, get on your knees, turn on your Praise music and COME NEAR TO GOD AND HE WILL COME NEAR TO YOU.  You can bank on it!  SUBMIT is NOT a dirty word.  It’s a SWEET SPOT!

 

 

PRAYER:

Lord, I confess I’ve experienced the “ugly” more times than I want to admit.  I thank You for the Life Lessons You continue to teach me.  There’s no place I’d rather be than in that Sweet Spot with You.  Please help me always recognize when I’m going against Your will for me… no matter how strong my desires are.  I pray for my PRF Brothers and Sisters, too.  Please continue to draw us closer as a family. Help us stay STRONG and resist the devil so that no division in our church family is allowed.  May we submit our messy lives into Your clean hands… every day.  Thank You, Jesus!

 

 

WHO AM I?

I’m Georgia Arms—a simple gal, really.  I grew up in the country.  My dad was a farmer, rancher, and a preacher.  He taught me so much about God by the way he lived his life with integrity.  Father’s Day really makes me think of him and the Christian values he held so dear.  This picture was at my wedding.  It’s a treasure.  There’s a tear in his eye… not sure if he’s feeling sad for Larry… or gonna miss his little girl.  : )   Happy Father’s Day, Daddy.  Thanks for your continual example of submission.  I love you!