A teacher in a Bible school gave his students an hour-long exam. They were to spend half their time writing about the Holy Spirit and the other half about the devil.One student wrote steadily for the whole hour on the first subject, the Holy Spirit, and then wrote at the bottom of his manuscript, “I had no time for the devil.”That wasn’t the way to get a good grade on an exam, but his comment does point us to the only way we can resist and overcome Satan. If we fill ourselves with God’s Word, pray, and submit to the Holy Spirit, we will not “give place to the devil” (Eph. 4:27).The past couple of days I have been meditating on a verse from James chapter 4.James 4:7 - “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.Notice James’ clear instructions…We submit ourselves to God. We resist the devil. The promise is that the devil will flee from us.1 Peter 5:8-9 - Gives us more instructions… “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”So, how do we do this? First, James says we must submit ourselves to God. To submit means that we willingly put ourselves under God’s authority. We surrender to His Lordship. Spiritual freedom and victory are not possible if we are resisting God’s authority. Second, we resist. This means to stand against devil’s deceptions and his efforts to intimidate. The Greek word for resist means to “stand against.” Peter said we are to “stand firm in the faith.”We resist Satan by refusing to give in to temptation. We see Jesus doing this in Luke chapter four when Satan came to tempt him. Three times Jesus quotes the Word of God as he resists the devil and stands against him. We resist Satan when we refuse to listen to his lies. In contrast, we fill our hearts and minds with the truth of God’s Word.We resist Satan when we choose to live in obedience to God’s Word. We reject the idea of our culture that we would be happier if we lived according to our own rules.We resist Satan when we remain faithful to God in the face of criticism, attack, persecution, and discouragement.Ephesians 6:13 - “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”What I love about this verse in Ephesians 6 is that it reveals God has given us everything we need to stand our ground and to resist the devil. As believers, we cannot say we are powerless. We cannot say we are incapable of resisting the devil. As long as we put on the armor of God we have the ability to take our stand against the enemy.In Luke 4, where we have the story of Jesus resisting Satan’s temptations, verse 13 says, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.”As Jesus resisted the enemy, he fled. This is the promise for you and I. Now, this doesn’t mean there won’t be future attacks, but when they come, once again we will submit ourselves to God and resist the enemy.I hope you will recognize how truly blessed you are today to have spiritual power and spiritual victory in your life. This blessings have been provided to us by Jesus. It’s up to us to walk in this freedom.Today’s Challenge: If there is an area of your life in which you are being attacked. Put James 4:7 into practice in your life. Submit your life…every area…to God. Resist the enemy. Stand against him. The promise of God is true. The enemy will flee.

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