Mood:
not sureTopic: Battle Going On
The Subject: There is a battle going on.
In the book of James, we find he is talking to the church, not to the world. The people of the world, he already has in the palm of his hands, if Satan already has you then there is no need for a fight. He's happy, but it's God children he wants, so there is a battle going on. There are two kinds of battles. There is the natural battle like they are having over in Israel and there is the spiritual battles we go through. We could say we are in a war zone. If we resist Satan we are in a battle and if we submit ourselves to God there is a battle going on. For as soon as we resist Satan, war has been declared. If we submit ourselves to Jesus war has been declared. James tells us here in the 4th chapter of the book of James to submit ourselves to Jesus, and resist Satan. So war is inevitable, and the Battle has begun. From the way the world is going it seems like most people would rather resist Jesus, and submit themselves to Satan. That way they would not have to have all the war fare that goes on in our everyday life. But think about it....What would we have instead ? Spiritual Death. Do people find it easier to submit to Satan than to Jesus? Yes, I know, I used that name. In this warfare we are going through we have to make decisions everyday, which, sometimes we don't like to make. It's so much easier to give in, and give up, than to fight. Paul said, " the good fight of faith." I wonder sometimes if we ever stop in our busy life style to think on these two words, Submit and resist? I think sometimes we just read over them on our way to something else more interesting. The Def. of submit is: Surrender, compel, Give in, yield. The Def. for Resist is: Resist, fight, oppose, withstand, hold off, and stand up against. It seem sometimes that people are doing just the oppose. They seem to be submitting to Satan and resisting God. There is an old gospel song titled: " I surrender all " But do we ? and if so, then to whom do we surrender? The Def. for all is: Total, entire, everything, complete. In other words nothing else left to surrender. Not just what we want to give up, but give it all over to Jesus. All means All. I think that most people think we are saved, that we are alright. No need to worry, we have it made. But our souls cry out, I haven't made it yet. I'm still in need. The Apostle Paul, one of the greatest apostles said, "I haven't it yet." In reality, do we surrender all? Or are we too much an adult to humble ourselves before God? Are we too rich, too well educated, too worldly, to place our trust in a God whom we cannot see or touch. Do we think we are too smart to fall for a line like that? Is the "Christian", or Being, "Spiritual," a state or condition of the mind of man, or a state or condition of the soul of man? Which one guides our very existence? How many people do you know that would own up-to submitting themselves to the devil, and resisting Jesus? Not many if any. When a person kills another human being they are killing one of God's creation. Tell me then who are they submitting to, Jesus or Satan? Those same people who say that they would never serve the devil, are doing so by doing his will. Do we really submit ourselves to Jesus, totally and completely? Do we believe that something is too small for Jesus to know about, or too large to perform? Many say " I want Jesus will to be done in my life." But, yet they still refuse to let his will be done in their lives. Do we really yield to him? Do we surrender to his will, or " our will be done?" Do we really resist Satan? The Bible tells us to resist Satan, but how hard, how often, do we oppose him, stand up to him, fight him, or do we wilt like a flower in a drought. Maybe we are afraid of making him mad. The only thing worse than a mad devil is a mad God, which one are we trying to please? Most people find it easier to give in than to resist him. Could the answer lie within the nature of mankind? We were born with that Adams nature. Paul said," In my flesh dwells no good thing." It seems that man wants to hang onto that scripture, as an excuse to keep resisting Jesus and submitting themselves to Satan. This body of ours can indeed be a body of death, but only if we allow it to be. Remember, Jesus came to save us from our sins, not in our sins, and for him to do his work in our lives, we must submit ourselves to him, and then resist the devil. Before anyone can ever hope to resist the devil, we have to submit our lives, our mind, our heart, our body, and soul to God. It is Jesus that will fight our battles for us. God did not promise us a rose garden. Just what are we to submit to Jesus? First, our minds, our thought, or spiritual heart. For he who controls the mind, also controls the rest of the body, for our minds, our brains, our intellect, controls our thoughts, our actions, our desires, our members. The Bible tells us that our mind has to be transformed or renewed. What enters into our mind? Everything, and anything, all things. Our minds is a waste station. Our minds try to come up with the right solutions, what is right and what is wrong. Genesis 6:5 "and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually." And this was only in the sixth chapter of Genesis, it didn't take long for the war to start, did it? Def: of Imagination; fantasy, Illusion, dream world. This is a royal battle, that we are in for our souls. We are in the middle of a tug of war, between the Lord pulling one way, and Satan pulling the other, between the good and evil, both sides wants us, and our soul hangs in the balance, which way are we going to decide? Our souls are the Trophy for either God or Satan. Who are we going to submit ourselves to? Def: for Soul: is the seat of our affections. Desires, emotions, and the will of man. On one side there is light, and hope, on the other side there is only darkness, and despire. On one side there is eternal life with Jesus, on the other side, only death. The Bible tells us, "The wages of sin is death." The battle is not over, we are in it every day, whether we realize it or not. It is our choice to make which one we want. For God will not force anyone to serve him.
Note: Updated 7/30/2006
Posted By Michael Neal, Written By Sister Betty Neal
