Submit yourselves therefore to God. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." - James 4:7...Remember to obey the Word of God regardless of what challenges you face in your life. Don't give in to temptation. Don't allow your emotions to cause you to sin. Today's blog entry deals with resisting the devil.
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" - 1 Peter 5:8
It's important as Christians to remember that we have an adversary, the devil, that wants to kill, still and destroy. This does not mean that we should live in fear (See 2 Timothy 1:7), however we should be aware of the type of tactics he uses. Another thing that I want to point out is that we should take responsibility for our actions. If a person commits a sin, they shouldn't have a "the devil made me do it" mindset. Instead they should repent and avoid yielding themselves to the devil. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" - Romans 6:16
When talking about resisting the urge to do something sinful, one of the first things that can come to mind is avoiding sexual sin. And while sexual sin (and all sin) is definitely something that we should avoid, it's important to remember that sexual sin is not the only way that a person can fall into sin. Different people may have different things that trigger them. For instance, some people's challenge may be to resist the urge to go off on the person that just tried to cut in front of them in line at the store (not saying you have to let people cut in front of you, but there's a right and wrong way to address something like that). While another person's challenge may be to resist the urge to gossip about others. The important thing to realize is that sin is sin. Certain types of sins may be talked about more than others, but we should be striving to avoid all sin. We should study/read the Word of God on a regular basis, and apply what it says to our lives. We should spend time in prayer on a regular basis. We should keep Christ first in our lives and have a genuine desire to grow in our relationship with Him.
So let us resist the sinful desires of our flesh, and instead live a lifestyle that is pleasing to Christ.
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." - Matthew 16:24
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" - 1 Peter 5:8
It's important as Christians to remember that we have an adversary, the devil, that wants to kill, still and destroy. This does not mean that we should live in fear (See 2 Timothy 1:7), however we should be aware of the type of tactics he uses. Another thing that I want to point out is that we should take responsibility for our actions. If a person commits a sin, they shouldn't have a "the devil made me do it" mindset. Instead they should repent and avoid yielding themselves to the devil. "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" - Romans 6:16
When talking about resisting the urge to do something sinful, one of the first things that can come to mind is avoiding sexual sin. And while sexual sin (and all sin) is definitely something that we should avoid, it's important to remember that sexual sin is not the only way that a person can fall into sin. Different people may have different things that trigger them. For instance, some people's challenge may be to resist the urge to go off on the person that just tried to cut in front of them in line at the store (not saying you have to let people cut in front of you, but there's a right and wrong way to address something like that). While another person's challenge may be to resist the urge to gossip about others. The important thing to realize is that sin is sin. Certain types of sins may be talked about more than others, but we should be striving to avoid all sin. We should study/read the Word of God on a regular basis, and apply what it says to our lives. We should spend time in prayer on a regular basis. We should keep Christ first in our lives and have a genuine desire to grow in our relationship with Him.
So let us resist the sinful desires of our flesh, and instead live a lifestyle that is pleasing to Christ.
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." - Matthew 16:24