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James 4:7-10, part 3, James 4:8-10
As we pick up with lesson 3, the final lesson in this mini-series of James 4:7-10, we will look at James 4:8-10 today and put this lesson from James all together. To review; first, in James 4:7a we learned that we need to submit to God and seek His will for our lives before we can expect to grow in our relationships with God through our salvation in Jesus. In the second part of this mini-series we learned that through our submission to God we can then resist the devil. It is through God that we can resist the devil and not of our “self” as God and Satan are both more powerful than we could ever be by our “self.” As we submit our lives to God, we can then stand against the wiles of the devil as God has promised us that He will not allow Satan to tempt us beyond what we are able to bear if we will keep our focus on Jesus.
In James 4:8-10 James teaches us that if we seek God or as the NKJV text states, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” God wants his children to seek Him – a relationship takes/requires both parties to participate in order to have a relationship. God is not calling us to seek Him first as He has already poured out His love to us in sending His one and only Son to pay the price for our sins on the cross through His sinless death. Jesus was then raised from the dead to show us that death nor sin nor the devil has power over Him – He holds the keys to life eternal; He came to save us from sin and His eventual wrath against sin. He came to us first. He waits for us to respond to Him and accept His great love for us by opening our hearts to Jesus and seeking His will for our lives in submission to Him in our obedience to Him. Once we get to this point He will then begin working through our lives to help us stand in the face of temptation as we stand in our confidence in Jesus and the victory in which He has already obtained and now shares with all who will believe in Him.
James calls those who are not living in submission to God to cleanse their hands and purify their hearts (James 4:8) as he refers to them as being “double-minded.” James calls those to weep and turn their laughter of the sinfulness to sadness as they realize their sinful ways (James 4:9). And the big key to putting all of these three lessons together is found in James 4:10, and that is to grasp humility.
This is a command to submit to God, resist the devil, and humble one “self” to God.
This is a promise of growth in our relationship with God if we will obey the command.
If we can bring ourselves low enough to grasp humility, God will then begin to build us up in our new life in Christ Jesus. He will then be able to begin letting us and helping us to grow in our relationship with Him. Submit to God, resist the devil through our submission to God, and humble ourselves to God in giving up our “self” and by seeking His will for our lives. Do these three things and you will begin to grow in your relationship with God, and you will begin to see how the Lord will work wonderful things through your life – in Christ.
Dear LORD,
These three lessons by James are a lot to take in and will cause internal conflict as Satan will be sure to fight back when he sees us drawing closer to You in our relationship with our Savior Jesus. But You are Almighty God and You have promised to be with us and never leave us through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit. It is through Your great power that the devil is defeated, and it is through Your great power that You require our submission to You in the obedience that overcomes sin through salvation in Your one and only Son Jesus whom You sent to save the world from sin (John 3:16-17). Please give us understanding in this so that we may grow in our relationships with You and overcome the wiles of the devil, and in so bring glory to You through our lives. In Jesus name I pray, amen.