Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people! James 4:7-8 HCSB
Have you ever been really focused on something and someone asks you to do something? Your response may be, “not now”. Well, this is the same response that we need to give to the devil when we are tempted.
One of the biggest mistakes that a new believer can make is to underestimate the devil. You see, once we accept Christ as our savior, the devil becomes angry. He feels like he had you, but now he has lost you. He wants you back. He will stop at nothing to get you to backslide. He wants to see you fail. When he comes at you, you must be prepared to say “not now”.
An example of this is when I rededicated my life to Christ. I had never left the church. I attended every couple weeks. I only went on Sunday mornings and only to church, never to Sunday School. I loved the Lord, but I loved the world too. I was trying to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. It wasn’t working so well. I came to the realization that I had to commit my life to Christ. So, that’s what I did. Well, obviously this didn’t make the devil such a happy camper.
I had committed to attending Sunday School, church, and Sunday night worship service. I also committed to Wednesday night prayer meetings. I knew I needed a whole lot of Jesus. Shortly after I made this commitment, I left my house on a beautiful Sunday morning for the 5 minute drive to Sunday School. I encountered a road block just up the road from my house. I took a detour and went around on another road. I made the circle and came back to the road that would lead to church only to encounter another road block. I had to turn around and go about 8 more miles out of the way. But when I turned around for my second detour, I was really frustrated. For a millisecond, the thought crossed my mind that I should just go home and try again next week. However, it was at this point that I realized that this thought came straight from the devil. The devil wanted me to turn around, go home, curl up on my couch and watch a movie and just relax. At this point, I said out loud to the devil, “I am going to church if I have to go 60 miles out of my way. I am going even if I get there just as they are dismissing. Nothing is going to stop me”. After I made this statement I prayed for God to remove any further obstructions and started on my second detour. It was smooth sailing. I arrived at church about 10 minutes late, but I made it. I resisted the devil and he left me alone at least for that time.
The devil wants us to return to our old sinful self. He wants us to join him in his misery. John 10:10 tells us that he wants to kill, steal, and destroy. He wants to kill our desire to do good. He wants to steal our joy and most importantly, he wants to destroy our witness. We have to make a conscious decision to tell the devil, “not now”. We have to make a conscious decision to resist him and to draw near to God.
If you are a Christian that has the battle scars to prove that you have done battle with the devil, mentor a new Christian. When we accept Christ as our savior, it is a wonderful experience. It is easy to get caught up in the euphoria of being made new. But we must be on our guard. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are told to be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
The first thing we should do each day is arm ourselves against the devil. Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us just how to do that using the armor that God provides. I strongly encourage you to be prepared as you go out each day to face whatever the devil throws your way. Be ready to say, “not now” to the devil. Be prepared to resist him and make him flee. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. He will protect you from the devil if you choose to take shelter in Him (Psalm 91:1).
Have a great day!