“Resistant”

For those who don’t know, Minnesota is one of the states that makes up part of the northern border of the United States. Being so far north, winter’s in Minnesota will set in early, and leave later than most of the rest of the country. Snow will often cover the ground for nearly half of the year in the northern part of the state, and those of us who live here know the importance of “waterproof” winter clothing, especially gloves. They certainly are a must-have item for children who spend hours outside playing in the snow. Give a child a regular pair of gloves and send them outside and they will soon reappear a short while later with cold, wet hands as a result of the wet snow that soaks all the way through the once-dry gloves.

But give them a pair of waterproof, or “water resistant” gloves and they will be able to play for hours, while keeping nice, warm, dry hands. Because of the plastic liner sewn into the gloves, the water is unable to make your hands wet. It is like a water shield. It resists water, and that is the topic here today. Resisting the devil.

James 4:7  “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

When you look up the word “resist” it is defined as “to withstand the actions of; to oppose.” The opposite would be to obey, or submit. And just another quick example but if someone is “resisting arrest” they are withstanding or fighting against a law officer’s authority to arrest them. They are not submitting to the officer.

As we learned from the Apostle James, we need to resist the devil. We need to withstand his temptations that he places in front of us, and not allow him to deceive us into sinning against God. The devil is referred to as a roaring lion that goes about seeking to destroy. He will try to destroy a person’s faith in Jesus through many different ways, attacking a person when and where they are the weakest.

1 Peter 5:8-10  “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

We need to remain strong, and rock-solid in our faith. We need to be like a pair of those water-resistant gloves, and not allow any of the devil’s attacks to come through and damage our faith. We can do this by taking up the shield of faith. With it equipped, we will be able to deflect away all of the “fiery darts” that the devil throws our way.

Ephesians 6:16  “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”

Only a fool would go into a battle without some kind of armor or some way to protect themself. Prepare yourself today, and arm yourself with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, put on your spiritual armor so that you can resist the devil when the time comes, because when we resist the devil, he will flee from us.

In Christ,

Andrew