| James 4:7-8 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. SUBMIT Strong's: Hupotasso - hoop ot as’ so To subordinate (place in or occupy a lower class, rank or position; submissive to or controlled by authority); reflexively, to obey; -- be under obedience (obedient), put under, subdue unto (be, make) subject (to, unto), be (put) in subjection (to, under), submit self unto. I must choose to submit / place myself in the proper position / obey God. Which, by the way, is not such a bad thing. But it is a choice I must make daily (if not hourly). Now let’s watch and see what happens if I do submit……………. RESIST Strong's: Anthistemmi - anth is tay mee To stand against; i.e. oppose – resist, withstand Okay, if I will but resist satan, the word says he WILL flee…not might…not could…but he will flee. Amen! What better promise could I ask for? Just the pleasure of seeing him run, instead of him tormenting me. Sounds like a better idea than allowing him to run over me . DEVIL Strong's: Diabolos dee ab’ ol os A traducer; specially, satan – false accuser, devil, slanderer Devil…..satan…….I hate him. He only causes torment in my life. I will be the first to admit that I have allowed him to torment me. True, satan can only do what God allows, but even when God allows, He also provides me a way to withstand satans attacks and schemes. My wish is to always be aware of his schemes and strategies so I can render him a failure in each attack. FLEE Strong's: Pheugo fyoo’ go To run away; to vanish – escape Flee…now that is what I want to see satan do. RUN! And this I am promised if I only submit and resist. Hehe, the thought of the coward running is wonderful. He cannot stand beside God. He is nothing. NIGH (NEAR) Strong's: Eggizo - eng id’ zo To make near; approach, be at hand, come (draw) near, be (come, draw) nigh Hmm…sounds good…draw near…… Just the idea of drawing near to God is so “warm”, “comforting”, “peaceful”……..well, you fill in the blank _____. This is where I choose to be…near God. I have felt separated from God and distanced from Him too much. Near Him is where I like it…close to Him…being in the presence of genuine love…being in a place that I am actually wanted…treasured. Yes…this is the position I want to be in. CLEANSE Strong's: Katharizo - kath ar id’ zo To cleanse; make clean, purge, purify I must cleanse, purge, my hands of all evil intentions and all evil thoughts and ways..,.causing them to become pure. Yes, doing this so there will be no separation…willingly doing this because I love God. PURIFY Strong's: Hagnizo - hag nid zo To make clean, sanctify Ahh yes, the heart…it must also be pure in order to approach God. Sanctify…..set apart….makes sense. If I don’t want to be separated from the presence of God, my heart must be set apart. I only want pure things coming out of my heart. HEART Strong's: Kardia - kar dee’ ah The heart, i.e. the thoughts or feelings (mind) My thoughts or feelings….now this is tricky….just watch………… My thoughts & feelings must be pure. I do understand that my thoughts must be pure…yes a renewed mind with all thoughts taken captive to the obedience of Christ. Thinking only of pure, lovely, right, true, etc things. Not negative or cruel things. BUT! Keep my feelings pure? I have been dealing with the issue of “feeling”. This word “feeling” will be studied more in depth. DOUBLE-MINDED Strong's: Two spirited; i.e. vacillating in opinion or purpose I must NOT be changing back and forth in my beliefs or simply the way I am living. This makes God sick…be one way or the other. I cannot one day be on fire for God and then the next not care. It won’t play…just don’t get it…there is no way this can be and be true devotion. I have been reading the above verses for a couple of days. I just wasn’t allowed to pass them by and not study them closer. My “commentary” of what they mean to me is only a brief statement of what they really mean to me. I probably need to come back later and add more to this. The commands in these verses seem simple……they are…….but at the same time, they are made hard to do, in my mind. I guess this is why I could not pass them by. God wanted me to look deeper. Umm, He’s not through with theses verses as far as I am concerned yet. No…not yet……….. Blessed Beyond Measure! Becky
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