Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
James 4:7-10 (NKJV)
Boy, we love this “resist the devil” scripture. What awesome authority we have over the enemy. Unfortunately, seldom do we approach this verse in context. The scripture prior to verse seven speaks of the necessity of humility if our lives. Pride is a plague in the life of a believer, yet it runs rampant in the Church.
Before you can resist the devil, you must submit yourself to God. Before you can submit yourself to God, you must humble (die to) yourself and lay down your pride. We don’t get the luxury of just jumping to the resisting/authority part. Your authority over the enemy is only as strong as your willingness to humble yourself before God! Let that sink in. It stung a little as I typed it.
We’ve got to stop claiming and seeking authority over the enemy when we haven’t first positioned ourself humbly before the King. Being filled with the Spirit doesn’t mean you’re not also filled with some pride. “I’m preaching to myself up in here…” (Pastor Shawn quote) Correct positioning is everything. Get it out of order… and you’ll find yourself getting your butt kicked.