Resist the Devil and He Shall Flee

James 4:7

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

            In the final battle of "Transformers: The Movie", Optimus Prime and Megatron stand face to face with each other. After a moment, Optimus Prime tells his enemy,"One shall stand, one shall fall." The battle begins and the rock n roll lyrics tell us, "you got the power" as the giant machines crash, smash, and bash each other. Optimus Prime and Megatron hurl each other around until finally, Megatron is lying on the ground and a wounded, weary Optimus Prime is the winner.

            Christians have succumbed to a movie version of Satan that portrays him as being a big, powerful enemy who can easily toss God's people around in a battle. We have to sweat and struggle to win against our towering, formidable enemy just like Optimus Prime struggled against Megatron. However, this is not true! We Christians have been deceived, and who is the biggest deceiver there is? That is right, Satan.

            The word, submit, has a military meaning. A good soldier follows the orders of his commanding officer without questioning him. A good soldier resists, or stands fast in a battle because he is following his orders. Our weapons are not fists, feet, knives, guns, or other weapons. Our weapons are knowledge of the Bible, prayer, and reliance on God.

            When Christians submit to God and resist the devil, the devil will flee. Yes, that's right, Satan will take flight, fly away, scamper off, or run away.  This is not just an assurance from a Biblical writer; it is a promise of God.

             So let us get this television movie version of Satan OUT of our thinking. It is a lie. Again, I ask you, who is the biggest deceiver and liar in the Bible? That is right, it is our foe who rules this world. BUT he cannot defeat us when we have submitted to our heavenly Father and resisted him.

            When a spirit-led, coheir of the heavenly kingdom is wearing the armor of God and stands up against the enemy; he will flee, run away, take flight, or scamper off. Satan cannot make Christians do anything.

            I feel like standing up and cheering aloud. Oh yeah! I am the winner in this fight every time! I can just picture myself standing toe to toe with the Deceiver and claiming God's promise by saying, " I am holding fast against you. You cannot defeat me because I am a child of God!" Then the enemy will turn around and scamper away in full flight from the power of God's promise that I just proclaimed.    

Update 6/4/2013
I want to share another devotional with you from one of the Girlfriends in God - Sharon Jaynes. Sharon knows you have to take a stand against the enemy too. Her scripture is Ephesians 6 and the title is, Lessons from a Dirt Clod Fight