Resist Leads to Restoration

Something happens when we keep seeking God and resisting the devil. Scripture says that when we resist the devil that he will flee. Flee: to shun, to avoid by flight.

1 Peter 5:8-11~ 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

James 4:7~ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

In both passages, we see the word "resist". Resist: Withstand, oppose… to stand against.

In order for the devil to flee like we want, we need to resist the devil: to stand against him. We need to withstand the devil. We need to withstand his taunts. When I was going through one study, I realized how important it is to have on the armor of God. The armor of God is to protect us from the devil's taunts.

Ephesians 6 lists the important equipment we need to have on:

1) Belt of truth (vs. 14): We have to have it "around our waist". What good is it if we have a Bible, but we do not have God's Word hidden in our heart? We will not be able to combat the devil's lies. John 8:44 reminds us that "there is no truth in him (the devil)… and he is the father of lies." The only way to combat the devil's lies is with God's truth--truth that is found only in the Bible.

2) Breastplate of righteousness (vs. 14): it is our protection. Our garments have to be of righteousness. If we are not walking in the light and disciplined in the Word, how can we ever survive the temptations of the Devil? Even Jesus was tempted. Only through obedience and reliance on the Lord God Almighty! See Matt. 4 and Heb. 4.

3) Fitted with the readiness (vs. 15): We must be ready. 1 Peter 5:8-9 particularly bring home this truth. Unless we are ready/on guard, we will be devoured by the Devil. Jesus calls His disciples to be "watchful and pray". To endure until the end, we must be on guard. The Devil can attack at any time!

4) Shield of faith (vs. 16): We must keep the faith. So often the Devil will haunt us with things from our past. The Devil will make accusations against us. He wants us to forget that we have been set free!!

5) Helmet of Salvation (vs. 17): Salvation has been brought to all men. Only Christ can save! The Devil wants us to drop our weapons, and he will taunt us any way that he can. He will use anything he thinks he can. We must stay in God's holy Word, in fellowship with Him, and other believers! We must keep our head on straight. Fighting the good fight. We will win in the end. We need to keep our head up and our eyes focused on Christ, and Christ alone! The Bible is our weapon. We cannot allow ourselves to focus on self or feelings, but keep ourselves focused on HIM!!

James 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:7-10 share one theme: resisting the devil. James tells us this is when the devil will flee, Peter then tells us that we are ministered to by God. God will restore us at the proper time. He will make us strong, firm, and steadfast! In the King James Version, it says it a different way: "After we have suffered a while, [Jesus would] make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle you." It gives more detail as to what it would look like. It gives a glimpse of that beautiful restoration we experience after a time of trial whether it is tragedy or a different sort of trial. After a while, He WILL (it is a promise!) mend what is broken, make us stable, strengthen our weary soul, and settle us!

The steps (May we not forget one…): Look diligently at James 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:7-10. What are those steps?

Stay watchful.

If we are not watchful:

Trial comes
Devil taunts.

Devil seeks to destroy us (John 10).

We must be diligent!

We must stay on our guard!

We must remember the armor God has given us, to protect us from the Devil and his taunts.

We need to evaluate our lives!

1) Are we armed with the truth? Are we daily seeking God in His Word and seeking out fellowship and accountability with other believers?? Are we believing any of the Devil's lies?

2) Are we seeking to be obedient to God?

3) Are we living by genuine faith? 

4) Are we  standing on our guard, so we are ready? Are we "being watchful and in prayer"?
 

5) Are we believing Him for His salvation that can only come by recognizing we are a sinner and Jesus Christ came to pay the price for our sin?