On Resisting the Devil

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy of: Patrick Fore

"Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

~James 4:7

My husband and I had a great time at a marriage conference last month, but one of the things the conference speaker said instantly stood out to us as not just being wrong, but being seriously wrong and with big ramifications. 

As he was standing there giving an otherwise wonderful speech, he said to us conference attendees, "We give too much power to the devil and attribute too much to him. If we will just ignore him, he will leave us alone."

All the red flags and warning bells began going off in my head as well as my husband's as we turned to each other at the same time and whispered, "That is actually the exact opposite of what the Bible says."

Granted, some people do attribute too much power to the devil and begin quivering in fear when thinking about him or even refusing to pray out loud because they are afraid the enemy will hear their words and thwart their prayers. 

However, we can also make a mistake on the opposite side of the spectrum, as well, and not remember what the Bible does clearly say about his actions and what we are to do to fight back. James clearly tells us that we are to *resist* the devil. That is a different thing altogether than ignoring him! 

Paul concurs with James when he dedicates an entire portion of his letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 6:10-18) writing about how we are to be aware of spiritual warfare, fight back against dark spiritual forces,  and arm ourselves with the full armor of God.

We must make no mistake - we must "be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

I was chatting with some friends while on a girls weekend getaway at the beginning of this month, and we all agreed - spiritual warfare is noticeably increasing, things are getting darker, and the enemy is amping up his attacks and his activity. It is time to resist him, to stand firm, and to armor up. 

To that end, beginning next Tuesday, I will be walking us through a weeks-long series on the Armor of God, dedicating one devotional a week to each piece of the armor that we read about in Ephesians 6. I hope you'll join me and that we'll be able to, together, walk boldly and firmly into the days ahead armored up well for whatever the enemy might try to throw our way. 

Reflection Questions:

1) Have you ever heard the idea that we should just "ignore" the enemy? What do you think about this claim?

2) Are you sensing an increase in spiritual warfare or demonic activity these days? How are you fighting back? 

3) What piece of the armor of God are you most looking forward to learning more about in the weeks ahead?