Keys to Living in victory
James 4:7 (AMP)
7 So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.
A mother ordered her disobedient son to sit in a corner. After a couple of minutes of sitting, the boy told his mother, “I’m sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside!”
Can one obey without submitting? I think the young man in the story above clearly illustrates that yes one can seemingly obey yet they have not submitted. To obey is an outward action that people see but submission has to do with the heart and attitude. You can obey but with a rotten attitude is that then submission?
To submit is to yield to a higher force or to the will or authority of another. If you and I want to walk in victory then the first place to start is in the place of submission to the authority of God over our lives. We have to accept that His ways are higher than ours and that His will is superior to ours. You and I have to willingly live our life according to His direction and instruction and everything we do has to stem from the drive of wanting to fulfil His purpose even when it hurts or does not make sense. Like Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, we have to come to the place we say not my will by thine be done!
God does not want to force us into submitting because then though we would obey our hearts would not be in it. Our submission to his authority has to be wilful it has to be a personal decision out of which then we walk in obedience without having someone with a stick following us all the time to make sure we do it. This is where faith kicks in because we cannot see God and as the bible says;
Hebrews 11:6 (AMP)
6 But without faith, it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.
To submit to the authority of God is not a place of weakness neither is it a position of oppression. This is a place of victory a place where we can now effectively fight the enemy of our souls, the devil. It is not just a place of victory but a place of guaranteed victory each time every time.
Take Out;
To live a victorious life you first have to submit to the authority of God because it is only when you do so that He can cover you, it is only from that position that you can say that the battle belongs to the Lord it is only then that you can be under the shadow of His wings. Once you submit to God then you can resist the devil.
Remember;
Psalm 91:4
He will cover you and completely protect you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and a wall.
