James 4:1-10 (See the full context)

“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?² Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.³ Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.⁴ Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.⁵ Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?⁶ But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.⁸ Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.⁹ Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

One anothering..   one of the key core elements of true fellowship in Christ….   What insights can be gleaned from these verses, simply packed with wisdom and power to overcome and live as God would have us live.    So much of the strife we see within the church is simply the result of a bunch of believers refusing to get spiritual and choosing instead to remain carnal minded…    This week it struck me that one of the repeating themes is the need to be humble….   Again and again, the Bible brings us back to this place, meekness and humility are essential for Kingdom life.

What does it mean to submit to God?   I think for starters, it means we must listen to, believe  and obey His Word without altering to accommodate our own understanding, viewpoint and life experiences.   We must submit to Him and His Word as the Authority above all others.  And when He has declared something, that we must abide by His command.

Sounds simple, but the reality is we like to complicate it, and we have lots of help in doing this.    We have well-meaning friends and thoughts in our own mind keeping us even from doing the first step, listening and really hearing what the Word states so simply.. I am reminded of the serpent in the garden sowing doubt and rebellion into the hearts of man “Did God really say…”    I have grown weary of any argument that starts with any variation of these words.  ” But we must consider the entire nature of God and can assume”…. Stop… We cannot assume anything.    “I know the Word says that but surely the Lord’s is big enough to understand how under these circumstances…”    The reality is God’s compassion, love and grace were all expressed by Jesus in ways that could be perceived as harsh and uncompassionate from our human perspective, and yet because it was Jesus who did and said these things, we know He did them perfectly, full of love, grace and mercy.   While we might not be struck dead as were Ananias and Sapphira, every choice we make when we choose worldy over Holy, self over God, curse over blessing, it costs the Kingdom.  It was a moment when that person, that circumstance, that tragedy, that fear, that whatever it was, could have had an encounter with the Living God.   God’s plan is big enough to handle our humanness, Praise Him for His great mercy, grace and provision, but let us never deceive ourselves into believing it costs nothing when we disobey.   Praise the Lord that we are to “forget the things that are behind” (Philippians 3:13) and press forward.  Confess, repent and press on, setting your hearts and your all on following Jesus.   Your next choice is now, your next opportunity to choose Kingdom is right in front of you.

Matthew 17:17 “Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.”  And this addressed to His own disciples.

What about those pesky symptoms, the cough that keeps rearing its ugly head, the headache, soreness, stiffness, weakness, whatever it feels like that whispers to you all day long, the Word of God cannot be true, see, i am here, i am established, you are sick…  these sensations,  and the mindsets and emotions like fear, doubt and worry that accompany them are little mini witnesses that are accusing God and calling Him a liar… persistently, relentlessly, repeatedly trying to convince you that they have power over the living God, that they were the victors in the great battle that was waged during the death and resurrection of Christ….   All of us are going to have to dig deep at some point and fully submit to God’s Word if we want to live in the centre of His plan for our lives.  Each of these situations is an awesome OPPORTUNITY…  Yes truly an opportunity, to “Deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Jesus”.   It is a place that we all must pass through to enter into His rest, His Peace and the secret place of the Most High.   So why not take the next opportunity you get to go there.

“Taking every thought captive” means that no thought other than what is biblical and good and praise worthy (Philippians 4) gets airtime in your brain.  literally rebuke (with your mouth and verbally) any thought or symptom that tries.   “No, I refuse to think you, you are a lie and not from God, I choose…. “and then find a verse to use to combat that temptation, that lie that symptom.   As many times as that thought or symptom rears its ugly head, knock it out with the Word of God and praise.    God thought of every temptation you would ever face and has a promise in his Word somewhere that will strengthen you and equip you for victory over whatever it is you are facing.  It means zero tolerance for aches, and pains, sickness disease, any fruit of sin and evil that is trying to get established in your body.    Your faith will grow by leaps and bounds as you enter into God’s power and will and you see the mountains of your life defeated and overcome.

Matthew 12:25

“Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart.”

Brothers and Sisters, let us cry out for full restoration, for “God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven”, let us never be satisfied without having come into an intimate relationship with our Lord, Abba, Father, without having received a full revelation of His love, let us never be satisfied so long as the enemy has even one single foothold left in our hearts, church or bodies.    Let us enter into to all that the Good Lord has planned for us, with praises and thanksgiving, power, healings, ,miracles, saved and redeemed lives, love unconditional abounding every place we go and rippling out in our wake.