Several years ago, Cindy and I had the awesome opportunity to spend about three weeks in Israel and Jordan. We had a time of worship on a boat on Sea of Galilee. We read the story of his death and resurrection in the Church built to commemorate the location of Christ’s crucifixion and burial. We were able to walk in the places Jesus walked. That was the biggest challenge of our time there. Not that we were where Jesus ministered, but the walking part.
In every one of our training sessions before we left, our instructor told us to build up our stamina by walking and climbing stairs. Israel and Jordan or mountainous and we did a lot of uphill climbing. So, for weeks, Cindy and I came out to Murray Church about every day and walked through the building. Even with this prep, there were still days we did not feel ready. Unfortunately, there was one couple with us who were just a bit older. They had been given the same warning but thought their daily dog walking stroll would be enough preparation. Our first day, we toured the old city of Jerusalem, climbing from the Kidron Valley up to Mt. Zion. This couple were so worn out from that first day’s walk that they never got off the bus for the rest of our trip. Some days, they never left the hotel.
The point is, there are things we encounter in this life that require us to be prepared before we face them. If we wait too long to prepare, we may miss the opportunity to experience the greatest benefit.This is most evident in our Spiritual journey. You and I, as Christ followers are in a battle, in a Spiritual warfare. In this conflict, we have no idea when the next attack will come. We must be ready to respond at any moment. This can only happen if we are diligent in our preparation during those times of peace. This requires a choice. If we choose to develop our spiritual strength and allow God to be in control, we will be ready when called on to do battle.
James 4:7-10, gives us a formula for this process. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Submit literally means “to put in the right order”. I used to see a bumper sticker that said, “God is my copilot.” No! God is the one in control, I am the one to follow.
We are told to resist the Devil. This is not a battle for us to engage face to face. We must use the power and authority of Christ to resist. Ephesians 6:13-18 gives us the tools we use for this. This is the list of armor God provides for our battle. Read it and notice that it is instruction for pursuing God. Our best defense against the attacks is to have a firm foundation of faith. The only offensive weapon is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Jesus defeated Satan by quoting scripture in Matthew 4. The result is, Satan will flee.
How do we do this? There is a list of instructions. To wash your hands means to get rid of known sin. Purifying your heart requires filling it with God stuff. Grieve, morn and wail are referring to the breaking of your spirit or releasing control. Humility brings us back to where we started, putting ourselves in the right order with God.
God wants to be on top because he has the better view from up there. We say we believe God has all power, and is eternal, with full knowledge of everything that ever has and ever will take place in my life. I have none of those. If we believe these things about God and understand these things about ourselves, we realize that God is the practical choice for being in control of our lives? True repentance means turning away from everything that will destroy us and moving toward the God that will give us a full life now and perfection for all eternity.