James 4:7

James 4:7

Thoughts from Chelsee Sanchez

Dive Deeper

Captive- Swipe
Slide

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

James 4:7

Captive- Behing The Scenes
Slide

The book of James was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, the son of Mary. Can you imagine growing up with God incarnate? I don’t know about you, but as much as I love my siblings, there is still a natural competition and perhaps some jealousy. Multiply that by infinity if you’re the half-brother of the Word come to life.

Slide

Of course, James didn’t believe that his brother was the son of God – at first. In fact, I wonder if it wasn’t until James saw and experienced the risen Christ before he fully believed. Can you picture him looking back on their childhood and thinking, “oh that makes a lot of sense now”? Nonetheless, James grew up with and watched Jesus grow up and live. Because Jesus was God incarnate, He was perfect. He walked, lived, and thought perfectly. No pressure for James!

Slide

But as James looked back and recalled all the ways that Jesus conducted His life, perhaps he got a sense of how we are all to live. The book of James addresses Godly behavior and was addressed to the church at large, not just a single congregation as many of the Epistles were. It has sometimes been dubbed “The Proverbs of the New Testament” -- A guide on how to live and what the fruit of our faith should look like.

Slide

In our verse today, James is calling us to live a better life, not succumbing to the pressures of the world. In verse four he says, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Our verse today tells us how to live that better life, “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Captive- Make It Real
Slide

The word submit here means to put in order under. I really love that picture because as we submit to the world, we come to disorder because we align ourselves under the ruler of chaos. Okay, read that again – if we don’t align ourselves under God, we automatically, unknowingly align ourselves under the enemy. Well, that’s a disturbing thought. But when we align ourselves under God, we are set right because God is a God of order. One way or the other, we are submitting to something. So to make sure we are aligned where we can thrive and live abundantly, we need to resist – to stand and set ourselves against the enemy.

Slide

Throughout this whole series, we have been talking about being captive under something. Captive to fear, worry, pride, the world…this week we want to see what it looks like to be captive to Christ. You see, it’s one or the other. We can’t be captive to the world and to Christ. We have to choose, and then we have to work for it. I think too often we as Christians just want the “easy button”. Okay, we accepted you Jesus, now take away all my problems and give me a life of ease. It just doesn’t work that way, at least not on this side of Heaven.

Slide

So we have to be willing to do the work. In doing research for this devo, I came across this article, “Six Ways to Take Your Thoughts Captive”, and I really like the suggestions – so here goes.

1. Accept responsibility for your thoughts. Are you willing to admit that you can, with God's help, regain control of your thoughts - and think enabling thoughts instead of disabling ones?

2. You must change your mind, not just your behavior. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Changing your mind is the first step in changing your behavior.

3. Think through your problems rather than just react to them. Remember that nothing that happens to us or around us surprises God. Look to Him and ask Him to show you the right course of action. Pray, read His Word, talk to Godly friends, and then take an intentional action.

4. Take your disabling thoughts captive through confession. With the help of the Holy Spirit, identify if the thought or feeling is a lie and then counter it with the Truth. For example, “I’m worthless.” First Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

5. Choose to focus your thoughts on the right things. We are to think about those things that are "true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable" (Phil. 4:8). When we think about those things, God promises to give us His peace. What a contrast that is to the thoughts of millions of people today.

6. It IS possible. It’s not easy but it is simple to retrain your brain to think worthy thoughts and therefore submit yourselves to God. If you are a believer, God has already given you the power to do so through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Pray for Him to equip and empower you to be captive to Christ.

Slide

What is one way from the above list that you can begin to live in full submission to Jesus? What would this look like a week from now? A month from now? A year from now? Are you willing to do the work?

Captive- End in Prayer
Slide

Father help us! We want to be fully surrendered to You and Your ways. We want to take captive our thoughts, our worries, our fears, our pride and align ourselves under Your Holy ways, but Lord it’s hard. Give us the strength, the tools, and the desires to work toward full submission to You. We know that Your ways are for our good and for our abundant living. Help us to throw off the lies of the world and resist the enemy. We love You and pray all of this is the might name of Jesus! AMEN!!

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“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” 

James 4:7 

Behind the Scenes

The book of James was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, the son of Mary. Can you imagine growing up with God incarnate? I don’t know about you, but as much as I love my siblings, there is still a natural competition and perhaps some jealousy. Multiply that by infinity if you’re the half-brother of the Word come to life.  

 

Of course, James didn’t believe that his brother was the son of God – at first. In fact, I wonder if it wasn’t until James saw and experienced the risen Christ before he fully believed. Can you picture him looking back on their childhood and thinking, “oh that makes a lot of sense now”? Nonetheless, James grew up with and watched Jesus grow up and live. Because Jesus was God incarnate, He was perfect. He walked, lived, and thought perfectly. No pressure for James!  

 

But as James looked back and recalled all the ways that Jesus conducted His life, perhaps he got a sense of how we are all to live. The book of James addresses Godly behavior and was addressed to the church at large, not just a single congregation as many of the Epistles were. It has sometimes been dubbed “The Proverbs of the New Testament” — A guide on how to live and what the fruit of our faith should look like.  

 

In our verse today, James is calling us to live a better life, not succumbing to the pressures of the world. In verse four he says, “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Our verse today tells us how to live that better life, “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  

Make it Real

The word submit here means to put in order under. I really love that picture because as we submit to the world, we come to disorder because we align ourselves under the ruler of chaos. Okay, read that again – if we don’t align ourselves under God, we automatically, unknowingly align ourselves under the enemy. Well, that’s a disturbing thought. But when we align ourselves under God, we are set right because God is a God of order. One way or the other, we are submitting to something. So to make sure we are aligned where we can thrive and live abundantly, we need to resist – to stand and set ourselves against the enemy.  

 

Throughout this whole series, we have been talking about being captive under something. Captive to fear, worry, pride, the world…this week we want to see what it looks like to be captive to Christ. You see, it’s one or the other. We can’t be captive to the world and to Christ. We have to choose, and then we have to work for it. I think too often we as Christians just want the “easy button”. Okay, we accepted you Jesus, now take away all my problems and give me a life of ease. It just doesn’t work that way, at least not on this side of Heaven. 

 

So we have to be willing to do the work. In doing research for this devo, I came across this article, “Six Ways to Take Your Thoughts Captive”, and I really like the suggestions – so here goes.  

  1. Accept responsibility for your thoughts. Are you willing to admit that you can, with God’s help, regain control of your thoughts – and think enabling thoughts instead of disabling ones? 
  2. You must change your mind, not just your behavior. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Changing your mind is the first step in changing your behavior. 
  3. Think through your problems rather than just react to them. Remember that nothing that happens to us or around us surprises God. Look to Him and ask Him to show you the right course of action. Pray, read His Word, talk to Godly friends, and then take an intentional action. 
  4. Take your disabling thoughts captive through confession. With the help of the Holy Spirit, identify if the thought or feeling is a lie and then counter it with the Truth. For example, “I’m worthless.” First Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 
  5. Choose to focus your thoughts on the right things. We are to think about those things that are “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable” (Phil. 4:8). When we think about those things, God promises to give us His peace. What a contrast that is to the thoughts of millions of people today. 
  6. It IS possible. It’s not easy but it is simple to retrain your brain to think worthy thoughts and therefore submit yourselves to God. If you are a believer, God has already given you the power to do so through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Pray for Him to equip and empower you to be captive to Christ. 

 

What is one way from the above list that you can begin to live in full submission to Jesus? What would this look like a week from now? A month from now? A year from now? Are you willing to do the work? 

Colleen McGeorge

Colleen McGeorge

ACF Devo team

End in Prayer

Father help us! We want to be fully surrendered to You and Your ways. We want to take captive our thoughts, our worries, our fears, our pride and align ourselves under Your Holy ways, but Lord it’s hard. Give us the strength, the tools, and the desires to work toward full submission to You. We know that Your ways are for our good and for our abundant living. Help us to throw off the lies of the world and resist the enemy. We love You and pray all of this is the might name of Jesus! AMEN!! 

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