How to submit to God, and what does it mean?

As a Christian you probably have heard many times that you need to submit to God. You may or may not already know what this means or think that you know what it means. But, let me ask you this. Do you know how to submit to God?

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you – James 1:7

MY STORY

I lack self-confidence, and always have. In many areas of my life this is a struggle. It gets better as time goes on because I have learned to submit to God and to trust Him. The point of my personal testimonies is that when we submit to God, we are laying it all on HIM! We are putting our faith in someone other than ourselves. We may be lacking, but God is not!

TESTIMONIES ON SUBMITTING TO GOD

As a parent, I disciplined my children, taught them the bible, to know right from wrong, loved them, and tried to encourage them to make their own choices. I did this not because I had confidence in myself that I would do a good job or because I thought it was the right thing to do, but because I had confidence in God and His will.

I was a stay at home mom for many years. When it was time for me to go back work I didn’t believe that I could do it. I had no self-confidence in myself. The things I would tell myself only made it worse. “Who would want to hire someone who has had no job experience for this many years?” is just one example of things I would tell myself. Instead of talking about my negative thoughts, I will talk about my final thought. “I need to submit to God’s will, because His will is better than mine. If He wants me to work, then He will lead me to the perfect place.”.

My mom’s life on this earth was cut short because of someone else’s negligence. My will is to be angry at that person, to want revenge and to see that justice is done. But when I submit to God I am letting Him take control of it. I give all those feeling to God and I let Him handle it all. This includes bringing peace to my spirit, showing me that good can come from what happened. I am a happier person because I submit to God, and not to myself.

SCRIPTURE

James 4:7

Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

James 4:1-6

Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:8-10

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

WHAT WE NEED TO DO

James 4:7 tells us that we need to submit to God. It also tells us that when we submit to God we need to resist the Devil. We can not listen and follow the devils will and submit to God at the same time. We CAN NOT do both.

THEREFORE

Verse 7 begins with a therefore, so we need to read the verses that are setting the stage for verse 7.

Verses 1-6 are telling us that most of the problems in this world are because we give in to our personal desires. God is a jealous God, and He so desperately wants us to submit to Him instead of our desires and pleasures!

HOW DO I SUBMIT TO GOD

Reading verses 8-10 shows us how we can submit to God.

We submit to God by doing two things. First, we submit to God by drawing near to Him. Secondly, we cleans ourselves from our sins.  

When we draw near to God, He comes closer to us, and the devil gets further away! God has good instore for us. He shows us love and encouragement despite what is going on around us, and He gives a promise that only HE can fulfil. On the flip side, the devil uses our pleasures against us to take us further away God, and that often leaves us with despair, loneliness and hopelessness. This is because we are not looking to the promises of God. The devil clouds our mind, and distorts God.

That brings us to the final point. In order to fully submit to God, we need to put our sins in the past and give them to Jesus. Asking God for forgiveness for those specific sins by name, and telling God that you are going to rely on HIM instead of yourself. This can be anything from anger because of a past experience, to jealousy, to getting drunk, to telling lies, all because you are following your own plan. Give 100% of your plan to God, do not leave a crumb or speck behind! The devil will use that smallest piece to take you away from God, again.  

References:
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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