Resistance

Resistance by Don Vess

Jesus said, in John 8:31-32 Amp “…if you abide in My Word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples. 32 And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

There are two things that are a constant, Truth and Lies. Jesus said, “I Am the way, the] TRUTH, and the Life… Jn 14:6. He also said of the to the Jews who refused to hear His word and believe in Him.

John 8:44 Amp- “You are of your father, the devil, and it is your
will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because THERE IS NO TRUTH IN him. When he speaks falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for HE IS A LIAR [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.”

James bears this out in Jas. 4:1-7 NASB- What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is it not the source of your pleasures that wage war in you members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You
do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives , so that you can spend it on your pleasures. 4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think the Scripture
speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?

6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says, “God is opposed to the proud, But gives grace to the humble. 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

When your enemy, the devil attempts to assault your mind, telling you all kinds of lies, trying to make you think that God has failed you, that He doesn’t care about you and your problems, that your dreams will never come to pass, how do you resist those assaults?

Do you stand firm against the lies of the devil and command him to leave, or do you allow the devil to mentally abuse your mind with his lies and accusations?

James 4:7 says, “resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
The word ‘resist’ is from a Greek word, anthistemi, which is a compound of two words anti and istimi.

Anti: means against, as to oppose something.
Istimi: means ‘to stand.’

When the words are joined together, they form anthistemi: to stand against or to stand in opposition.

It demonstrates the attitude of someone who is fiercely opposed to something and therefore are determined that they will do everything within their power to resist it, or to stand against it, and defy its operation.
James is using this word to let us know that we must be aggressively determined to stand against the work of the devil.

Just shutting our eyes and hoping the devil will leave us alone won’t work. We have got to dig in your heels, brace ourselves for a fight, and put our full force forward to drive him back out of our lives.

Our stand against Satan has got to be firm, unyielding, and steadfast if we want to successfully resist his bombardment of our mind and emotions.

James says we are to, “resist the devil.”
Devil= Diabalo or Diabolos. The word is definitive of more of job description than just a name.

If we know what the word devil means, then we can get a better understanding of how he works.

The word diabolos is, again a compound of two words in the Greek, dia, and ballo.

Dia: has many meanings, depending on how it is used. In this particular case, it means through, as to pierce something from one side all the way to the other side.

Ballo: means, ‘to throw’ as when a person throws a ball, a rock, or some object.

When the words are joined together, diabolos: to repetitiously throw something—striking again and again and again until the object being struck has finally been penetrated.

Now you can see why this word is a vivid job description for the devil. It tells us exactly how he operates. He comes to assault our mind—not just once, but many times. He strikes the mind and emotions again and again and again. He just keeps on striking until he wears down the
resistance of the one he is assaulting.

Then, as soon as the victim lets down their mental resistance, the devil gives that last firm punch that finally succeeds in penetrating the mind. Then, once the devil has gained access in the person’s mind, he begins to deluge them with lie upon top of lies.

If the individual listens to those lies and believes them, the devil can successfully build a stronghold in their life from which he can control and manipulate them.

Does this kind of attack sound familiar?
Well, let me ask you a question: instead of giving the devil the pleasure of filling your head full of his lies, why don’t you start to resist him?
God has given you power over the devil! It begins WITH RESISTANCE! Just tell the devil to shut up and stop with his dimwitted lies and accusations! Tell him to, “HIT THE ROAD!”

James says, “if you resist the devil, he will flee from you.” Tell the devil that you are not going for the bait anymore! You are not going to be “sucked in” by his lies.

The word “Resist” is from the Greek word pheugo: meaning to flee or take flight. It was used to depict a lawbreaker who flees in terror from a nation where he broke the law.

The reason he flees so quickly is to escape the prosecution process. Remaining in the nation would mean swift and harsh judgment; so rather than staying and facing the consequences, the lawbreaker flees for his life.

The devil knows he’s a lawbreaker! He also knows that if a believer takes a stand against him—i.e., if the believer resists the enemy by using their God-given authority in the name of Jesus and by the Word of God—it won’t be long until that believer begins to rule and dominate him.

Rather to allow this to happen, the devil begins to withdraw and look for a way to escape the prosecution process. Instead of sticking around and trying to defend himself against the powerful name of Jesus and the Sword of the Spirit, which is His Word, the devil will tuck his tail and run.
That is precisely what James means when he says the devil will “flee.”

But you cannot resist the devil effectively if you are standing in your pride. You must humble yourself before God, because He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. You cannot be “double-minded: Di-psychos (two-minds). You cannot effectively resist the devil without total surrender to God by drawing near to Him and allowing His grace to cover you.

2 Cor 10:3-5 Amp- For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons (psychology, or human reasoning). 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, 5
[inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings against every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)…

Conclusion: The devil wants to make your life less than gratifying, unhappy, and uneventful. That is why he is constantly attacking your mind trying to convince you that God’s dream for your life, Your DIVINE, God-given destiny will never come to pass or be fulfilled.

He wants you to settle for less than what God has designed for your life. That is why you should RESIST THE DEVIL AND NOT SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS THAN WHAT GOD’S BEST FOR YOU. We have been given divine weapons of warfare, the most powerful ones, THE NAME OF
JESUS and the POWER OF HIS WORD. It’s time for you to stop listening to the lies of the devil, because he won’t stop, and start reminding him of the promises your Father has given you and stand on those promises! If you already been doing that, then amp it up! If you haven’t been, then now is the time to start!

Say, “Satan, I refuse to hear your lies anymore! I take authority over you in the name of JESUS! I resist your lies and I determine that I will fill my mind with the truth of God’s word, for I belong to Jesus and He has set me free!”