This time let’s look at the spiritual battle itself. Are you called into battle with the enemy? What is our modus oporandi when we are challenged to a battle in our lives?
James 4:7 Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.
There is a distinct order in this. We are called to submit to God first. Our calling is to engage God before we ever try to engage the enemy. Submit to God. The word submit means ‘to be under’ or ‘to stand under’. When you submit to someone or something, you are under that person’s authority. Submitting to God means you are under His authority. Whoever has the authority over you gets the final say in the matters concerning you.
Most Christians live like they are autonomous. They live without submitting themselves to God and then when the battle ensues they stand without any authority and try to overcome the enemy. What does it look like when we are under authority?
Matt. 8:5-10 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Jesus was under authority and He understood how authority worked. When the centurion comes to Jesus asking for the healing of his servant, he recognized the authority that Jesus had and the authority He was under. He didn’t want Jesus to come to his house but asked Him to only speak a word. “I am a man under authority and I can see that you are as well, Jesus.” The statement Jesus makes after he says this is of great importance.
“I have not found such great faith in Israel.”
Jesus calls him recognizing the authority on his life – faith. This opens a whole new realm of power and understanding for us as Christians. Let me help you to understand this. In the realm of faith, authority operates. Faith is the realm of power and authority. When we walk by faith and not sight, we walk in authority. Faith pleases God and faith is the connection for us to the power of God. The centurion had faith when he asked Jesus to heal his servant. Faith was the pathway to release the authority of God over the sickness and over his servant.
Faith will always release authority. If you have faith in the negative or the demonic it will release that kind of authority over your life. You choose what you want to believe and that places you under the authority of the one that rules in that realm. That is why we submit to God first. We first position ourselves for the breakthrough from heaven.
Psa. 91:1-7 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, andfrom the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thyshield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence thatwalketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
What does it look like to be under His authority? David tells us in this Psalm. When you are under God you won’t have to fear anything. Before you fight, run to Him. Before you try and overcome, find His secret place and stay. Spiritual battles are won when we submit to God. There are some things you need to learn in the secret place before you can be effective in the market place.
For most people the real battle is not the enemy but staying out of the flesh. The carnal mind and the carnal lifestyle is at enmity with God. When you live carnally you will lack the power and the authority of God in your life. What you submit to will have the power in your life. The real battle is being spiritual or living in and by the spirit of God. We are natural and in the natural we want to be satisfied. Paul says it in such a powerful way….Crucify the flesh. He also says, “I die daily.” That is the battle. Your flesh empowers the enemy and gives him power in the natural. When we refuse to live by carnal desires but surrender and live by spiritual principals we will see more battles won in our lives.
Submit to God. That is what we always do first. Then we resist the devil. Submitting to God makes the battle only a resisting experience. It is not a battle anymore.
