Today’s Scripture: James 4:7, KJB- “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Do we keep our proper position and place with God? Our proper position is one of submission, honor, awe, and reliance. As we bow humbly before God, we are honoring Him and admitting we need Him and are relying on His power and control.
James 4:6 instructs us that God gives more grace to the humble. When we place God as the one true God and turn to Him for guidance and Spiritual filling, we find Him. When we acknowledge it is God and not our strength that creates life, we find life to the fullest.
I am reminded of Ephesians 3:20 where we are told that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (KJB). When we submit ourselves humbly before the LORD, He fills and provides more than we can imagine. We move beyond our understanding and capabilities to receive God’s plans for us.
I love the promise of James 4:8, that when we draw near to God, He draws near to us. When God is near, He changes us. He turns us in the direction of His Spirit. As we turn our spirit over to His Spirit we are in the right place. James 4:10 is a guarantee from God; “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” God does lift us up when we place ourselves in a position of submission to Him and His will for us.
It has always bewildered me in Celebrate Recovery that is Step 7 before we “We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.” It seems to me this should be first, however as I review the previous steps, I do see there are steps we must take to fully submit to God.
In Step 1 we must admit we are powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors and our lives have become unmanageable. Step 2 is that we come to believe there is a power greater than ourselves that can restore us to sanity. Step 3 is that we made the decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God. Step 4 is that we did a fearless and searching moral inventory of ourselves. In most of our stories this is enough to humble us and show our sins and double minded ways referred to in James 4:10. Step 5 we admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs…OK; now I am feeling humble. I had to admit that?? Step 6: We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. ENTIRELY READY. Which brings us to Step 7: We humbly asked God to remove all our shortcomings.
Are you ready to humble yourself and submit to God?
Today’s Prayer: Thank you Heavenly Father for Your promises. Thank You for drawing near to me when I draw near to You. Thank You LORD for breathing Your Spirit into me as I bow down. You LORD are the One true God. Thank You for Your faithfulness and grace in welcoming me back when I lose my humility and seek my own ways. I am not worthy Father and Your grace and power overwhelm me. Thank You, LORD for lifting us up. I am entirely ready to submit to Your desires and ways now. Amen.
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