TUESDAY, JUNE 7
Scripture: James 4:6,7

James 4:6,7 says, “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” The word translated “resist” is anth-his-tay-mee and is the exact same word that appears in Matthew 5:39 when Jesus says, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” But we hear James say we need to submit ourselves to God and resist the devil. James commands us to resist. Jesus tells us not to resist. But Jesus’ words have to be understood within the context of who He was exhorting and what He was sending them to do. Jesus did not say ‘Do not resist evil (only when you are evangelizing)’ but we know context determines meaning. And the context of His words was sending believers out to preach salvation to covenant Jewish people that already had a covenant with God. They were to sow the seed of salvation hoping their listeners might turn. That context helps us understand the tension between James’ Spirit-breathed words in James 4 and Jesus’ words in Matthew 5. But when we have both exhortations – ‘resist’ and ‘do not resist’ – and are in the end times where evil abounds, it is far more likely the Spirit will lead us to resist evil. If we are led to resist evil, we steadfastly face the situation, take the Word of God and decree the God-given Scripture that fits the situation and trust God to put evil under our feet even if it takes angels to do it. He has covenanted He will make all of our enemies our footstool. Faith is facing a situation, applying the Holy Spirit-given seed and putting evil under our feet.