Submission to God

Welcome to the international devotional where I am joining you all the way from South Asia.  God is showing up in miraculous ways! Be sure to watch the amazing miracle of a demon-possessed mute woman in the video above!

Thinking about the miracles and deliverances taking place makes me think about how oftentimes we don’t really know what deliverance is.  Many times we aren’t taught how to cast out demons and deliver people from demons.  I was never really taught how to do these sorts of things, but I know what the Bible says.  Matthew 10:8 says: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”  As a follower of Jesus Christ, I know that God’s power in me is greater than that of the world.  So, I know that God gives us the ability to do these things through Him.  The darkness has to leave as His light drives it out.  

Many times we see in James 4:7, “resist the devil and he will flee,” and we forget the first part of that verse: “Submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil and he will flee.”  There has to be submission.  

Matthew 26:36-44 says: “36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”  39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  42 He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”  43 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

In this passage, we see that Jesus, the savior of the world, is dealing with demons in this moment.  You can bet that every power in hell was hovering over his shoulders while he prayed.  Jesus was suffering, sweating blood, on our behalf.  Jesus says, “Father not my will, but Your will be done.”  

The devil kills, steals, and destroys, but with God, and submission to Him, the devil has no hold on your life.  He will flee.  

Job 22:21 says: “Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.”   

Many people might question this and say, “well how could prosperity come to Jesus in the night when he died on the cross.”  Jesus was betrayed, whipped, beaten, and put on a cross with nails driven through his hands and feet.  Sometimes the suffering that we go through in life are things that test and prepare us for greater seasons to come.  Through Jesus’ submission at Gethsemane, he was later able to reign victoriously.  Jesus took the sins of the world.  Yours and mine.  He was submitting to God by carrying out His will.  Jesus was resisting the devil and he won, we now have salvation through Jesus Christ.  

It is in the submission and trusting the process and the calling out to God that His will, will play out.  He has plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  People may think, “then why did Jesus suffer harm?”  It was in God’s perfect plan that Jesus suffered so that we might be saved.  

God is able to turn many situations into good for His glory.  The situations you are going through may seem impossible.  It could be a health issue, financial, or family related, however, Jesus can bring you through!  God has a plan, and we just need to trust that process, even though we may go through suffering.  It is when we die to ourselves, that we truly live.  

Caleb Wampler