Winning Your Personal War with Satan (5)

“Wash your hands, you sinners.” Jas 4:8 NIV

James continues, “Wash your hands, you sinners” (v. 8 NIV). The moment you “come near to God,” you become aware of your condition. Notice, God doesn’t demand you wash your hands before He will respond to you! All your attempts at self-improvement won’t work. Why? Because His grace is the only basis on which He can relate to you (See Eph 2:8-9). God points to your defeat zones not to condemn you, but to cleanse you. He knows that dirty hands enable Satan to accuse you before Him so He tells you to wash your hands, “and do not give the devil a foothold” (Eph 4:27 NIV). Once you’ve confessed your sins and been cleansed, you can look Satan in the eye and say: “No ground; not even an inch!” James continues, “Purify your hearts, you double-minded” (Jas 4:8 NIV). Your heart is like a hard drive; it’s where you store things. “It is with your heart that you believe” (Ro 10:10 NIV). Your heart generates and stores your beliefs, constructive and destructive. Once you form a belief you begin to live it out. Add to this your double-mindedness—your knowing what’s wrong, yet thinking you can get away with it. How can you overcome the Enemy with a heart full of wrong beliefs and a double mind? Through “turning over a new leaf”? No, you must get down before God and say, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps 51:10 NKJV). When you pray that way God will cleanse you, clothe you with power, and cause you to walk in victory.

Share