Today's Devotion: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Jas 4:7) James has just finished talking about the worldly things that get in our way of our relationship with God and each other. His advice is that we should submit ourselves to God. In other words, we should seek God's will, not ours.

Today's Comments: Submitting to God's will means that we are to pray not for what we want from God, but for what He wants for us. It is easy for us to pray for what we want. It is so much harder when we are asked to wait, accept less, or are told "no." More often than not, we think of ourselves before we think of our neighbor. Is this what God wants? I don't think so. God created us for worship and for fellowship. Submitting to God means that we worship him first and love our neighbor, second. If we do this, then we will naturally love ourselves, and God will give us everything that we need to be happy. It is when we place ourselves above or against God and others that we find our lives without purpose or meaning.