Our focus, our preoccupation, must be the greatness of Christ and the joy of serving Him. Before James ever says “Resist the devil” he says “Submit to God!” (James 4:7) When we are challenged or opposed by the evil one, we need to respond and not retreat. We’re learning how to do this from Paul’s instructions in Ephesians 6.
The apostle James says, “…Resist [stand firm against; withstand] the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) You see, we’re not to fear the devil nor are we to go looking for him (he knows where we live!). James simply says we’re to “resist” him; we’re to stand firm when he comes around. He is a creation of God, subject to us through Jesus Christ. The question is “How do we take a stand against this formidable foe?” In Ephesians 6:10-18, the Apostle Paul tells us how! Paul says we are strong in Jesus as we don the full spiritual armor of God. Paul then presents this armor, piece by piece, in verses 14-18.