Who is the Enemy of God?

You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can't be a friend of God. (James 4:4 NLT)

 

How does God view a believer who once walked with Him and knew the power of the Holy Spirit but has now become so entangled in the world he hardly ever picks up his Bible to read it, rarely prays, and comes to church only if it "fits" into his schedule of things to do? How does God look on it when a believer departs from the red-hot spiritual passion he once possessed and turns his devotion to other things?

 

This verse is very important, for it alerts us to the fact that when a believer chooses to take a worldly path, he sets himself in direct opposition to the godly path God desires for him. As a result of the choices, he/she has rendered, constituted, or caused himself to become the "enemy" of God.

 

An enemy is one who is in direct conflict with another. One archenemy of Batman was the Joker! Just as in Batman with his rivals we also feel the hostility, antagonism, and even animosity toward others or things that draw us away from God and His purposes for our lives.

 

So in James 4:4 the word enemy is pictured as a hostile force.. Now I go on to see how James uses this word to express the feelings and emotions that God possesses toward a believer who transfers their devotion and passion from Him to the world. Yes, that catches us in adultery! By using this word, James tells us that if we as believers choose to make our relationship with the world a greater priority than our relationship with God, we are making a choice that will place us in direct opposition to God. He views it as an act of war! To God, this is the ultimate violation of His relationship with us!

 

I realize that Romans 8:31 says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Similarly, if God takes a stand against our activities and us because our actions are wrong, our plans and pursuits will be frustrated and paralyzed, and we will not succeed in our endeavors. God is not against us being blessed or having many possessions. However, He is against whatever takes His place in our hearts. When the things of the world move from our hands into our hearts, we become God's enemy.

 

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and serve the world at the same time". If we find ourselves in the midst of an addiction, we are serving that demon and not God. All we can think about is another drink, another fix, another sexual encounter. So now, you might say I am safe. Well how about those soap operas? Another and another until you get your fill—never happens as they have you hooked for the next episode! How about the next romance novel then the next? And another again and again. According to these words of Jesus, it is impossible for us to give our hearts simultaneously to two masters. We must choose whom we are going to serve. Is it God or the world in which we live?

 

For my life is not my own. It is the life the Lord has so graciously given me, an extension. Therefore, it is His life to do as He wills. I am His slave for the rest of my life. My responsibility is to "service" my master with all my attention, time, and energy. I am here to help, assist, and fulfill the master's wants and dreams to the exclusion of all else.

 

So I am careful about what my eye gates gaze upon, what my ear gates listen too and what my heart dwells upon! I continue to comb through my possessions and rid myself of those things that my cause me to sin--those things that distract me from my relations with my heavenly Father.

 

To truly serve God, we must spend time with Him so we can know His voice and develop a pattern of obedience in our daily walk. It demands our fullest attention. The work of God must be "serviced' with prayer, obedience, repentance, and worship. If a person chooses to serve "the world" instead of the Lord, they will have to turn their attention and devotion to the world. As a worldly person, they will be required to learn the ways of the world and to adapt to the thinking of the world. Serving the world and worldliness requires 100 percent of a person's attention.

 

Just as serving God requires your time, attention, energy, and money, the world will demand the same from you. This is why Jesus said it is not possible to serve both God and the world.

 

So let me ask you this. Whom are you serving in your life right now? What most requires your time and attention? Can you truthfully say you are giving God your fullest attention and that the chief priority in your life is to serve and obey Him? Or must you confess that worldly pursuits, possessions, and corporate success consume your thoughts and energies?

 

If you are consumed with God, these other things will take a lower place on your list of priorities. But if you are consumed with the world, material things will dominate the landscape of your mind. So just stop and ask yourself, What do I think about more than anything else in life? Your answer will probably tell you whom you are serving the most with your heart. James 4:6 tells us that God takes a stand against a believer who turns his devotion to the world and becomes worldly. In fact, it says God "resists" such believers.

 

This emphatically declares that God takes it so personally when a believer turns his devotion from Him to the world that He sets Himself in opposition to that believer. Like a military commander, God reviews the situation, then He decides how to resist and frustrate the things this believer is trying to achieve and thus bring him to a place of surrender.

 

As terrible as this resistance sounds, it is a manifestation of God's grace! By blocking our way and resisting our choices, the precious Holy Spirit endeavors to get our attention and to bring us to a sweet place of brokenness where sin is confessed and fellowship with God is restored..

 

You see, God is so passionate about our relationship with Him that He is unwilling to share us with the world. That does not mean we cannot have a job or be successful. In most cases, we must have a job, and God wants us to be successful. But if we switch our allegiance from God to the world around you, God views that as the ultimate violation in His sight. It is this very act that causes Him to decide to rise up and to do something to bring us back to where we ought to be!

 

So I advise you to take a good look at your life and make sure your priorities are where they need to be! Make sure you are aligned with the Lord rather than with the world around you! Otherwise, God may step forward to deliberately frustrate your plans in order to bring you back to where you ought to be!