The Challenge: Practice What You Preach. The Goal: Pure Religion If you desire only a feel-good religion, you will be in for a terrible shock as you read James. Being the kind of person God wants requires hard yet humble work. God desires His followers not only to say they believe, but to live out their Christianity on a daily basis. They devil is actively looking to put in our way trials and heartaches that will lead us to sin and eventually death. But James reminds us that if we submit to God and resist the devil, God will draw near and the devil will flee. We will find ourselves practicing a pure religion that pleases God and glorifies Him in this world.