DRAW CLOSE TO GOD

 

DRAW CLOSE TO GOD

James 4:8 Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. NLT

When was the last time you can honestly say that you were close to God? I suspect that most of us would have to admit that we aren’t as close to Him as we should be or want to be. There are many reasons why we struggle with this. Some of us struggle with letting go of those things that keep us from being close to the Lord. There may be certain sins that we enjoy and do not want to let go of. There may be earthly goals that we value more than we do our relationship with Christ. There may be people in our lives that take greater priority to us than the Lord. There may be a lack of concern about the deeper things of life in Christ that causes us to not pursue them like we need to. There may be a distorted sense of our security in Christ that keeps us from sensing the need to grow in our walk with Him. There may be little or no concern about hell that lulls our souls to sleep. Whatever the cause, many of us struggle with getting close to God.

There is always the problem of staying close to God once we get there. Our sinful nature wars against us and often draws us away from God. Many of us are not strong enough in faith to not be lured away. We are not grounded in the Word and disciplined in prayer.

How do we get close to God? We repent of our sins and get serious about our salvation. We resist Satan whenever he rears his ugly head. We take action against him. We become students of the Word and participants in prayer. We put into practice the things we learn from God. We value the things of God more than we do the things of the earth. We purposely keep our eyes focused on Jesus and evaluate everything in light of His righteousness. Holiness becomes our life goal.

Getting close to God and staying there is possible for every believer. In fact, it should be the number one goal in every believer’s life. It takes real determination on our part and much effort. There is no real joy and peace in salvation anywhere except to be near to the heart of God.

If you keep the Lord at arm’s length in your life, you will be miserable. There is no peace for those who do not let the Lord get too close to their heart.

If there is something that is keeping the Lord from a heart connection with you, deal with it right now. Humble your heart before the Lord, admit what it is, ask the Lord to forgive you for not letting Him get close, and vow to never let it happen again. You will be glad you did.

GETTING RID OF SATAN

 

GETTING RID OF SATAN

James 4:7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. NLT

Even though this verse is probably very familiar to you and doesn’t need a lot of explanation, let us pause for a few moments to ponder over it today.

The first step in living in victory is humility of heart. Don’t let pride keep you from seeking help from the Lord. Pride gives us a false sense of our strength and ability. It keeps us from recognizing our weaknesses and Satan’s cunning and deceitful ways. Humility keeps us aware of our constant need for Jesus. It is a reminder to us that we are broken and helpless without Him. If we don’t humble ourselves before God, we won’t find help from Him against Satan.

We are to resist the Devil. Satan is for real. He is the archenemy of the soul. He is evil personified. He is always up to no good and we must be determined in our hearts to resist him. It is never a good idea to cuddle up to him or listen to his promptings. He is determined to lure you away from the Lord and will use every trick in the books to do it. Don’t underestimate his power to lure you away from the God you love. Satan is a master at disguising himself up as people so be on the lookout for those who would lead you away from God.

When we are humble before God and resist the Devil, he will flee from us. This is not an idle promise. Satan will not hang around those who are living in Christ and who persistently resist him. He may come back later to try again, but he will not keep harassing you at the moment. Satan cannot stand up against those who stand strong in Christ. It takes guts to stand up and resist Satan, but the rewards are so great! Victory is certain for those who live humbly before God and shut the door on Satan’s face.

And another thing, Satan is not always so easily recognizable. He is a master at disguise and deception. Sometimes he entices us to get so wrapped up in whatever we are doing that we fail to acknowledge the Lord. Sometimes he will convince us that all we have to do is be and do enough good in life and God will accept us. Sometimes he entices others to misuse or abuse the Scriptures so we can’t tell what God really is saying. Sometimes he uses others to gain our trust before he lures us into sin.

Anyone or anything that lures us away from God is Satan at work to destroy our faith and confidence in God. Stay alert and resist him and he will flee from you.

WORLD FRIENDLY

 

WORLD FRIENDLY

James 4:4 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. NLT

Wait a minute. Reread this verse. Let this truth sink into your mind. Take a look at yourself. How friendly are you with this world? Before you answer this question, let us consider for a moment what that might mean.

Friendship means that you go along with the world. You don't have a problem with what is going on around you. You agree with much of what the world promotes (self-gain; self-worth; liberal morality; lack of accountability; mind your own business mindset; the permanency of life as we know it, very little respect for the sanctity of life etc.). You don't get upset when the world entertains you with stuff contrary to holiness. When you are friendly with the world you don't strive to live a life of holiness in the world. You are more concerned about what others think than what God thinks about things.

What we tend to forget or ignore is that when we become friendly with the world, we become enemies of God. God puts us into the world to change the world, not to let the world change us. When we are in Christ, we are different. We are distinctly more like God than those around us. We value things differently and we live differently. When we live in Christ we are not ashamed of it; rather, we are ashamed of what is going on around us.

If your aim is to enjoy the things of this world, you cannot be a friend of God. Be careful what you live for. Be careful how you think about things. Be careful how comfortable you become with the world around you. If you aren't, you will become like the world and the Lord will not be pleased with you at all. James goes so far as to call those who are friendly with the world adulterers, a people who do not love the Lord. It is impossible to love the Lord and be okay with how things are in the world.

Are you too friendly with the world? Are you living more for what this world offers than for what God offers? Do you find yourself thinking more about earthly things than you do heavenly things?

James calls those who do adulterers and says they cannot be friends of God. You cannot have it both ways. Those who straddle the fence are rejected by God.

QUARRELS AND FIGHTS

 

QUARRELS AND FIGHTS

James 4:1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn’t it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? NLT

There are so many quarrels and fights amongst God’s people. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is. The main reason why there are so many churches everywhere you go is because there have been splits in the past over meaningless issues. People get miffed at each other and break fellowship with each other. Instead of seeking reconciliation in Christ, lines are drawn and people separate.

The root cause of all broken fellowship is sin. Sometimes broken fellowship is absolutely necessary because there is not a willingness to repent and obey God’s Word. Sometimes people let sin drive them instead of the Lord’s righteousness making fellowship impossible.

However, I believe most broken fellowship is unnecessary. I believe that if there is a willingness to be reconciled at the foot of the cross fellowship can be restored. Instead of digging in our heels, we need to dig in our knees. We need to humble ourselves before God and let Him show us where we are wrong or have wronged others. We need to let Him strip us of our pride and seek the purity of His Word. Sometimes we are simply wrong in our understanding or application of truth and we need the Lord to help us see it. We may not be able to completely be restored to fellowship with others, but we can do our part and seek to live at peace with them.

Fights and quarrels are inevitable because there will always be those amongst us who are being driven by evil desires. Pride prevents many from being humbled in spirit where restoration can take place. Pride convinces the soul that he is right and others are wrong. Pride demands that others conform to our way of thinking. Pride demands that others bend the knee before reconciliation can take place.

Are you at odds with someone today? Have you let pride keep you from seeking restoration of your fellowship? Don’t look at the other person and what their role might be in the problem, look inward and ask the Lord what your role in it might be. Ask Him to humble you and ask Him to purify your heart. Seek peace with the Lord in your heart and you will be able to be at peace with others. Regardless of whether or not the fellowship is restored, you can still love them and seek their good in Christ. Praying for the wholeness of heart before God for you and those you have a problem with is the pathway to peace.

WAR WITHIN

 

WAR WITHIN

James 4:1-3 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong--you want only what will give you pleasure. NLT

Are you at war within yourself? Be honest. Isn't there a constant battle going on in you between wanting to sin and wanting to please God? Don't you want what you don't have and aren't you willing to do whatever you need to do to get it? Think about it. When was the last time you really denied yourself of what you want simply because the price was too great to pay? Most of us find ways to get what we want. There is nothing wrong with wanting things, but we must guard our souls with it. Sometimes we want wrong things and have wrong motives when we try to get them.

If we want the right things: those things which help us in our pursuit of God, those things which help us serve God better, and those things which enable us to help others, then all we have to do is ask the Lord for them and He will give them to us. God does not want us to go without what we need. He gladly gives His children what they ask for, as long as their hearts are right when they do the asking. He denies us those things that we crave for personal pleasure because He knows that they are self-destructive. We seldom have the wisdom to know what we really need.

When we are not driven by selfish desires, we can live in peace with others. Quarrels and fights are not a part of the lives of those who are Christ-centered. When those things happen, it's because we have lost our connection to the heart of God.

Stay close to the heart of God and you will desire those things He wants to give you.

PURE WISDOM

PURE WISDOM

James 3:17-18 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness. NLT

Wisdom, and everything else that comes from heaven, is pure. There is nothing in heaven that is not pure. It is always right and good. Wisdom from God is peace loving, gentle, and submissive to others.

We can tell whether or not what we hear in God's name is from Him or not by whether or not it generates peace, is spoken gently, and is for the good of others. Much of what is attributed to God does not pass this simple test. We need to be careful what we embrace as truth.

Wisdom from God is also full of mercy and good deeds. We do not always tell others what they should hear; instead, we tell them the good news of God's love and grace. We bring words of hope and encouragement and not always words of condemnation. We strive to do good and not harm to others. We do acts of kindness for the good of others. Granted, there are times when bluntness is needed, when for the sake of others we have to do it, but when we are blunt, we do it with godly love.

Wisdom from God shows no partiality and is always sincere. It comes from the heart and it does not show favoritism. It strives to always maintain peace. It always strives to be a good influence in the world and not always stirring up trouble. Peace amongst men is her goal and goodness is her reward.

TRULY WISE

 

TRULY WISE

James 3:13 If you are wise and understand God's ways, live a life of steady goodness so that only good deeds will pour forth. And if you don't brag about the good you do, then you will be truly wise! NLT

Wisdom involves living a life of steady goodness. It is being governed and guided by the Spirit so that you do not wander away from the holiness of God. Wisdom involves choosing to do what is right before God. Wisdom is seeking to understand the ways of God so that you may do them. Wisdom is understanding that the purpose of all knowledge is to live it.

Living a life of steady goodness means that you don't slack off in your quest for holiness of heart. You are aware of what is God's will for you and you strive to do it. Your desire is to be good and not just talk about it. Living steadily a life of goodness means that it is the way of life for you. It is how you act all the time and not just when you are in the company of other believers. It is who you are at home, work, and play.

When we live rightly before God, others will see it. Our lives will be enough testimony of who we are and we won't need to brag about it. It's good that we brag about the Lord and what He is doing, but it's not good to brag about ourselves as if we had anything to do with it. All of our goodness comes from the Lord. Our ability to do good deeds comes from the work of the Spirit in us. We are powerless to do anything good without God's help and abilities.

Wisdom is giving credit where credit is due. It is giving God the glory and honor in all things at all times. He alone is worthy of our praise.