LEARNING DAILY

James 4:6-8a, But He gives more grace. Therefore He says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

If a Believer is moving closer to God, James tells us that God is drawing closer to the Believer. It is important to not get lost in theological details of this message. Be aware of those who get caught up in the dos and don’ts of walking a narrow way. There is a consistent message throughout the New Testament: God’s grace ‘is sufficient for all our needs” 2 Corinthians 12:90. It is the same grace that brings Believers into the family of God that sustains the Believer’s fellowship throughout all the pressures and difficulties faced. When Believers submit or place themselves under the control of God, they become more open to trusting Him in both the good and difficult times. The Father in heaven wants us to walk in simple, quiet fellowship with Him.

In Mathew 11:30, Jesus told His disciples and Believers today that “His yoke was light and His burden was light”. He does not want us to feel burdened down, He just wants us to draw near Him. The question becomes how we draw near to Him. The answer has been written about many times in this blog – we make sure our priorities, our thoughts, our desires and our behavior line up with His. The David Jeremiah Study Bible reminds us that this can be achieved through the following principles in James 4; they will help us grow in grace. (1) Relinquish control of your live – v.7. (2) Resist the devil – v. 7. (3) Restore worship to a priority – v.8. (4) Renounce sinful actions – v.8. (5) Reject sinful attitudes – v.8. (6) React to sin in sorrow – (v.9). (7) Refrain from a frivolous attitude toward evil – v. 9. (8) Respond humbly to success – v. 10. (9) Refuse to slander your fellow Christians – v. 11,12.

Believers must build a relationship with God in order to “submit to Him”, “resist the devil”, and “draw near to Him”. The fast-paced world we live in trying to work, study, build relationships with people can complicate the relationship building with God if allowed. These things can draw our attention away from the quiet time necessary to be with God. If not careful, these things begin to take more and more time causing our time with God to be more and more distant. The result of becoming distant also allows the old self to come out, acting out in poor behavior and poor choices of words. Not one of us is immune to that and knows this firsthand.

Every Believer needs to spend more time alone with God. Prayer is how we communicate with God. It is not necessarily about how much we say or how much time we spend in prayer. It is about quieting our hearts before Him and saying what is in our hearts. It is reflecting on His greatness and His goodness to us. It is telling Him about the joys and the difficulties we are facing. We can pray when alone or when in a crowd; we do so by giving our attention to His love and His grace. The more we do so, the closer we draw to Him. The more we do so, the more we resist the devil. The closer we draw to God in prayer, the closer He draws to us.

We draw closer to the Father when we spend time reading/studying/meditating on His Word. It is a lamp to our path, to our walk on the narrow way. It is our guide as the Holy Spirit gives direction and brings to our mind the Word we have put in our heart. We react to Satan’s temptations and temptations from the lust of the world by God’s Word just as Jesus did when tempted by the devil. The Word of God gives us courage and strength to meet each difficulty and trial we face during the day. It is the spiritual food that nourishes our spiritual life. As we walk the narrow way according to God’s Word the relationship with Him grows.

Do you want to live a life of victory? Draw near to God. He will draw close to you. Hebrews 11:6 supports this by telling us that “God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”. Be diligent in drawing close to Him and see what He does in your life.