THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – James 4:8, 10): 8 Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can't make up your mind……... 10 Be humble in the Lord's presence, and he will honor you.
THOUGHTS: God loves us unconditionally, but there are some things that He will not do unless He is invited/asked, or until He recognizes our seriousness in asking, by doing our part. Let's think about this in everyday living. We may love to have company in our home, but unless we invite friends over, or unless we open the door to let them in when they arrive, we will never have friends in our home. God designed us with our own free will, and He respects that so much that He will not intrude into our personal space, or our lives, unless we invite Him to and accept Him with open arms. God is very aware of those times that our mouths may say one thing but our heart feels differently. So while we may say, especially in church, that we want God in control of our lives, but deep inside we expect to hang on to the world, or at least our worldly traits, then this verse is clarifying that God is very willing to wait on drawing close to us until He knows that we seriously want Him to be intimate with us. Friends, unlike other relationships where you may say one thing and mean something differently, remember that with God you are dealing with your very Designer and Creator. He knows how you are put together and He knows the intent of your heart. To meet the conditions placed in vs 8, we must wash our hands and our divided hearts (our inner attitudes and motives) by confessing our sin and repenting of our sin and asking God's help to remove the filth of sin from our lives. Our hearts are divided when we want to hang on to our worldly desires (sin) yet we know we need a Savior and want to receive His blessings. Friends, this act of surrendering life as you may know it today, for a life fully committed to Jesus Christ, requires a deep humbleness and a total surrender to the lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is it worth it? I can irrevocably say that after some 40 years of walking with the Lord, I cannot imagine how I would have handled life without the awesome love, protection, care and concern of my Savior, for He Walks with me, and He Talks with me, and He Tells me I am His Own! My life is complete know that Jesus is in control! I would urge you like James did in these verses, to draw close to God and enjoy His presence as He draws close to you!
PRAYER: Lord God, thank You for loving a sinner like me so much that You actually sacrificed Your very own Son so that I might have a way, and the means, to receive forgiveness of my sin, resulting in the promise of life everlasting with You! What a glorious day that was, when You called me to Yourself, and what an even sweeter life this has been with You in control of my life while here on this earth! Thank You Father! I have many family members and friends who have not seen the value of making this important decision yet in their life, so this morning I plead with You to tender the hearts of these ones and all those who will read this devotional with doubts and/or uncertainties about their relationship with You. May Your miracle working hand touch their lives today, incenting them to draw close to You and accept You as Lord, so that You may draw close to them and bless them in miraculous ways. Please have Your will and way in their lives so that they may rid their minds of any divisiveness, and therefore completely surrender to You. I humbly ask all this in the wonderful and all-powerful name of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, AMEN!
FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day's devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!
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