DEVO 03.06.23

DEVO. 03.06.23

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you." (James 4:7, 8 NIV)

- Do you know that you are as close to God as you want to be.

- James 4:8 says, Come near to God and HE WILL come near to you.

- Not "He might" or "He could"... It says "He Will"

- The condition is that you come Near first.

- Part of coming close to God is that we Humble ourselves.

- To Humble yourself means that you must remove all pride.

- Quit trying to be self sufficient and think that your way is best.

- Allow God to direct your way.

- Allow Him to be Lord.

- Trust that where He is leading you is best.

- Don't complain every time you go through difficulties...He may be allowing them so that you become less reliant on your self and learn to totally rely on Him.

- God is more concerned about your Character than your Comfort!

- In James 4:8, it continues by saying that in order to come close to God, we must "Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world."

- If you are going to be close to Him, you've got to realize that you have a God who is Holy living on the inside of you.

- We are given a command in 1 Peter 1:16, God says, "Be holy because I am Holy."

- We can only do that by relying on His Grace and His power.

- you've got to humble yourself, because there is no way you can do that on your own.

- Your loyalty has to be 100% for God.

- You can't try to live part of your life for God and part of your life trying to be accepted by the world.

- It can't be divided ...Your identity must be IN Him.

- James 4:4 gets right to the point and says," You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God."

- That's some strong language..."Adulterers", but that's exactly what we are when we choose anything or anyone over God.

- Choose to draw close to Him today, but realize that there may be some things that you need to lose or get rid of when you do that.

- You must be single-minded.

- Prov. 3: 5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart;

do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do,

and he will show you which path to take."

- Trust in Him with all your heart.

- Seek His will in all you do.

- When you do that He will lead you in the Best way!

- He always leads you and directs you into The Best!

- Make the decision today to Come close to Him.

- Don't let anything stand in the way.

- Have a great Monday!