Jump Start # 291

James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded.”

  In the fourth chapter of James, we find a series of action words concerning our relationship with God. James tells us to: “submit to God” (7); “draw near to God” (8); “humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord” (10). These are not presented as choices. Which one do you want? We are to manifest all of these. These involve our attitudes as well as our actions.

• Submission is the bending of the will. Jesus said we are to “deny our self, take up our cross daily and follow Him.” The citizen is to submit to the government. The church member is to submit to the eldership. Wives are to submit to husbands. And all of us are to submit to God. Submission is an act of the will. It is something that a person decides to do on their own.

• Drawing near to God is not about location but spiritually. One draws near as they follow the Lord, prays to God and “submits themselves” to God. Our verse further adds, ‘cleansing your hands’ and ‘purifying your hearts.’ This is how drawing near is accomplished. It is an “inside” thing. Sitting in a church building doesn’t make you close to God if your heart is miles away from Him. The closer one gets to God, the clearer they see God. From a distance we see God’s power. Up close we see God’s love and mercy. There are several hymns that reflect this concept: “Near to the heart of God;” “Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord;” “Just a closer walk with Thee.” God wants you to be near to Him. God wants you to see Him. God wants you to know Him. God wants you to walk in His ways and to reflect Him in your life. Being close to God gives us confidence and assurance. David said in the shepherd Psalm, that he feared “no evil for Thou art with me…” He was near God. You see that with a child as they walk down the road with the grandparents. At first, one of the kids will lead the pack. Out front, brave and bold. But before long they don’t know which direction or a dog barks loudly, and that child falls back and takes hold of grandpa’s hand. Assurance, confidence, presence. I wish we just didn’t walk ahead of God but stayed right beside Him. It should take fear to make us drop back and take hold of His hand, but often it does. Near God. Near God are the answers. Near God is mercy. Near God is hope. Our place is near God. Near in our hearts. Near in our plans. Near in our dreams.

• Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord. To be humble is to see ourselves rightly. We think we are big shots, we’re not. We think we can take care of things our selves, we can’t. We think everything will just turn out fine, it won’t. We need God. We need His word. We need Him now. Our marriages need God. Our churches need God. Our country needs God. But mostly, our hearts need God. Humble means to hush up and listen. The Psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God.” Quit talking and start listening, listening to God through His word. Humble means you admit you’re not superman. You’re not the super parent. You’re not the greatest thing to walk through the doors of the church building. You’re not. God is. Humble admits, pride defends. Humble apologizes, pride finds excuses. Humble cooperates, pride must have it his way. Humble grows, pride kills. Humble pleases God, pride sickens God.

  Three great expressions—submit, draw near, humble self. These are the characteristics of a disciple of Christ. This is what God wants from your heart. These things aren’t easy. Some of us have to really work and work at this. We learn from Jesus. We adjust. We make improvements. We pray. We study God’s word. All of these things help. It all begins with our will to become this way. You have to want to.

  You’ll notice and learn that all three of these expressions are connected. To submit, you have to be humble. When you are humble, you draw near. Take away one of these and the rest just fall apart.

  God wants you close, but not on your terms, but His. He is God. He wants you to follow Him. He doesn’t need help from us. He doesn’t need our suggestions on how to run things. We can’t even run our lives without Him, let alone run this world. Submit…draw near…humble yourselves. That’s the makeup of a disciple.

  How are you doing at it? Keep at it. It’s worth it. You’ll find when you do it makes everything else in life better. You relationships, your outlook, your attitudes improve when you submit, draw near and humble your self. Interesting how that works! God knows what He is doing.

Roger

Jump Start # 108

James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded.”

  This passage emphasizes the closeness and intimacy that God longs to have with each of us. James states a three-fold step in our relationship with God. We are to submit to God (v. 7) and that involves resisting the Devil (7). We are to draw near to God (8) and we are to humble ourselves in the presence of God (10).

  Our verse in many ways illustrates the return of the prodigal in Luke 15. As the irresponsible young man came home, his Father raced out to meet him. He drew near and His Father came to Him. God is like that. He longs for us to be with Him. He wants us to want Him. He is watching and waiting. He wants us to make a move toward Him.

  This concept also helps us to understand why some feel close to God and others do not. It may be that some aren’t “drawing near” to God. They may expect some electrifying or cosmic experience when they walk into a church building and it just doesn’t happen. The drawing near is a relationship experience. As in all relationships, time and communication is required. It doesn’t just magically happen. We can’t ignore the end of this verse either. James is written to Christians. But he is harsh here. He calls the brethren “sinners” and “double minded.” He tells them to cleanse their hands and to purify their hearts. Such language is shocking for us today. Understand, for four chapters James has been identifying serious spiritual problems among the Christians. They had faith issues. Their prayers lacked faith. They didn’t do as they believed. They played favorites among each other. Their mouths got them in trouble often. Their actions couldn’t convince many that they followed God. They were a mess.

  And with this verse James drives at what all of these problems are really about—and that is their relationship with God. It is possible to a Christian and not be close to God. It is possible to be a Christian who needs to purify himself. It is possible as a Christian that I need to submit and humble myself. Just being a Christian doesn’t fix all things! I need to continually walk with the Lord, check my attitudes and grow in faith.

  Have you ever noticed married couples at a restaurant? Some are engaged in conversations, talking, laughing and seem very close to each other. Others, just sit there, looking around waiting for the food. Their talk is shallow and superficial. They seem to run out of things to talk about? Now, how do you explain these two couples? Many things could be offered, but one obvious one seems to be that the first couple is very close to each other. The second couple are in love but they don’t seem close. Now isn’t it the same in our relationship with God? Some could talk about God and to God for hours. Others seem kind of shallow and superficial. The difference? The closeness to God.

  How do you get close to God? Draw near is what James says. How? It starts by thinking about God, especially more than thinking about yourself. Then read His word. This is where He reveals Himself, His will, His plans, and His heart. After that, you do things with God and that God likes, such as worship, such as teaching His will, such as being a light in a dark world.

  Draw near is  a simple solution to big problems, but it works. Have you tried getting closer to God? He’s waiting. He’s ready. It’ll change your life!

Roger