Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8)

What a beautiful promise that is, but be sure to read that promise in context, vs.6-10.

I know...it can be a bit of a paradox here when it comes to this ‘drawing near to God’. James encourages us to do this...yet we are told by Jesus that “no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44); so which is it? If the first thing that comes to mind is some rash or accusatory conclusion that the Bible is just a bunch of ‘contradictions’ ...and you want to toss that out as an ‘excuse’...then maybe your heart is being revealed here, and you were just looking for a reason to keep living life as you see fit. You wouldn’t be the first person to do this. Plenty of folks just like living in darkness more...and won’t come to the light. (John 3:19-21; Acts 26:18).

I also know that ‘God’s eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are ‘perfect’ towards Him’. Don’t read too much into that word ‘perfect’, but simply know this: If it’s truth you long for, where you can find genuine peace and freedom...God is ‘wooing’ you. Take some time to dial in and listen for His voice. He’s talking...you might just try ‘being still’ for a bit where you can ‘know He is God’ (Ps. 46:10). And I mean take some time, turn off some of the other noisy distractions around you. Quit being a ‘Martha’ and just come and sit at His feet like Mary did (Luke 10:39-42)

If you are feeling a tad overwhelmed by all that is happening in the world today, this would be as good a time as any to seek and find refuge in Him; but once you find this ‘secret place’ (Ps. 91)...commit to staying there...permanently. This is what it means to ‘abide’ in Him, which is just another word for ‘remain’ or ‘continue’ (John 15:1-8). I’m nearly convinced that is where so many sincere people who ‘started’ out with Jesus...have fallen short, or ‘missed it’.

There’s an incident recorded in Luke 17 where Jesus is passing by a group of ten lepers who cried out to Him, given their obvious need. Jesus stopped and ministered to them and the moment they had their need met (healed)...all ten took off running. Yes...on the surface, it seems as if they were ‘obeying’ the words of Jesus to ‘to and show themselves to the ‘priests’ (14)...but only one stopped in his tracks...and ‘returned’ to Jesus, falling down on his face at the feet of the only ‘Priest’ who matters.

There seems to be a ‘stirring’ amongst many sincere but sleeping ‘saints’ these days. God is awakening many of those ‘sleeping virgins’ as we read about in Matt. 25:1-13. His invite has never changed...”Come unto Me, all you who labor and are under heavy burdens...and I will give you rest...come and learn from Me...and you will find rest for your souls...” (Matt. 11:28-30). But please understand this...the days of giving ‘lip service’ are over and ‘walking in a ‘form of godliness’ won’t cut it for anyone; I don’t care how many great things you think you have done for God. (Matt. 15:8-9; 2 Tim. 3:5; Matt. 7:22).

God wants your whole heart, and I mean...’all of it’. There is no getting in to the ‘ark’ if you are only 30-60- or 90% committed. If you can’t lay it all down and ‘surrender all’ (as we like to sing)...then don’t expect Him to respond any differently than He did with that rich young ruler (Matt. 19:16-22).

I have no qualms or hesitations when I say we are living in the day of the ‘great falling away’ that Paul mentions in 2 Thess. 2. And one of the reasons we find ourselves in such a place today is because of the widespread deception that exists; Jesus even warned about it in Matt. 24:4-5. How did we get here, you might ask? Well, Paul gives us some insight in 2 Cor. 11:3-4, 14-15, but Jeremiah 23 might be a good chapter to read through when you have a few minutes. But then finish up with God’s promise to bring His people back from captivity where He assures us in Jer. 24:6-7 that He will ‘give us a heart to know Him...as we ‘seek Him with a whole heart’.

As I mentioned yesterday...when we do this...when we turn and come to Him with ‘all our hearts’...you can expect and anticipate a ‘tangible’ response (Acts 3:19). Then...be prepared to heed the words of Mary, the mother of Jesus as she was fully confident that Jesus can bring miraculous transformation...but you better be ready and willing to ‘do whatever He tells you’ (John 2:5). Failure to do so comes with a costly price, and that’s a warning...not a ‘threat’ (Acts 3:22-23).

A short FYI for regular readers here...I am going to be ‘out of pocket’ the next several days, through the weekend, and as of now, I don’t anticipate I will be doing any posting here for a few days. I will also say that I would appreciate your prayers as an ‘interesting door’ may be opening for me here. We shall see. :- )

Oh, one other note for anyone interested. Within a month or so after I first started posting these devotionals or studies (back in 2021)...God used a few people to prompt me to start including a separate format to share these for anyone who was not on Facebook; hence the blogspot page I include with every message (first comment box here on FB). I would like to encourage anyone who comes across these to feel free to make use of that page if you are hungry for God’s word and want to study more. When you click on that link, you’ll notice on the left side of the page a tab/option titled ‘archive’. You can access more easily any and every post I have shared here the past 4.5 years here. I personally think they would be ideal for any small group of believers who love the word and want to dive in and study. Feel free to print them off and use for that. They are listed there in the order I posted, and that is it. While there is no detailed ‘table of contents’ to access any particular message you may have read, there is a ‘search engine’ that I use from time to time by typing in key words or phrases. I can pretty well assure you that most, if not all of these messages will fall within one framework, centered around ‘The Law, The Flesh, The Enemy’; all which point to what it means to ‘Abide in Jesus’ and how He came to set us free from ALL sin. (John 8:32-36)

Have a blessed weekend...I’ll be back, Lord willing of course. :- )