James 4:7-8

James 4:7-8 – “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

A harsh truth that I face daily (as I’m sure many Christians do) is that most of the time, my relationship with God feels one-sided. Of course, this is the devil trying to make me believe that God is absent in my life, simply because I can’t see Him standing in front of me. But during times of hardships, it can be very easy to turn away from God in search of temporary fixes. Temporary fixes are temporary, so the devil has his way and life goes on. In ironic fashion, our problems make us feel inclined to turn away from our only solution. We feel too sick to take our medicine.

Drawing near to God during our lowest moments is the most challenging thing we could do in those times, but it’s also the most rewarding. We get close to God; He gets closer to us. When we find ourselves in situations that seem hopeless, it’s often because they seem hopeless when we’re the ones in the driver’s seat. "Well, obviously." Everything seems hopeless when you take God out of the equation. He is hope (Romans 15:13). Everything else is a system of smoke and mirrors that the devil has designed to trick you into falling back into sin. Don’t be fooled. Submit yourself to the One that has designed the path before you’ve even started it. Stay by His side and it’s impossible for you to get lost.

Popular posts from this blog

Proverbs 1:1-7 – Chasing the Why

 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7 (ESV) True wisdom comes from following the Lord's instruction, not from trying to co-create a plan with Him. Proverbs is a collection of writings meant to act as an instruction to living faithfully for Jewish youth at the time. While Solomon is believed to have been the primary author of these, it's likely that they were meant to be directed towards his own son Rehoboam (1:8). Regardless of whether they were written directly to him or if they had a more broad purpose to educate young men as a whole, what we know for sure is that they provide a strong foundation for living a life filled with wisdom, authored by the wisest man that only lived once. I've been doing a lot of searching for wisdom, because I think I really struggle with life not being a simple equation. I do good, I receive good. I give love, I receive love. I give effort, I receive effort. That...
Read more

Seasons

I've been a cynic when it comes to New Year's for a while. I don't like when people make "resolutions" when they don't have the discipline to actually follow through with improving, and so I've started to see New Year’s almost as a lazy man's holiday over the years. Which is admittedly pretty unfair, and judgmental. Lately, however, I started viewing this time of year in a different light. Instead of using it to look forward to the New Year, on what I can be doing differently, I've started to use it as a time to reflect on what the Old Year has been, and how God's provided during it. Recently, as the Christ Covenant young adults' ministry ended services for the year, the CCYA pastor Thomas Nelson mentioned a feast that's referenced in the Gospels, called the Feast of Booths. It was a feast that God initially commanded the Israelites to celebrate in Leviticus 23, and He provided little detail in terms of how He wanted them to celebrate ...
Read more

Colossians 3:1-4 – Losing Ourselves

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." Colossians 3:1-4 (ESV) Our personal pursuits are only as valid as who they're really in pursuit of. Revisiting this one in the spirit of a new understanding. It gets really easy to fall into the habit of living our lives for ourselves, even if under the pretense that we're "living for ourselves, for Christ." There's no such thing. I become angry with God when He takes away something from me that brings me happiness, which is evidence that I lost sight of what I'm after. What's our end goal here? Let's use prosperity gospel as an example to highlight how we answer that question often times. Practicing th...
Read more