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Weekly Devotion 1.29.2012

James 4.6-10

6 But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, "God opposes the proud but favors the humble."7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

Upon reception of Christ as our Savior, Man and God enter into a covenant relationship.  Much like a marriage, this entry represents an intimate, passionate, and abundant relationship that lasts for eternity.  While we often treat a relationship with God as a distant, metaphysical experience, we forget that we are created in God's image.  What I mean to say is that we should expect our communication with God to mirror, at least in many ways, the communication which occurs in other relationships.  

This is exactly what we see in James 4.  What we see James discussing here is the process for drawing close to God.  This process is designed to help us "stand against such evil desires" which cause our hearts to be proud.  Pride negatively impacts and or destroys any such relationships, and it is no different with God.  When our hearts are filled with pride in our accomplishments and our selfish glorification, how can we expect intimacy with God?  How can we learn anything or pray for anything if our hearts are turned inward?

Rather, James says that we should turn our hearts to the Lord.  We are instructed to "humble [ourselves] before God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  This is the first step in intimacy with God--the purging of pride and its replacement with humbleness.  For many years I found it difficult to love God like I would love a wife or a mother, father, brother, etc.  The source was that I was not willing to submit my heart to God.  Fear of a release of excess emotion or hidden burdens WILL prevent us from worshipping God in spirit and in truth.  But when we humble ourselves before Him, when we forget about everyone and everything else around and within us, then we can speak to God openly and without fear.  You see, it is never God who is unwilling to speak to us--He meets us right where we are, but our hearts must be open right where we are.

What does it look like when our hearts are humbled before the Lord?  It is, simply put, sheer bliss.  Someone very wise told me to schedule dates with God, as one would his wife.  Take time to go somewhere, just you and Him, to talk, worship, and read His Word.  We should do this daily, but pick a day once a week or two to make it special.  Walk out into nature or go somewhere you can really connect with Him.  Sing songs, write poetry, or do whatever special it is you do to love Him.  I promise you that you will enjoy these times, and God will as well! It is sometimes difficult for us to imagine, but God craves to spend time with us!  1 John 4:9-10  tells us "this is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."  Beloved, if God loved us so much that He would send Himself to die for us that we might be with Him, ought we not believe that He desires fellowship with us?  

Take time this week to be intimate with God.  Reflect and meditate on His word and His precepts.  How great a God we serve!  Seek His face daily!  Lamentations 3.22-25 tells us that "because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. " Oh, what a mighty God we serve!  Amen.