Drawing near

I just want to say that I am so happy to be able to sit down tonight, write a blog post and hope that it can be of some encouragement to you. I don't remember a time in recent memory where I didn't write a post for an entire week. This past week we competed in the NAIA National Basketball Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota so I wanted to give everything I had to the last week of basketball that I was ever going to play. It was hard to take a break from writing, but I believe God used that break to recharge my heart and mind. I plan on writing a post this week about my basketball career if I have the time. I don't know if that is something you might look forward to, but if so, sweet!

I started right where I left off in the book of James this morning and came across the perfect scripture I want to encourage you with tonight. This post will be about complete submission to God and drawing near to him.

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. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:7-10)

For me, one of the things I think about when drawing near to God is giving everything you have to him. Especially everything that you feel. There is nothing more powerful when you humble yourself before the Lord and are able to recognize that you NEED God and without him are nothing. You can't have any fear in doing that. You can't worry about what others might think of you, you can't worry about what others might say about you. There is just nothing to worry about. When we recognize that without God we are nothing, there is so much power in that. We can't put on this front that we are too cool. We can't hide our mourning with joy, we can't hide our tears with smiles. It's easy to tell when people are faking it, imagine how easy it is for God.

So how can you draw near to God? James gives us five ways that we can do so.

1. Submit...to God. 

Yield to his authority and will, commit your life to him and his control, and be willing to follow him. It all starts with you. Are you willing to commit you life to him? You have to be willing to follow him.

2. Resist the devil

Don't allow Satan to entice you and tempt you. Stand strong against Satan. Remember that God already defeated Satan. That battle has already been won. When you remember that, it makes you that much harder to beat. With the Holy Spirit in you, nothing is impossible.

3. Wash your hands...and purify your hearts (that is, lead a pure life)

Be cleansed from sin, replacing your desire to sin with your desire to experience God's purity. God's purity is an amazing thing. When you desire to experience God's purity, everything about you will feel so much better. There is power within a desire for purity.

4. Grieve, mourn and wail in sincere sorrow for your sins

Don't be afraid to express deep heartfelt sorrow for what you have done. We sin on a daily basis. There are probably things you have done in your life that you feel horrible about and it is okay to feel that way. In fact, you should feel that way. When we grieve and mourn because of our sins, that is when we experience God's love for us. That is when we experience true forgiveness and aren't just taking advantage of it.

5. Humble yourselves before the Lord

...and he will lift you up. You need God, and I need God. We all do more than anything. Recognize that without him we are northing. Let God know that you need him to come into your life and that he reigns over all.