James 4:6-10 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. As we look at this passage of scripture tonight, I know that we have talked about this numerous times, but nevertheless this is something that so many of us need to learn. Yes we have heard this many times, but we need to quit just hearing it and start applying it to our lives!!!!!!!!! James also tells us in chapter 1, verses 22-25, But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. We need to quit just hearing the Words of the Lord and start doing them. James also says in chapter 2, verses 14-26, What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. So as we look at our spiritual life, we need to realize a few things. The first thing that we need to understand is that WE NEED GOD!!!!!!!!!! We need His strength, We need His Spirit, We need His help, We need His Word, and We need His power in our lives. We have to come to the knowledge of the truth that no matter how many times we try, no matter how hard we try, we are always going to fall short trying to accomplish it in our own power!!!!!!!!!!! We need to come down off our high horse so to speak and humble ourselves before the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!! We need to fall on our knees before Him and let Him have control. Another thing that we need to have to grow in God is a desire to do so!!!!!!!!!!!! Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:6, Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. In Psalms 37:3-5, Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. We need a desire to grow in Him!!!!!!!!! We need a desire to serve Him, We need a desire to please Him, We need a desire to do His will. All to often we get so entangled in the things of the flesh that we seem to have no time for the things of God!!!!!!!! We need to have faith in the fact that God will always keep His Word!!!!!!!!!! We need to realize that the Bible is not just a bunch of stories thrown together, its not a book of fictional writings, but rather it is the bread of life!!!!!!!!!!! It is the Holy Word of God!!!!!!!!!!!! We need to remember that 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: We need to have a desire for His Word, we need to have a desire for His Glory, we need to have a desire for Him!!!!!!!!!!!! His word also tells us in Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. We need to seek Him!!!!!!!!!!!! He tells us in this passage that we read, Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you. You see its up to us how close to God we get. He is always willing for us to grow in Him. He wants us to be closer to Him, He wants to be closer to us, but He does not force His will on anyone, but rather He gives us the free will to choose to serve Him or not. He tells us that we reap what we sow. So if we want to grow in Him then we need to sow spiritual seeds in our lives rather than sowing to our flesh. We need to remember that we are not our own, we are bought with a price. And that price is the blood of Jesus Christ!!!!!!! So let us ask ourselves today. How close do we really want to be God? Do we want to serve Him? Jesus said that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. We can be free in Him today, but the choice is ours, the choice is yours!!!!!!!!!!!!! Think about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 04:33:58 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015