Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 271

September 28;     James 4:8;      221/260(IV);      ‘Draw Near to God’

James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

God the Father and the Lord Jesus went first.  We were to be separated from the Lord eternally.  God the Father willingly sent Jesus to pay the price for our sins and sicknesses.  The Lord Jesu willing came to earth as a Man and allowed Himself to be brutalized and crucified, becoming our sins, so that we could once again have a relationship with the Father and Jesus.  The Lord already drew near to us.  Once we become a Christian, it is up to us to draw near to Jesus.  We do this by reading and doing the Word of God, prayer, worship and attending and serving in a local church.  We are warned in this verse not to be double minded.  What does that mean?  It means that sometimes we set our mind on the things of the Lord and sometimes we set our mind on the things of this world.  James 1:7 teaches that a double minded man will receive nothing from the Lord.  We are instructed to cleanse our hands, meaning that we are to stop using our physical body to sin.  Once we become a Christian our body becomes the temple of the Lord.  Therefore we must make the decision that we will use our body for the Lord, to serve others and continue His ministry.  We are also told in this verse to purify our hearts.  What we feed upon and dwell upon mentally, enters our spirit.  God the Holy Spirit comes to live in our spirit when we become born again.  Again, it is up to us to choose what we open our mind and spirit to.  We are new creations now.  God’s plan for us is so greater than the world’s. Decide to draw near to God.