GETTING TO KNOW GOD:  WALKING WITH JESUS DAY BY DAY

TEXT:  "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." - James 4:7-8

The past several weeks have been sad & tragic days for our nation.  The uproar over the Confederate flag and controversial Supreme Court decisions has been the main topic of discussion on social media.  I think it is wise for Christians to step back for a moment and reflect upon our calling.  This world is not our home.  We are citizens of a better country.  I fear that the politics of our time can easily distract us from worshiping Christ, as He deserves.  I also fear that Christians have become much more bold and vocal about politics than they ever did about Jesus.  Perhaps God is trying to get the attention of the American church.  Certainly we need to stand for the truth and refuse to compromise with the world.  However, our focus should be on knowing God & making Him known.  In the book of Acts, the Christians did not work to transform the government.  Instead, the early church sought to spread the Gospel.  It would be wonderful if the 21st century church would do the same.

I have dedicated the first six months of my weekly blog to the subject of knowing God.  As we close this theme, I want us to consider a practical side of knowing God.  We know Him better as we walk with Him on a day-by-day basis.

In his short epistle, James gives us practical advise for our Christian journey.  Note four things that we should do day-by-day:

1.         STAY YIELDED

The Bible says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God."  Every day, we face the need to surrender anew and afresh to God.  Every morning, we need to yield our will to His.  Each day, we need to die to self so that Christ may work in and through us.  Like the Apostle Paul, we need to "die daily."  We need to be filled with the Spirit every day.  Surrendering to God during a revival meeting may be good, but you need to surrender to God again the next day ... and the next ... and the next.

2.        RESIST FIERCELY

Secondly, we need to resist the devil.  You will never be able to resist the devil successfully unless you are, first of all, yielded to God.  We need God's power within us to help us resist the devil.  The truth is, surrendered believers CAN resist the devil.  Furthermore, when believers resist the devil, he DOES flee. 

3.         GET CLOSER

Third, James instructs believers to "draw nigh to God..."  Have you ever heard a believer say, "I want to get close to God"?  Leonard Ravenhill was right when he said that we are as close to God as we want to be.  Most believers expect God to draw Himself close to them first --- then they'll draw close to Him.  Notice in our text, that God requires us to draw close first, THEN He will draw near to us.  Why is that?  God wants us to desire Him enough to take a step of faith and seek Him. Do you desire the Lord to the extent that you are seeking Him daily?

4.         REMAIN CLEAN

Finally, James advises us to get clean and stay that way.  James wrote, "Cleanse your hands ... purify your hearts..."  You make the effort to be physically clean before going to work or school every day, don't you?  Well, make sure you get spiritually clean and stay clean daily.  Every day, we need a spiritual bath.  Daily, we need to experience God's cleansing.  Such cleansing is available as we take responsibility for our actions, confess our faults and turn from our sins.  The Bible refers to this as repentance.  Repentance is an on-going activity in the life of a believer.  As we get closer to God, the more our sins are exposed to His glorious light.  Thus, we repent more as we get closer to Him.  Repentance is a vital part of our spiritual growth.

We know God better as we walk with Him day-by-day.  Are you walking close to Him right now?