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This Week's Devotion
Article Headline
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Verse Of The Week
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Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.
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GETTING CLOSE TO GOD
Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. (James 4:8 NLT)
It's been this way since time began. God set it up so we would seek Him, and He would respond to us when we did. Is He playing hard to get? Well, He may be, only inasmuch as He wants a relationship with someone who wants one with Him, and the way you show that you do is by seeking Him. God will not force Himself on anyone.
This is an incredible privilege He has given His creation, when you think of it. God joins in the give and take of a relationship with us! That means that if you don't get close to God, well, you don't get close to God. In other words, He gives us the integrity of making the first move.
I think this is what was meant in that strange passage in Matthew 6:7 - 8, when Jesus warns us not to give what is sacred to dogs, and not to give pearls to pigs. God doesn't reveal Himself to those who aren't interested in a relationship with Him. And it's no indictment on them; they simply wouldn't get it. Dogs don't know what is sacred. Pigs have no use for pearls. Their only value is what they can eat, so the real value of pearls would be wasted on a pig.
The truth about God is wasted on someone who is not interested in knowing Him, so He doesn't draw near to that person. He draws near to those who come to Him. But believe me, once you show any indication of interest, He's right there.
Actually we all need God and we all know it. Even those who deny God and run the other way are desperately seeking Him from some empty place inside. We just don't all want to admit it.
But for those who do, God is all over any attempt on our part to get close to Him. It makes no difference how you do this. There is no right or wrong way to seek God. You just seek Him, and you keep on seeking Him. There's no end to this because there's no end to God. There's always more of Him to discover and experience. Worship is never static. It keeps opening up more and more of God to us as we worship Him and live our lives out according to His purposes.
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it." - Unknown
"To strive in prayer means to struggle through those hindrances which would restrain or even prevent us entirely from continuing in persevering prayer. It means to be so watchful at all times that we can notice when we become slothful in prayer and that we go to the Spirit of prayer to have this remedied. In this struggle, too, the decisive factor is the Spirit of prayer." -- O. Hallesby
"A day without prayer is a day without blessing, and a life without prayer is a life without power." -- Edwin Harvey.
A Repeat of a devotion sent on 4th July, 2006
Help spread God's word, please forward the devotion to as many friends and relatives as possible and encourage them to subscribe free of charge. If this was forwarded to you, you can subscribe by sending a blank email to the following address:
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When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9 : 36)
… Jesus said “Feed my sheep”. (John 21:17)
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