READ

James 4:1-10: ¹ What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you? ² You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⁴ You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit He made to dwell in us envies intensely? ⁶ But He gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. ⁷ Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

EXAMINE

Three negative influences are given that entice and cause separation from God: our own passions, friendship with the world, and the devil. These hindrances to holy life cause sin, conflict, pride, and hostility toward God. Thankfully His grace is more powerful than any of these competitors for our affection. James promises that submission to God causes the devil to flee from us. Beautifully, if we draw near in humility, God meets us where we are and gifts His pure and holy presence.

APPLY

According to verse 8, we are called to approach God with clean hands and pure hearts. This cleansing can only be found through forgiveness in Jesus. Each of us must search our hearts, repent of our sins, and humble ourselves before the Lord. Only in this submissive posture, washed clean by the blood of Jesus, are we able to approach the throne of God. What a beautiful invitation! In His presence we are free from the evil and chaos in the world. If we truly understood the joy found with God, drawing near would be the deepest desire of our hearts.

PRAY

Confess the words of James 4:8 out loud today, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” Repeat them until you believe it. Ask God to reveal the negative influences in your life and then humbly surrender them over. Pray to be single-minded in your pursuit of the presence of God.