Jas 4:8 Draw
nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
Recently, my husband and I had the
opportunity to go camping just before Easter. Where we live now, Rain and snow
can still be a part of the beauty. Waking up to the birds ,greeting us for
breakfast. The camp fire and a cup of hot coffee encourages me to get out of the
sleeping bag. To some it is not the most ideal time
for camping. But we enjoy the challenge
of winter camping.
As I sat before the campfire, trying
to get more heat. I realize I had a problem.
Every time I thought I got a good spot, smoke would get in my eyes and
cloud my vision. This would cause me to
back up from the warmth. The result? I was cold again. Something seriously
needed to be done . Backing away was not the answer. Could I somehow get past
the smoke, to enjoy the heat?
I thought of the times Satan would
try to come along and discourage me. He
would throw things up before me, if I let him.
Things like discouragement, hurt feelings and trials. Anything to cloud my vision of my Lord. Any
thing he could do,to cause me to take my eyes off Jesus. Its times like this,I
realize something needs to be done. I cannot listen to the lies of Satan. God’s
word reminds me in James 4:7 .....to resist the devil and he will flee from
you.
As I would try to get closer to the fire
,the smoke would come and I would back up. Then I would look again and find a
smoke free spot. I would move to that spot.
I would throw another log on the fire and stir up the flames. Once again, I enjoyed the heat and a clear
vision. A simple solution to an aggravating problem. A solution, but I had to
do something. I had to seek for that warm,smoke free spot . I needed to throw
more wood on fire and stir up the fire. I could not just sit there and hope
maybe sometime it would get better. That would just have kept me
cold.
This caused me to think. How close
can we get to Jesus? When discouragement
comes and Satan throws lies in our face. When he tells us,
we are no good. When he tries to
throw smoke in front of us. And We think we
cannot keep going. This is when we need to resist the devil. We need to
remember the promises of God. If we resist the devil,he will flee from us. One
of many of God’s promises.
The beginning of James 4:7, begins with a promise. Draw
nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto you.. As we draw closer to God there is
no room for Satan and his lies. He has to flee. Once again, the fire is
stirred up. God’s love will be reaching out and its too hot for the adversary
to stick around. We can find that spot on our knees, where
Jesus is waiting for us . As we pray, we stir up those flames. Yielding to the
will of God and his wisdom and direction. Submitting to God’s plan in our life
will always bring the blessing.
The vision of Jesus grows brighter
and Satan has to flee. We are able to see more clearly. Three things happen. We
draw nigh to God ; we resist Satan and submit to God. End result? God draws nigh
to us.
How close do you want to get to
Jesus? How bright can your vision be of
Jesus be? It will always be found at the feet of our
Jesus.
