Closer

DEVOTION
JAMES
CLOSER
James 4:7-10
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
NIV
It always seems these kinds of words are speaking to those who are like that, but are thay also speaking to me? I know the devil is the enemy of my soul and I would not willing submit to him, but I have to God. I have submitting myself to God yet the devil continues to attack my soul with temptations to lure me away from my Lord. The true and only resistance is God. I cannot resist temptation on my own. I must be near God at all times. I think that is what is being said here. As I get close to God at least in a spiritual sense, I am able to resist those temptations and if I do resist consistently the devil with flee. I cannot afford to spent my life next to God and continue to desire the lusts of the flesh, the things of the world, the double-minded life. He has said, and I believe it, I cannot serve two masters, I cannot serve God and money, or the things of the world, or material gain. I cannot put my trust in God and my trust in money for the present or the future at the same time. It is either one or the other but it cannot be both. I know and I live like that. I am not double-minded in regards to this. But am I about anything else? Are there things, material goods I desire more than God or at least along with God? Is there any fame, fortune, or power I seek after while I seek after God? Do I look for recognition from men while I humble myself before him? Do I try to make a name for myself while I praise his name? I truly hope none of that is the case. If by chance or by choice I get sidetracked into that type of thinking I pray the Holy Spirit will slap me up beside my head with that 2x4 he has used before. How can I not humble myself before him? Whenever I start to think I am something, then I remember who he is. How do I compare? How do I stack up against the holy awesome power of God? Zip! Nothing! Not one single bit! I must humble myself before him. If he desires to lift me up so be it, which is because he desires it, not me. What do I have? Who am I? I am nothing without Christ. I need Jesus; I need to be closer to God.