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Draw Near to God - Monday, April 16th, 2007

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
James 4:7-8

Over the past couple of days I have really felt convicted that something needed to change in our evening worship service. I knew exactly what needed to happen, but I couldn’t tell you how it was going to happen. I couldn’t tell you when. But I knew what I was feeling on my heart needed to come to fruition. You see, as I spent a whole year writing on revival, an essential condition for revival is HUMILITY. There needs to be a spirit of humility through CONFESSION. But when Lord? Am I suppose to ask one of the speakers to cancel? Am I suppose to change the “schedule” at least for one night. Thankfully, it happened naturally.

You see last night at 10:30 p.m., I got a call from our scheduled speaker saying he had laryngitis. With all due respect to this man, I am disappointed that he won’t be able to speak the truth to people INSIDE THE TENT…but I knew the Lord was opening a door for an evening like tonight. I pray that tonight will be different. I pray that tonight will be unique. And I am thankful that the Lord will allow me to communicate to others an essential condition in order for revival to take place. This condition is humility. Look at the words of James, when he wrote, “Submit therefore to God.” What does this mean to me? Well, first and foremost it means that we are to “submit to God by abandoning our selfish pride.” For me personally, I am trying to work on this each and every day. Pride is a thorn in my flesh. It always seems to float around in my life. It doesn’t want to leave. But in James 4:5 it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” We must let go of the sins that we are holding onto, and thankfully, because of His grace we are able to give them over to the Lord. With the last seven days behind us, I now sense we need to “submit therefore to God” INSIDE THE TENT, and we mustn’t delay.

However, many people think that when humility arises through confession, we are set. We are good. To some extent this is true, because of the death, burial, and resurrection we have been forgiven. But we then get comfortable again. We get complacent again. Our sinful nature is a cycle that goes round and round, which is why we are always susceptible to the temptations of the devil. Therefore if we don’t give Satan room to work by our resisting him, “he will flee from you.” He will have “no other choice” but to flee. He will head another direction. So to overcome this sins we must “draw near to God.” He is always ready to be our source and supply for overcoming any struggle we might have, but we must pursue Him. We must call upon the Lord and seek His face. We must spend time in the Word. We must communicate with the Lord in prayer. We must be disciplined enough to fast. What happens when we do many of these disciplines? The Bible makes it clear, “He will draw near to you.”

Therefore, as the day continues, let’s remember the words of James when he wrote, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded.” We mustn’t live double-lives with one foot in the world and one foot in the “church.” As sinners, God wants us to come before Him and cleanse our hands. As sinners, He wants us to purify our hearts. Let’s no longer live the lifestyle where people wouldn’t know the difference between us and those that don’t know Jesus; rather as individuals who love Jesus with all our heart, soul, and mind. So will you please join me as I get on my knees and confess the sins that we each carry? Let’s get rid of the baggage that is slowing us down, and give them over to the Lord.
- klm
" We cannot organize revival, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from Heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again."

- G. Campbell Morgan


 
   
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