In our journey to discover how to draw close to God, we come to verse 10 of James 4. “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.”

I believe these words were in response to what the Holy Spirit breathed to James earlier in verse 6. “But He gives us more grace. That is why Scriptures says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” James is quoting from Proverbs 3:34.

Being humble does not come from a poor self-image a lack of self-esteem or even a lack of ability. It does come from the admission that I cannot do this on my own. I must have God’s help. Without Him, I can do nothing. But with Him, I can do whatever is put in my path to do.

For some of us, it’s tough to be humble. We were raised to be strong, independent, and self-sufficient. I was raised that it was a sign of weakness to ask help. you will never know how much trouble that has caused me and still does from time to time although I’m learning……sort of.)

The quicker we come to the end of ourselves, the sooner we will enjoy God at work in our lives. This is the favor that Solomon was writing about in Proverbs 3:34. Truth is, the only good thing any of us have to offer this world is God. Without God, there is no good thing in me, or you.

The temptation for me as I write this is to list other things, such as submitting to one another; serving one another; praying for one another; bearing one another’s burdens; treating each person as we desire to be treated as signs of humility. But I sincerely believe as I humble myself before God, and put Him first and foremost, all these things will begin to fall into place. (Check out Matthew 6:33)

Admitting we are weak and need God in our lives is a difficult thing for some. But what a rewarding way to live. When we come to that place, and we ask God for His presence, His help, His wisdom, and His strength, He opens the windows of heaven and pours out His grace and favor.

Being humble does not mean we go around like a 97-pound weakling with a big red “H” on our T-shirt. No, it means we walk confidently, we walk knowing God is walking with us and we walk in faith that through God we will be able to do much because we got out of the way, confessed our need to His help and are following His lead.

One final thought. The command is for “you” to humble yourself. This is not a work of the Spirit. It’s not your pastors’ job, your spouse, or your family. It’s our job. It’s our choice to rely upon God or try and do it for ourselves. I can only speak from my own experiences. Usually those who claim to be self-made show it. Why settle for inferior workmanship when you can have the master craftsman build His Kingdom in you then through you?

Always in Pursuit!

Don

Grieve, Mourn & Wail is not the name of Grunge band, nor is it the name of a law firm. It is a command from James to his readers.

Who were the readers? Look in James 1:1. He was writing to the 12 tribes of Israel who had been dispersed throughout the world. They had scattered due to persecution.

In their scattering, many of them forgot the things of God and turned toward the worldly pleasures and sinful lifestyles. Word had gotten back to James about these things and now he was writing to warn them and to challenge them to draw near to God.

In his instructions, he encouraged them to Grieve, Mourn & Wail. These were words of repentance. To repent meant to turn away from something, in this case, they were to turn away from sin and return to God. Thus, the instructions to “draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Grieve refers to being miserable. James wanted his readers to be miserable in their sin because their sin had separated them from God. They were drawn away from God by their sin.

Mourn refers to a passionate grief that cannot be hidden. James was not going to make it easy for them. They had been public in their rejection of God, now it was time to be public in their repentance. There are no secret agents in God’s Kingdom

Wail was to be result of passionate grief. Just as laughter and joy had been part of their sinful activities now, so should wailing be as they come to the realization of what their sinful choices had caused.

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Grieve, Mourn & Wail was not a prescription for the Christian life. Unfortunately, I’ve known folks who thought it was to be lived that way. But, once sin is dealt with, and we have repented or turned away from our sin, the love, peace, and joy of the Lord are to become what marks our lives. We are free from the bondage of sin; free to be near to God; and free to be the men and women God created us to be. And we are free to experience the abundant life God has prepared for us.

The question for us to deal with is, are there things we have allowed to creep into our life that have drawn us away from God? Are there things we need to Grieve, Mourn & Wail about as we draw near to Him?

What has robbed you of the joy of the Lord? What has robbed you of peace with God? And what has robbed you of the hope you once knew?

James would tell us to wash our hands, purify our hearts, grieve, mourn & wail and God will draw near to us.

We need to take seriously. It separates us from God. And when we discover the sin in our lives, we need to Grieve, Mourn & Wail!

Always in Pursuit!

Don

Many years ago, I became fascinated with this word “clarion.” It means a clear and shrill sound. The word “shrill” means high pitched and piercing.

In my mind, clarion referred to something that was trying to get my attention. The distinct shrill and piercing sound would cause me to take notice and either be warned or challenged to take action.

James, the younger brother of Jesus, gives a clarion call to all followers of Jesus. James 1:1 informs us that James was writing to the twelve tribes of Israel, who had been scattered around the world. Today, this includes all who claim Christ as our Lord and Savior, Jew, or Gentile.

James 4:8 “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (NIV)

For me, that’s the word for 2021. I need to discover ways to be drawn closer to God than in the past year. 2020 was a tough year. It drained me, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The pandemic wasn’t enough. Here in eastern Iowa, we had to throw in a once in a life-time derecho. This was a storm of 140 mile per hour winds, sustained for at least forty to forty-five minutes, followed by heavy rain. Some have described it as an on-land hurricane. It was not fun.

In other parts of the world, there were forest fires (some still burning), there were hurricanes, earthquakes and a whole array of employment and financial challenges. Plus, we lost many friends and loved ones to all the diseases that were present prior to the pandemic.

Between the pandemic and the derecho, I’ve discovered a whole new meaning to our need for God and our continual dependence upon Him for everything in our life.

I believe the solution for this is found in the clarion call of James 4:8. The Holy Spirit, who was guiding James in his writing, was kind to us and gave us ways for us to draw closer to God.

Wash your hands—

Purify your hearts—

Grieve, mourn & wail—

Humble yourselves—

Over the next few days, I will be blogging about these four things and exploring from the Scriptures what they mean for us. They are obviously important disciplines for us to develop since they will draw us closer to God. Doing these things won’t stop the pandemic, nor will it stop the derechos of our lives, but they will keep us closer to the one who has promised to always provide a way through the desert and wilderness.

Looking forward to sharing these things with you.

Always in Pursuit!

Don