Tag Archives: James 4:7-10

Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Becoming Like Christ - Day 78 - James 4:7-10 - Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Becoming Like Christ – Day 78 – James 4:7-10 – Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You – Growing As Disciples

Submit yourselves 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. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:7-10 (ESV)  

Humbly Draw Near

Thank you, Lord, that I can draw near to you. Thank you, Lord, that you draw near to me. As a humble act of submission, I will make it my regular and frequent practice to draw near to you. How often will you draw near to me? I will certainly draw near to you every day. But I am certain that I will need to draw near to you far more frequently than just every day. Why is that? I desperately need your help. I certainly need your wisdom. I definitely need your protection. So, I can envision drawing near to you through the moments of my day. That will be very good.

What happens to you when you humbly draw near to me? When I humbly draw near to you, I am submitting myself to you. I am asking for your help. I am coming to rely on you. I am placing all my trust in you rather than in myself. I am making myself fully available to you. I am withdrawing from the world and entering into your presence. I am listening to your voice. I am focusing my heart and mind and life on you. I am making myself available to receive your instruction and follow your guidance. I am turning away from my own thoughts to seek your thoughts. I am waiting in solitude and silence before you so that you can guard and guide my life. That is very good.

What have I done for you as you have humbly drawn near to me? When I have humbly drawn near to you, you have drawn near to me. You have filled me with your peace. You have removed my heart and mind and life from the storm of evil thoughts, opinions, values and circumstances that have swirled around me, that have sought to entrap me. You have caused the devil to flee from me. You have reordered and reprioritized my perspective. You have refocused my heart and mind and life on you. You have helped me once again to place all my hope and trust on you. You have set my feet back on a firm foundation. You have made me able to see, once again, how to live and walk and move forward with you on the path of life. Yes, I have done all these things for you. Will you keep on submitting yourself to me by drawing near to me? Will you make humbly drawing near to me your ongoing moment by moment strategy to resist evil in all its forms? Yes Lord, I will. That will be very good.

Lord, I will draw near to you. I know you will draw near to me. Help me to resist the devil so he will flee from me. Guard my heart and mind and life from his attacks. Help me to think your thoughts, speak your words and do your deeds as I follow and serve you.  Amen

Key Question… How has God changed your thoughts, words and actions as you have humbly drawn near to Him?

Living It Out… Humbly submit yourself to God by drawing near to Him, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Seeing It Happen… Have faith that as you humbly submit yourself to God by drawing near to Him, the devil and his evil will flee from you.

Get Ready To Share… Share with another person or your small group how you have been humbly drawing near to God and resisting the devil.

Prayer To Bless Others… May you humbly draw near to God and resist the devil so he will flee from you.

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Becoming Like Christ – Day 78 – James 4-7-10 – Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You – 4 Page Discipleship Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Submit Yourselves To God

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - 365 Days Of Guidance - Day 22 - James 4:7-10 - Submit Yourselves To God - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – 365 Days Of Guidance – Day 22 – James 4:7-10 – Submit Yourselves To God – Growing As Disciples

Submit yourselves 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. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:7-10 (ESV)

Drawing Near

I know that I am a sinner. I have sinned against you in my thoughts, words, and deeds. I have done what I shouldn’t have done. I have left undone what I should have done. My heart has not been pure. I have had a double mind. My behavior has been wretched. I take my own sinfulness seriously. This is no laughing matter. I am deeply sorry that I have sinned against you in so many ways. With a humble heart, I am bowing down before. I am admitting my sin to you. That’s good.

I am so thankful that you have made it so I can turn away from my sin to follow you. You got my attention. You turned my life around. You helped me to see the error of my ways. You gave me a desire to know you. You gave me a hunger to seek you. Now, I love you with all my heart and mind and soul and strength. Now, I want what you want. Now, I want to live my life completely for you. That’s very good.

I am holding on to your promises. I am drawing near to you. I know that you will draw near to me. There is no exception clause. No, there is not. I can count on you drawing near to me as I draw near to you. Yes, you can. I will never leave you or forsake you. You may not always feel my closeness. You may not also realize that I am with you. But, you can hold on to me because I will be holding on to you. You are my child. I am your Heavenly Father.

I am counting on you. I am trusting in you. I know that I cannot live a life that pleases you without your power and strength. No, you cannot. As I draw near to you and you draw near to me I will be resisting the devil and all the evil he will try to throw at me. I will allow your word to dwell in me richly. I know that your word will help me to think your thoughts and do your will. Yes, it will. I know that your word will change my heart and transform my mind. Yes, it will. I know that your word will push evil thoughts out of my heart and mind and life. Yes, it will. You will cleanse me with your word. Yes, I will. Your word will make me able to live and walk in ways that please you. Your word will make me able to stand against every evil and temptation. I will trust in you and all that you have to say to me as I draw near to you. That will be very good.

Lord, I am drawing near to you. I am humbling myself before you. I am turning away from evil and withdrawing from sin. I am submitting myself to you. Cleanse and heal me. I will walk in your ways. Use your word to push evil out of my heart and mind. Amen

Key Question…  How are you submitting yourself to God’s will and His ways?

Living It Out…  Draw near to God and resist the devil so you will be able to turn away from evil and stand against temptation.

Seeing It Happen…  Have faith that you will be able to overcome temptation as you immediately draw near to God and resist the devil.

Get Ready To Share…  Share with another person or your small group how God has used His word to strengthen you against temptation.

Prayer To Bless Others…  May you draw near to God and resist the devil so you will be able to stand against temptation.

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

365 Days Of Guidance – Day 22 – James 4-7-10 – Submit Yourselves To God – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You

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The Virtuous Life - Day 200 - James 4:7-10 - Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You - Growing As Disciples

The Virtuous Life – Day 200 – James 4:7-10 – Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You – Growing As Disciples

Submit yourselves 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.  Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.  James 4:7-10 (ESV)

Victory Over Evil

That is what you want. That is the life you would like to live. You would like to live a life that is pleasing to me. You would like to be able to resist temptation and stand against evil. You want to have victory over evil. Is everything that I have said about you true? Yes, I want everything that you have stated. How can I live such a life? You tell me. I was sure that you were going to say that. Then you are prepared to answer me. If that is true, it would only be because you have made me able to answer you. I’m listening. What do you have to say? Victory over evil will never come to me by my own efforts. I will never be able to overcome evil with my own strength. There is only one first and best step to securing victory over evil. That step is submitting myself to you. In taking that step toward you, I am taking a step away from evil. And it really isn’t just a step at all. It is fleeing evil as soon it approaches and running to you as fast as I can. Lingering around evil is the surest route to defeat. I must not hang around evil, its allure and enticement are too powerful for me, or anyone else, for that matter. So, immediately flee, I must. But that is only half the equation. Fleeing alone will never be enough. I must have somewhere safe to flee. It is to you I will flee. It is to you that I will submit myself. As I flee evil and run to you, the allure and enticement and power of evil over my life is broken. In your presence, you change my heart. In your presence, you transform my mind. In your presence, you guard and guide my life. That is true. That is what I will do for you.

I do want to say more. Go ahead, I’m listening. I will not only flee to you when evil is approaching. That is not all I want. That is not all I need. I want to live a life continually drawing near to you. I want to live in an intimate relationship with you. So, what will you do? Daily, I will draw near to you. Daily, I will confess my sins to you. Daily, I will humbly live my life with and for you. Then I know that you will help me to live the life you have called me to live. Then I will live a life that is pleasing to you. You are quite sure? Yes, I am quite sure. Yes, you are quite right. I will help you to love and follow and serve me with all that is within you. Thank you, Lord.

Lord, I know the first and only best step to victory over evil is to submit myself to you. That I will do as I resist evil. Day by day, I will humbly confess my sins to you as I draw near to you. Cleans me. Purify me. Help me to live the life you have called me to live. Amen

Key Question…  How has submitting yourself to God removed the allure of evil from your heart and mind?

Living It Out…  Submit yourself to God and draw near to Him so you will be able to resist temptation and stand against evil.

Seeing It Happen…  Have faith that submitting yourself to God will make you able to resist temptation and stand against evil.

Get Ready To Share…  Share with another person or your small group how day by day you are submitting yourself to God.

Prayer To Bless Others…  May you submit yourself to God and resist the devil so that He will flee from you.

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Devotional Study Guide click here

The Virtuous Life – Day 200 – James 4-7-10 – Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You – 4 Page Discipleship Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                                                        Copying not permitted                                                                                    http://www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Draw Near To God

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Prayer - James 4:7-10 - Draw Near To God - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Prayer – James 4:7-10 – Draw Near To God – Growing As Disciples

Submit yourselves 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. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.  James 4:7-10 (ESV)

Submit Myself

All that I am. All that I have. All that I hope to be is yours. I give myself and my entire being to you. I submit all my thoughts and words and deeds to you. I want everything about me to be pleasing in your sight. I love you with all my heart and mind and soul and strength. I don’t want there to be there to be any double-mindedness in me. I want to love and follow and serve you with single hearted, white hot, passionate devotion. I want to shine brightly for you in the world. This in the desire and prayer of my heart. This desire and your prayer comes from me. I have given you this desire and will I grant you this prayer of your heart.

That’s great. That’s fantastic. That is better news than I could have hoped for or even imagined. Why is that? I know that I am a sinner. I have sinned and I will sin. I will fall short. I will not measure up. I will make mistakes. I will take missteps. I will go where I should not have gone. I will do what I should not have done. I will sometimes fail to go and do your will.  I know that, not all I will think, say or do will be pleasing in your sight. But, I will keep on confessing my sins to you. I will keep on drawing near to you. I will keep on submitting my heart and mind and life to you. I will not draw back. I will not retreat. I will not run away. No, I will run from temptation and evil. I will run to you for help. Temptation and evil will flee from me as I humble and submit myself to you. You will strengthen me. You will sustain me. You will support me as come to rely on you. I know that,  you will draw near to me as I draw near to you. I know that, you will lift me up as I keep on humbling myself before you. You will use me. You will work in me. You will work through me as I keep on submitting myself to you. Yes, I will and that will be very good. 

sLord, I will submit my thoughts, words, deeds and entire life to you. You are my God. I love you with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. Thank you that you will draw near to me as I draw near to you. Thank you that evil will flee as I submit myself to you. Amen

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Prayer – James 4-7-10 – Draw Near To God – 4 Page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com

Submit Yourselves, Then, To God

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Discipleship Devotional Study Guide - Spiritual Warfare - James 4:7-10 - Submit Yourselves, Then, To God - Growing As Disciples

Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Spiritual Warfare – James 4:7-10 – Submit Yourselves, Then, To God – Growing As Disciples

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:7-10 (NIV)

Submit and Resist

Do you want to be able to stand against evil? Do you want to be able to resist temptation? Do those two questions seem silly to even ask you? I think that is a trick question. Why is that? No question that you would ask me could ever be silly. The question may seem silly to me. The question may seem unnecessary to ask. But the question is not silly and not unnecessary to ask. Why is that? First of all, if I want to stand against evil and resist temptation that must be my firm desire. What do you mean by that? If I like doing evil and living in sin, then I will have no hope of standing against evil and resisting temptation. If my heart and mind are divided on the subject of standing against evil and resisting temptation, I will never have victory over them. Isn’t that obvious? Yes, it is, but not to everyone.

Where must you begin if it is your firm desire to stand against evil and resist temptation? Now, that is a very good and important question. It sounds like you are about to speak from the voice of experience. Yes, I am. I will tell you one thing. What’s that? Victory over evil and temptation does not begin with me. My own power and strength and efforts will never give me victory over evil and temptation. That’s true. If I want victory over evil and temptation I must submit myself to you. I must draw near to you. I must seek you with all my heart and mind and soul and strength. I must live in an intimate relationship with you. Your love for me and my love for you will make me want to live in victory over evil and temptation. Why is that? As I keep on drawing near to you, I will continually want to do what is pleasing to you. I will want what you want. I will want to live the life that you have called me to live. That’s true. When I am living in an intimate relationship with you standing against evil and resisting temptation will be the desire of my heart and mind and life. Yes, it will. 

What must you do when you see and feel that evil and temptation are attempting to ensnare you? I must run from them. I must run to you. I must keep on submitting to you. I must keep on drawing near to you. I must continue to live in an intimate relationship with you. Then evil will lose its’ power to draw me into temptation and sin. Will you keep on submitting yourself to me? Will you keep on drawing near to me? Will you continue to live in an intimate relationship with me? Yes Lord, I will. Then you will live in the victory I have secured for you. Thank you, Lord.

Heavenly Father, it is my joy and delight to draw near to you. Thank you that you also draw near to me. There is no place that I would rather be than in your presence. I submit myself to you. Guide, guard and protect my life so that the devil must flee from me.  Amen

For today’s complete 4 page Discipleship Devotional Study Guide click here:

Spiritual Warfare – James 4-7-10 – Submit Yourselves, Then, To God – 4 Page Discipleship Study Guide

Please consider sharing these devotionals with others through the social media you use.

Individual users may save the Discipleship Devotional Study Guide to their desktop for private use. All the blanks in the study guides are fields that allow typed responses. To use the fields on the study guide you may need to open the guide with a free version of adobe reader.

By Jon Ulrich © All rights reserved                   Copying not permitted                      www.GrowingAsDisciples.com