#drawnear

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19-20 Repentance is a word that is so often used among believers but yet still misunderstood. We interpret repentance as saying “I’m sorry” or turning away from a particular sin. According to scripture, true repentance is urged by “godly sorrow,” and it…

Don’t think with false security that God blesses his chosen people regardless of their spiritual condition.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8a). Did you know that your relationship with God is based on the work you are willing to put into it? James made this very clear by stating that we must draw near to God if we want God to draw near to us. However, it is essential to understand that drawing near to God doesn’t mean testing or trying God to see if He is there. Jeremiah made…

So submit yourselves 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 of two minds.

In the Western world, we are addicted to information and knowledge. There are thousands of incredible books, sermons, podcasts, and other resources on prayer, fasting, and other Biblical disciplines that help the Believer draw near to God. These resources are wonderful; they give us motivation, information, and Biblical studies on the spiritual disciplines that help to strengthen and enrich the Believer's relationship with Jesus Christ.

While these resources are great, they fall short in one area: they can potentially lead us to believe that we have engaged the disciplines by simply partaking of these resources. For example, if our prayer life can be described as knowing a lot about prayer and being well studied on prayer - but we do no actually pray - something is wrong. Likewise, if we are well studied on fasting, but we do not engage a heart-felt, worship-based fast to God, we miss the point.