[James 4:8-10]
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts,
for you are double-minded.
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will lift you up.
I've been thinking about how excited I am to push myself closer to God...
Sometimes, I just get excited, and then stop there. This happens a lot at work, when I feel a rushing need to drop what I'm doing and be in a total state of worship. (ever happen to you?) But without a bible on hand, or since I am required to do work while working, I have to keep my worship in my head. By the time I get home, I tend to let myself lose the motivation to read any scripture or devotionals or anything.
As if suddenly bursting out in praise means I was Christian enough for one day.
So to keep myself "near to God" like the verse says, I keep a little notebook in my pocket, and in it, I write down all my little moments of joy, with little prayers usually. I used to only use this little notebook to write down my struggles when I was too angry or upset to pray my rage away. It was such an amazing tool then. I could just read back through these rants when my sanity returned, and feel more articulate in prayer.
In the same sense, when I write down my joys (so that I can't let myself forget they happened) I can draw closer to God. When I get home from work I can read back through my joy-book and remember how good God is to me. It's usually the jump start I need to read a verse or two...which gets me even closer to God.
[see the pattern!?]
To "humble myself before the Lord," I am trying to remember to always, in praise or sad-prayer, to ask God to guide me in each situation.
[You know, instead of saying, "GAD I HATE THIS! Amen." Or, "God, I GOT this! Don't worry!! Amen." ]
Teach me how to stay happy; teach me how to use my little sad days to learn, and grow, and teach.
God loves us, I think it's clear that He just wants to help.
So let's not forget to let Him.
Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts,
for you are double-minded.
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will lift you up.
I've been thinking about how excited I am to push myself closer to God...
Sometimes, I just get excited, and then stop there. This happens a lot at work, when I feel a rushing need to drop what I'm doing and be in a total state of worship. (ever happen to you?) But without a bible on hand, or since I am required to do work while working, I have to keep my worship in my head. By the time I get home, I tend to let myself lose the motivation to read any scripture or devotionals or anything.
As if suddenly bursting out in praise means I was Christian enough for one day.
So to keep myself "near to God" like the verse says, I keep a little notebook in my pocket, and in it, I write down all my little moments of joy, with little prayers usually. I used to only use this little notebook to write down my struggles when I was too angry or upset to pray my rage away. It was such an amazing tool then. I could just read back through these rants when my sanity returned, and feel more articulate in prayer.
In the same sense, when I write down my joys (so that I can't let myself forget they happened) I can draw closer to God. When I get home from work I can read back through my joy-book and remember how good God is to me. It's usually the jump start I need to read a verse or two...which gets me even closer to God.
[see the pattern!?]
To "humble myself before the Lord," I am trying to remember to always, in praise or sad-prayer, to ask God to guide me in each situation.
[You know, instead of saying, "GAD I HATE THIS! Amen." Or, "God, I GOT this! Don't worry!! Amen." ]
Teach me how to stay happy; teach me how to use my little sad days to learn, and grow, and teach.
God loves us, I think it's clear that He just wants to help.
So let's not forget to let Him.
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