James 4:8-10
"8.Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double minded. 9. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."
When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour people start to turn against us. Then we try to keep our friends and family to like us and not to cast us off. We become double-minded and attempts to hold to God and the world at the same time.
In Matthew 19:29 Jesus encourage us with “And everyone who has left house or brother or sister or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” The promise to the disciples (everybody that follows Jesus) is generalized to include all followers of Christ. We have more brothers, sisters, mothers etc in Christ.
Live in the joy and freedom of holiness.
We can more easily be comfortable around them than around those who are in the world. Jesus expects from us to take a stand for Him and be more afraid of what He thinks about us than what the world thinks about us. Jesus is the one who is going to say where your soul is going – heaven or hell. He loves every person on this planet and does not want one soul to be lost, but it is our own decision.
As believers we need to live a holy live. Jesus died for our sin, not so that we could go on sinning, but His death set us free so that we have the power and freedom to choose not to sin. We are to live in holiness because we have been made holy by grace through faith in Jesus.
Draw close to God and He will draw close to you. When you are in His presence, do not be surprised if you are convinced of sin. Embrace it; its purpose is to free you from sin. Embrace sorrow over sin; it leads to repentance and forgiveness. Humble yourself and God will lift you up.
Confess
Believe
Acknowledge
ABOUT MARIA
