Guaranteed ways to get closer to God: The brother of Jesus shares how
by ROGER PARSONS
I’ve yet to meet a person who has not at some point in their walk with God, had a hard time with how to get close to God. If your life is anything like mine, you’ve had times when you felt close to your heavenly father, and other times when he seems so far away you wonder if he still exists.
We are human after all and live by our senses. God is not someone you can physically see. You can’t reach out and physically touch him. Our connection with God’s presence is a spiritual and emotional one.
James chapter four gives hope and offers a number of Bible verses that teach the best way to be close to God. I’m reminded of a scene in the movie Dumb and Dumber as I think about the hope that James offers in God’s word.
In the movie, Lloyd Christmas, played by comedian Jim Carrey, is in love with Mary Swanson, played by Lauren Holly. He pursues her for much of the movie and in one dramatic scene, asks her what the chances are of them becoming a couple. She quickly responds with, “one in a million.” Lloyd is excited about the answer and utters the now-famous line, “so you’re telling me there’s a chance.”
In the book of James, we find there is a 100% chance you can get close to God. And the person telling us this is none other than James, the brother of Jesus and a leader in the Jerusalem church.
Think about that. If there was someone in your life that you wanted to have a closer relationship with, and that person’s brother or sister gave you advice on what to do, it would probably be good advice to follow.
James chapter four is an excellent Bible study offering guaranteed ways to get closer to God. Let’s start with some good news in verse eight.
Guarantee from the word of God
8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. –James 4:8 NLT
This is at the top of my list of favorite verses in the New Testament because it offers so much hope that we can have an intimate relationship with God. It’s not only possible, but it’s within our control what type of personal relationship we have with Christ Jesus.
James gives what I would call a guarantee here. IF you come close to God, he WILL come close to you.
Not only does James provide a guarantee, but chapter four is full of all the important things that need to become daily habits to lead to a close relationship with the Lord Jesus.
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Motives Matter
1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. -James 4:1-1 NET
God’s word here tells us that motives matter. If our life is built around spending time seeking only what we want, and following after the passions and desires the world places in front of us, our motives are wrong.
It’s a natural part of our sinful nature to be selfish and seek the desires that appeal to our flesh. That’s how sin entered the world in the first place. When satan wasn’t content with being one of the top angels serving God but wanted to be God, sin entered the world into which we are all born.
One of your daily habits should be evaluating the motives behind your actions. Ask the Holy Spirit; who lives in you after you accept Jesus as your savior, to reveal your motives. What drives the actions that make up your life?
According to scripture, God wants to provide for us when our desires line up with His desires. In verse two, James shares how God wants us to ask him for help. He wants to play an active part in our lives IF we are living for him and not just ourselves.
Pleasure: The Right Way and Wrong Way
James 4:3 says our motives are wrong because we only want what will give us pleasure.
Living an enjoyable, pleasurable life is not wrong. God desires for us to live a spiritual life to glorify him through obedience. When we do this, we experience the joy that lasts versus the fleeting pleasures the world offers.
Marriage according to God’s word is a great example of this.
The world sells the idea that sex is to be enjoyed anyway you want it. Advertisements, movies, music, social media, and the multitude of other ways the world communicates, present sex as a pleasure to be enjoyed at will regardless of marriage.
As someone who indulged in this lie that the world sells, enjoying sex outside of marriage offered fleeting moments of pleasure, but it was followed by a lot of tough times from the emotional baggage that goes along with this lifestyle.
When I finally started following God’s purpose and plan for my life, I met the woman of my dreams. It was not for brief sexual pleasure, but to build a lasting intimate relationship with my best friend. When this happened, I began experiencing more fulfillment and joy living God’s way than I ever did living for my own selfish pleasure.
The life I lived following the patterns of this world, doesn’t compare to the 33 years of joy I’ve experienced being married to my wife and raising a beautiful family together.
The world’s pleasure will never compare to joy we find in God’s truth.
Loyalty Required
A marriage will not survive where unfaithfulness remains present. The Bible describes our relationship with Jesus as kind of like a marriage.
25 Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. – Ephesians 5:25 NET
The church is the body of Christ-followers and Christ loves us similar to the love a husband and wife have for each other.
Just like adultery will destroy a marriage relationship, unfaithfulness to God causes us to move farther away from God and closer to the sinful things of this world.
Simply put, God must be the most important thing in your life. Your life should be centered around him and you should strive to be faithful. Loyalty is key to getting closer to and experiencing the hands of God at work in your life.
Prayer: Lord, when sin comes my way, help me to choose obedience and loyalty today.
A stumbling block to loyalty is pride.
God Opposes the Proud but Gives Grace to the Humble
If you are striving to have a relationship with someone and they oppose you, it’s safe to say you’re not going to be very successful.
The Bible speaks about pride over 50 times in both the Old Testament and New Testament. In Proverbs, we are told pride goes before the fall.
Throughout history, men and women have fallen due to pride. A marriage will rarely last when one or both partners is full of pride. A friendship will not flourish where there’s pride.
Pride is characterized by arrogance and I don’t know anyone who likes to be around people who are arrogant and self-centered. Another word describing pride is haughty eyes, or looking down on others and thinking more highly of yourself compared to others and even God sometimes.
People who are full of pride think they always know best and have a general sense of not needing help from others.
This type of self-centered living does not work with God. Satan thought he knew better than God and it caused him and his followers to be cast out of heaven.
Pride is a wall that stands between us and God. A spirit of humility and realizing our need for God removes that wall allowing us to be close to God.
The good news, God is always on the other side of the wall waiting for you. When you choose humility, God’s grace removes the wall of pride separating you.
Humility comes before obedience.
Obedience = Spiritual Growth
7 So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. -James 4:7 NET
The key to obedience is submitting to God, and humility comes before submitting. Obedience is key to spiritual growth resulting in a close relationship with God.
22 Then Samuel said, “Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice. -I Samuel 15:22
Disobedience is like putting up a roadblock to your relationship with God.
Obedience goes to trust. If we trust God and believe he will take care of us if we obey him, it’s a no-brainer.
James goes on to provide a little more explanation of obedience in verses 8-9.
8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and make your hearts pure, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and weep. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into despair. -James 4:8-9
Spiritual growth which equates to getting closer to God comes from repentance and consistent obedience. When God referred to David as a man after his own heart, it wasn’t because he was perfect. He was far from it.
When’s the last time you committed adultery and had the person’s spouse killed so you could marry them?
That’s the same David that God described as being a man after his own heart.
What David had going for him was a life centered around repentance and obedience. He failed often, just like us, but he continually repented and pursued a relationship with God.
Do you want to be close to God and for him to be close to you? Repent and obey, rinse and repeat as often as necessary with sincerity. Obedience is the first thing we must do and the most important step we have to take to experience repentance and forgiveness leading to a closer relationship with God.
Loving, Not Judging
11 Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. He who speaks against a fellow believer or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge. 12 But there is only one who is lawgiver and judge—the one who is able to save and destroy. On the other hand, who are you to judge your neighbor? -James 4:12-12
When you read about the life of Jesus and the sacrifice made by both the Father and Son to save us, love is behind it all.
God is love and it’s impossible to have a close relationship with God if we don’t love others.
Judging and loving don’t go together. Judging condemns someone when they make a mistake. Loving forgives and seeks to help others. Love realizes we all sin and fall short of God’s standard and are in need of a savior. A judgmental spirit is a powerful tool satan uses to sow discord among believers in the local church.
As a parent and grandparent, it means the world to me when other people love my children and grandchildren. On the other hand, mistreat my children and grandchildren and the worst comes out in me.
Imagine how God feels when we pass judgment on his children. Thankfully he has more grace than we do, but it hinders our relationship with him.
When our lives are built around love, mercy, and grace, our relationship with God will reach new heights. God will be fully immersed in every part of our lives.
Be a Part of God’s Plan
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 15 You ought to say instead, “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” -James 4:13-15
In James 4:13-15 we see a passage of scripture that encapsulates everything we’ve talked about.
This goes back to seeking God’s involvement in every part of your life. If you try to live your life on your own, make your decisions and not consider God in your plans, he’s a gentleman and won’t force himself on you.
God expects us to live our lives and contribute to the world we live in. He’s just letting us know our lives will be better if we center them around a relationship with Jesus. Instead of God being a part of our plans, try being a part of his plan.
The whole book of James is filled with so much wisdom for living. Set aside daily time to spend in God’s presence where you meditate on James chapter four a regular part of your devotion. It’s a quick read and a simple way to remind yourself how to draw closer to God. Even in difficult times when I don’t feel like picking up the Holy Bible when I do the right thing and set aside some quiet time to spend reading the word, I always feel better afterward.
Sometimes getting closer to God seems like a monumental task. We all have busy lives, but taking small steps each day that we’ve covered in James is an easy way to start your journey walking towards God. James offers a good starting point to focus on as you set aside time for daily prayer time and Bible study.