“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hearts, 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 4:8-10
Today Sara Horn completes her presentation of Six Steps to Overcoming Discord, based on James 4:7-10.
3. Draw near to God. Sara exhorts us to step away from the enemy and to step close to experience God’s presence. This means spending time in God’s Word. When we feel frustrated or defeated, as if our hurt is too big for us to handle, we need to reach out to God, asking Him to draw near.
4. Cleanse your hands and purify your heart. In other words, Sara states, start over: “Clean out the junk in your heart and mind about that person or that situation you need to forgive. Let it go, and don’t let it come back.
5. Be miserable. Sara observes that this verse might seem a bit odd. Do we need to become miserable in order to forgive? James is saying that we must be mindful of our own sinfulness, even if it’s only that we’ve allowed our hurt to build up and turn into resentment or anger. Since God is gracious to us, we are able to extend grace and forgiveness to those who’ve hurt us.
6. Humble yourself. Sara notes that Jesus never defended Himself when others attacked. He defended God. When we humble ourselves before God, our joy and sense of well-being dwells with Him, not other people.
Today’s question: Which of the six steps do you need to address? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: the new Short Meditation, “Entertaining angels unawares”
