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The Closer, the Safer, March 31
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your
hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
James 4:8
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“Draw nigh to God.” How? By secret, earnest examination of your
own heart, by childlike, heartfelt, humble dependence upon God, making
known all your weakness to Jesus, and by confessing your sins.
We cannot draw nigh to God and behold His loveliness and compassion
without realizing our defects and being filled with a desire to rise higher.
“And he will draw nigh to you.” The Lord will draw nigh to him who
confesses to his brethren the wrongs he has done them, and then comes to
God in humility and contrition.
He who feels his own danger is on the watch lest he shall grieve the
Holy Spirit and then draw away from God because he knows that He is
not pleased with his course of action. How much better and safer it is to
draw nigh to God, that the pure light shining from His Word may heal the
wounds that sin has made in the soul. The closer we are to God, the safer
we are, for Satan hates and fears the presence of God.
Draw nigh to Him by prayer, by contemplation, by reading His Word.
When He draws nigh to you, He lifts up for you a standard against the
enemy. Let us take courage; for the enemy cannot pass this standard.
If we draw nigh to God, individually, then don’t you see what the
result will be? Can’t you see that we will draw nigh to one another? We
cannot draw nigh to God, and come to the same cross, without our hearts
being blended together in perfect unity, answering the prayer of Christ
that they may be one as He is one with the Father. And therefore we
should seek in spirit, in understanding, in faith, that we may be one, that
God may be glorified in us as He is glorified in the Son; and that God
shall love us as He loves the Son.
The soul that loves God, loves to draw strength from Him by constant
communion with Him. When it becomes the habit of the soul to converse
with God, the power of the evil one is broken; for Satan cannot abide near
the soul that draws nigh unto God.
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