Drawing Near to God - Part 1: Submit to God
 

Drawing Near to God
Part 1: Submit to God

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
Print, Study and Apply


Title: Submit to God--------------------- Date: 10/11/1999
Keywords:
"distance" "submit"


Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation.

This is part one in a five part study on drawing near to God. James gives us insight on practical ways we can move closer to God, the source of our strength.

Passage: James 4:7-10*

7. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Questions

1. Focusing on the first part of verse 7, what does it mean to submit yourself to God?

 

2. Does submission seem like a sign of weakness or wisdom?

 

Practical help

God, by his grace through Jesus Christ has brought you back into his presence. If you're not sure you're in God's presence, click here to find out how you can be.

Yet even while you're in his presence you can choose how close you want to be to him. If your choices lately have been putting a lot of distance between you and God then take a note from James -- God wants you to be near and here's one way:

Submit to God.

Sounds at first like you'd do this out of fear -- I'm cornered and God's in front of me -- I guess I better submit. That's not submitting, that's running scared.

The submitting James is talking about isn't about fear -- it's about realizing! Realizing that when you take control you end up losing control, but when you give (submit) control to God, you amazingly gain control through God.

If a porn habit is keeping you too far from a God who wants to help you beat it, then close that gap with a step of submission. Then don't be surprised by how much you can now control.

 


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*Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.