Draw Near
Do you agree with the idea that we should read God's word to draw near to Him rather than seeking immediate revelation? Why or why not? Tod…
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June 11, 2024
Draw Near
Do you agree with the idea that we should read God's word to draw near to Him rather than seeking immediate revelation? Why or why not?
Today’s episode is a special one titled "Draw Near." Join us, as we dive into the heart of James 4:8, unpacking the profound promise that when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. With personal insights and practical advice. Let's address listener questions about how to deepen their relationship with God beyond these quick devotionals. Whether you're navigating life's trials or simply seeking a closer connection with the Divine, this episode offers invaluable guidance on starting your journey.
So grab your latte, tune in, and let's draw near to God together.
Have thoughts to share about this devotional? Tap HERE to send us a text!
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Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.359 --> 00:00:40.454
You're listening to the my morning Devotional podcast, episode 1027. Today's Devo is called draw near. Hey, there. We're the alesis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the my morning Devotional podcast. Hello, everybody, and happy Tuesday. We are already starting with a great week. A very honest, very honest week. Humbling week. Yes.
00:00:40.834 --> 00:00:48.106
And Gabby, you're joined again today. You're gonna lead us into another great verse. Are you ready? I am. Let's get into it. Let's go.
00:00:48.210 --> 00:01:06.813
All right. This is in James four eight, and it says this, draw near to God, and. And he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts. You double minded. I'm not so wanting to focus on the cleanse your hands parts. I want to focus on the draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
00:01:07.153 --> 00:01:27.867
The idea that I had for this week and the direction that I wanted to take it in is we've gotten a lot of really great responses of, obviously, people love the show. They're thanking us, they're getting to know us more, and it's really cool to see that. But then there's a lot of questions that are coming up of, we understand what you're saying. You know, this is great advice, but how. Yeah.
00:01:27.956 --> 00:01:45.939
What's. What's next? What's after the five minute Devo? Right. Because we only do have five minutes. We're not able to get into the nitty gritty of each topic. And the next couple days, I'll go into some of the questions, and we will both get to answer them and kind of look at the question and all of that.
00:01:46.091 --> 00:02:30.193
But I think what we need to do is start here. And this is the whole idea of, if you have questions, if you're wondering what your next step is, or how does that work in my life, or how do I do those things? Step number one, draw near to God. The first thing you need to do is draw near to him because there's an immediate, like, promise attached to it. Yeah. If you draw near to God, he's going to draw near to you. There is something that you'll receive immediately when you do this thing. So James four eight tells us, draw near to him. God will draw near to you if you have questions. For example, yesterday was a day of questions where maybe yesterday's Devo didn't leave us off with a.
00:02:30.234 --> 00:03:05.074
An assignment of what to do. You know, maybe yesterday's Devo, it might have confused some listeners or it might have stirred some listeners to go and do some research for themselves, which I. I almost like more than giving them homework because it points them in the direction of where they should go. But maybe in yesterday's Devo, you had questions about, how does that all work? The first thing that I would encourage you to do is James four eight, draw near to him. Go to God. Find him, ask him those questions. And you might be asking, okay, Gabby, this is a great thing. I'll draw near to him. How do I do it? Go to his word. Yeah.
00:03:05.373 --> 00:03:09.003
Go open the Bible. Go read the Bible.
00:03:09.544 --> 00:03:16.575
If you even need. If you're confused about where to start and you're trying to look for. Okay, what's going to help me in my season?
00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:41.918
It's not bad to go on Google and say verses about trials and tribulation. Yeah, I agree. It's not bad. Totally agree. I think so many of us, there's a pressure in the world today to know the word of God and we need to know exactly where to start reading because we have to get instant revelation. That's not always the case. There's times where you'll receive revelation within an instant, and then there's times that as you read daily, you'll slowly, slowly get that revelation and that understanding. Yeah.
00:03:42.045 --> 00:04:34.708
So if you're going through something in your life, if you. You've lost a loved one, if you're in the middle of a job switch and you feel like you're unstable right now, whatever the topic of your life is, open Google, open the Bible app and look up verses of blah, blah, blah. Yeah. And you will see all these verses pop up when you read them, when you save them, when you meditate on them, that is you drawing near to God. That is us saying, God, I'm coming to you. I want to hear what you have to say about this situation, about this topic. When we draw near to him, he will draw near to us. And something that's really moved me and something that stirred in my spirit recently is that everything that God has said, everything that God has done, every word that he's spoken, it's in his word. He is not going to say something to you that's outside of his word. Yeah.
00:04:34.795 --> 00:05:39.319
The Bible actually talks about the punishment for somebody that adds a letter or takes away, adds or takes away from the word. So what we see is a complete process or book or work of God in the Bible. It's complete. It's everything that you need. And so, so many of us are wanting a word from God. We want a word from the Lord, but we never pick up the actual word of the Lord. Yeah. And so if you're wondering, okay, great. Draw near to God. How do I draw near to him? Open his word today, I encourage you, after you listen to this morning, Devo, open your bible and read the rest, or read all of James four. Just start there and see what stirs up in your spirit. See what the Lord points out to you. Because you'll see when you open up his book now he's going to start speaking to you. Now the Holy Spirit's going to start whispering some things to you. It's just the same principle of draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Yeah, absolutely. And even just saying, I only started really diving deep into my word last year. It wasn't a long time. No.
00:05:39.432 --> 00:05:53.124
So it's amazing how much you can sort of, because it can be intimidating. Some people know a lot about the word and you're like, I just have to start from nothing. And I totally agree. Just finish James four, start in Matthew and start reading the New Testament.
00:05:53.264 --> 00:06:24.093
But the biggest reminder that was very helpful for me was that we don't read God's word to get a revelation. Yeah. Because then that's just gonna leave us upset every time. When you get to the Old Testament, that's just gonna leave you disappointed. Yes, it's true. But you read God's word to draw near to him and to get to know him. Exactly. You read God's word because you're in a relationship with him. Exactly. So I love this verse because it's true. Once we draw near to him, he draws near to us. It's who he is. And, you know, I think people can overcomplicate it with their relationship with God.
00:06:24.434 --> 00:07:50.795
Think about your relationship with a significant other. Absolutely. And when you want to get to know them, you're not looking for something for you. You want to get to know that person. You want to know where they work and their heart behind different societal issues. And you want to know how, if they want children like, you are going to ask them questions about them, and you're going to draw near to them exactly for who they are. And that's how we have to be. With the Lord and his word. And his word. Yep. I love it. Gabby, can you pray us out for today. Yes, Lord, we just thank you that you are a giving God and that you draw near to us. Jesus, when we draw near to you, we thank you that you don't hold yourself back from us. We thank you that you don't just sprinkle yourself here and there. You give of yourself freely when we draw near to you. And we just thank you that we have that access to you. And so I pray today for every listener that you would help us all draw near to you today. Whether that's opening our Bible, whether that's listening to worship music, God, whether that's having a conversation with you in our car or even in the shower, Lord, wherever it is, we just thank you that we can draw near to you freely. And I'm just believing, God, today, more than ever, you're going to start drawing near to every single person that's under the sound of our voices, God, that you're going to start making yourself known to all of them, just like we would in a relationship with a significant other or with a friend. God, you're going to start to draw near to them and we can learn more about you. So we thank you for it, Lord. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it.
00:07:50.860 --> 00:08:01.827
Your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend.
00:08:01.956 --> 00:08:05.800
Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now.
00:08:05.911 --> 00:08:10.543
Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte. Is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.
00:00:00.359 --> 00:00:40.454
You're listening to the my morning Devotional podcast, episode 1027. Today's Devo is called draw near. Hey, there. We're the alesis, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the my morning Devotional podcast. Hello, everybody, and happy Tuesday. We are already starting with a great week. A very honest, very honest week. Humbling week. Yes.
00:00:40.834 --> 00:00:48.106
And Gabby, you're joined again today. You're gonna lead us into another great verse. Are you ready? I am. Let's get into it. Let's go.
00:00:48.210 --> 00:01:06.813
All right. This is in James four eight, and it says this, draw near to God, and. And he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts. You double minded. I'm not so wanting to focus on the cleanse your hands parts. I want to focus on the draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
00:01:07.153 --> 00:01:27.867
The idea that I had for this week and the direction that I wanted to take it in is we've gotten a lot of really great responses of, obviously, people love the show. They're thanking us, they're getting to know us more, and it's really cool to see that. But then there's a lot of questions that are coming up of, we understand what you're saying. You know, this is great advice, but how. Yeah.
00:01:27.956 --> 00:01:45.939
What's. What's next? What's after the five minute Devo? Right. Because we only do have five minutes. We're not able to get into the nitty gritty of each topic. And the next couple days, I'll go into some of the questions, and we will both get to answer them and kind of look at the question and all of that.
00:01:46.091 --> 00:02:30.193
But I think what we need to do is start here. And this is the whole idea of, if you have questions, if you're wondering what your next step is, or how does that work in my life, or how do I do those things? Step number one, draw near to God. The first thing you need to do is draw near to him because there's an immediate, like, promise attached to it. Yeah. If you draw near to God, he's going to draw near to you. There is something that you'll receive immediately when you do this thing. So James four eight tells us, draw near to him. God will draw near to you if you have questions. For example, yesterday was a day of questions where maybe yesterday's Devo didn't leave us off with a.
00:02:30.234 --> 00:03:05.074
An assignment of what to do. You know, maybe yesterday's Devo, it might have confused some listeners or it might have stirred some listeners to go and do some research for themselves, which I. I almost like more than giving them homework because it points them in the direction of where they should go. But maybe in yesterday's Devo, you had questions about, how does that all work? The first thing that I would encourage you to do is James four eight, draw near to him. Go to God. Find him, ask him those questions. And you might be asking, okay, Gabby, this is a great thing. I'll draw near to him. How do I do it? Go to his word. Yeah.
00:03:05.373 --> 00:03:09.003
Go open the Bible. Go read the Bible.
00:03:09.544 --> 00:03:16.575
If you even need. If you're confused about where to start and you're trying to look for. Okay, what's going to help me in my season?
00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:41.918
It's not bad to go on Google and say verses about trials and tribulation. Yeah, I agree. It's not bad. Totally agree. I think so many of us, there's a pressure in the world today to know the word of God and we need to know exactly where to start reading because we have to get instant revelation. That's not always the case. There's times where you'll receive revelation within an instant, and then there's times that as you read daily, you'll slowly, slowly get that revelation and that understanding. Yeah.
00:03:42.045 --> 00:04:34.708
So if you're going through something in your life, if you. You've lost a loved one, if you're in the middle of a job switch and you feel like you're unstable right now, whatever the topic of your life is, open Google, open the Bible app and look up verses of blah, blah, blah. Yeah. And you will see all these verses pop up when you read them, when you save them, when you meditate on them, that is you drawing near to God. That is us saying, God, I'm coming to you. I want to hear what you have to say about this situation, about this topic. When we draw near to him, he will draw near to us. And something that's really moved me and something that stirred in my spirit recently is that everything that God has said, everything that God has done, every word that he's spoken, it's in his word. He is not going to say something to you that's outside of his word. Yeah.
00:04:34.795 --> 00:05:39.319
The Bible actually talks about the punishment for somebody that adds a letter or takes away, adds or takes away from the word. So what we see is a complete process or book or work of God in the Bible. It's complete. It's everything that you need. And so, so many of us are wanting a word from God. We want a word from the Lord, but we never pick up the actual word of the Lord. Yeah. And so if you're wondering, okay, great. Draw near to God. How do I draw near to him? Open his word today, I encourage you, after you listen to this morning, Devo, open your bible and read the rest, or read all of James four. Just start there and see what stirs up in your spirit. See what the Lord points out to you. Because you'll see when you open up his book now he's going to start speaking to you. Now the Holy Spirit's going to start whispering some things to you. It's just the same principle of draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Yeah, absolutely. And even just saying, I only started really diving deep into my word last year. It wasn't a long time. No.
00:05:39.432 --> 00:05:53.124
So it's amazing how much you can sort of, because it can be intimidating. Some people know a lot about the word and you're like, I just have to start from nothing. And I totally agree. Just finish James four, start in Matthew and start reading the New Testament.
00:05:53.264 --> 00:06:24.093
But the biggest reminder that was very helpful for me was that we don't read God's word to get a revelation. Yeah. Because then that's just gonna leave us upset every time. When you get to the Old Testament, that's just gonna leave you disappointed. Yes, it's true. But you read God's word to draw near to him and to get to know him. Exactly. You read God's word because you're in a relationship with him. Exactly. So I love this verse because it's true. Once we draw near to him, he draws near to us. It's who he is. And, you know, I think people can overcomplicate it with their relationship with God.
00:06:24.434 --> 00:07:50.795
Think about your relationship with a significant other. Absolutely. And when you want to get to know them, you're not looking for something for you. You want to get to know that person. You want to know where they work and their heart behind different societal issues. And you want to know how, if they want children like, you are going to ask them questions about them, and you're going to draw near to them exactly for who they are. And that's how we have to be. With the Lord and his word. And his word. Yep. I love it. Gabby, can you pray us out for today. Yes, Lord, we just thank you that you are a giving God and that you draw near to us. Jesus, when we draw near to you, we thank you that you don't hold yourself back from us. We thank you that you don't just sprinkle yourself here and there. You give of yourself freely when we draw near to you. And we just thank you that we have that access to you. And so I pray today for every listener that you would help us all draw near to you today. Whether that's opening our Bible, whether that's listening to worship music, God, whether that's having a conversation with you in our car or even in the shower, Lord, wherever it is, we just thank you that we can draw near to you freely. And I'm just believing, God, today, more than ever, you're going to start drawing near to every single person that's under the sound of our voices, God, that you're going to start making yourself known to all of them, just like we would in a relationship with a significant other or with a friend. God, you're going to start to draw near to them and we can learn more about you. So we thank you for it, Lord. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it.
00:07:50.860 --> 00:08:01.827
Your five minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend.
00:08:01.956 --> 00:08:05.800
Leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now.
00:08:05.911 --> 00:08:10.543
Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte. Is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.