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Recommitment

Glenn Blankenship
02/26/17 - Sunday

"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." James 4:8

At times we don't feel near to God or that God is not near to us. We all have low points.
We must find a balance as is found in James 1:2 - joy in trials.
We cannot pour from an empty cup. We cannot work for God if we are running on empty spiritually. Successful Christians are those who let their lights shine. What's the difference? Successful Christians don't allow their low cup to become empty. We must conciously fill our cups. If we want to fill our cup, we can choose.
When we say we can't, we're right, but with God all is possible - Mk 10:25-27. We can't do it alone.
Examples of those with low points in the Bible - these are men we revere today. Some of them caused their own struggles, others suffered because of outside reasons.
NOAH - one of 8 people saved from the flood but in Genesis 9 we read of how he disgraced himself in front of his family and caused his son to sin.
JACOB - father of Israelites; deceived his father and brother; waited 14 years for his wife
MOSES - spoke to God, only man to see God; Killed a man did not obey God's command to speak to the rock
DAVID - a man after God's own heart; defeated Goliath with God's helps; spent time on run from Saul, felt forsaken; took another man's wife and had him killed; many family problems, had to run from his own son, Absalom.
When we are low, how do we rise? In I Peter 2:9, we are reminded that we've been chosen by God, because we have called on his name.
1) Take a breath and know you're going to be ok. It's a choice. You can make it happen. All things work together for good, for those that love God - Romans 8:28.
2) Suffering a low point should not keep us from doing good things. Christ's hardest moments were His greatest acts of love.
3) Suffering is part of the process. Hebrews 4:15,16 tells us we will be tempted.
4) Use the Psalms to boost your prayer life. Set a time to read your Bible each day.
5) Must put in more than a drop in the cup once a week. Just showing up on Sunday won't lift you.
6) RECOMMIT to doing what you should - read, pray, work.
2 Samuel 12: 15-23 gives us a picture of King David's life as he was losing his infant son by Baathesheba. We learn from him that there is a time to rise up. Hard times come, we may suffer and mourn but there comes a moment to realize that it is time to move on. We rise, we worship.
Is now the time to rise up in the midst of a low time?
Is now the time to trust that God fulfills his promises, that he will draw near to you if you draw near to him?
If you are not feeling close to God in spite of repeated prayers and reading the Bible, you must consider the one thing that seperates us from God - SIN and having no relationship with God. All the reading and praying will no draw us closer if we have sin in our lives.