At peace with God
"Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness.Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. "(KJV) James 4:8-10
In his book, ‘How to get through our struggles’, Oral Roberts defines man as "A spiritual being created in God’s own likeness/image, living in a physical body, possessing a mind in which to think and reason. (pp. 32)". It is therefore unequivocal that God really lives in man (Romans 8:9) and has endowed man with gifts so great.
How great and awe-inspiring for the creator of the Heaven and earth to be man’s fortress. The writer of the book of James herewith admonishes us to draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to us. With inference, we see how great and big God is if we draw closer to Him.
A story is told of a little boy who once asked his Dad how the size of an airplane is. His Dad, beaming up with a smile told him it appears small in size when it is seen a far-off fly in the sky, but at the airport, it is so big. Dad was indeed enlightening his son on how big an airplane was when one got closer to see it. So, is our God, He is big when we are closer.
God is always Faithful and cannot disown Himself (II Timothy 2:13). So it behooves us to be patient and faithful and walk with Him consistently. (II Timothy 2:12).
At times, along with the journey in life, we do stumble or go through struggles. We should gird up the loins of our mind because these things are inevitable. But we must not allow such to warp our relationship with God.
With God on our side, it is possible to get back on track when sin befalls. It is possible to remember our first love; to remember where we stuttered and get back on track. It is possible to stay pure, resist the devil as we go through the storms of life. It is possible to think and act positively.
Philippians 4:8-9 reads, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
In this corrupt generation where liberalism and ego have eaten into the lives of men, it becomes dicey to see something wrong with man’s persistent sinful ways, so sad.
Jesus prayed his disciples are left with and walk in peace, not of the world but peace in God. (John 16:33)
The peace of God that surpasses all understanding be with us all. (Philippians 4:7)