I don’t know about you, I don’t know what elements of the Lord’s Word affect your lives, or how each of you respond to God as He manifests Himself to you, but I hope and pray that you are more open than I am. It seems that sometimes, no matter how much I know of the Lord, I just don’t seem to know Him, or rather, I don’t want to know Him. I get myself caught up into things and into areas that take my priority, or, let us be fully honest, my desire, rather than being desirous after the Lord. I want things my way, and I want things now, and I want to be able to do what I want. I know what the Lord wants, and what He desires, and what will please Him, and even what would be best for me, but none of that seems to matter when I, myself, this carnal being wants something!  
	I get caught up in periods of self-desire and self-pity, and the last thing I want is to be told is what the Lord wants. I have a feeling, but don’t quote me on this, that the people to whom James was writing, may have been in similar situations. They were displaced. They were being persecuted. They were looking at themselves in self-pity and wondering what was the point. They had their desires after some things of their former lives and livelihoods and were wondering what was the reason of their being Christians. They couldn’t enjoy their former lives, that life no longer existed. They were not enjoying their present situation, it was all chaos and turmoil. Why? What was wrong with things as they had been? What was wrong with some little diversions from the normal and just a little of this world’s delights? Surely they deserved to be compensated with a little relief from their daily grind as Christians. What did it matter anyway?
	Then, the Lord in His meeting of their immediate needs, provided this letter from James, to touch upon their hearts, to encourage, to uplift, to exhort, to reprove, and to enlighten as only the Holy Spirit can do! We will not enter into all that the Lord has to offer in this letter, but, rather consider just one fragment of the glorious truth of our relationship with God.
	It is not a lengthy portion, as far as the number of words that are used, but it is a powerful statement to each one of us, no matter what our situation, circumstance, or dilemma. It is found in James Chapter 4, verse 8: Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
	We find this quick, little statement, almost buried in the middle of this letter, as the writer is exhorting the readers about their manner of dealings with each other, and with the Lord. He is addressing the things that he has heard concerning their behavior and attitude, and it is almost like he was reading my mind, and watching my behavior. In the midst of all of this, we have the command to draw near to God, and he will draw near to us.
	This struck something inside of me. In the midst of my self-pity and my self-desires, there was that perceptible yearning after God. It was the same yearning that has characterized my life since I accepted the Lord as my Savior. It was the same yearning that has been in me throughout my walk with the Lord. It is that same yearning that wants to know more about God, more about Christ, even though other aspects of my life are in constant conflict with it. Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto me, why? 
	Why do I want God near unto me when I am trying to go my own way? The answer to this is also in scripture, Hebrews 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. What was before, even in our old life was never sufficient, never of value unto God. It was all the creation of man in self-futility to become close to God. But this closeness was not for the sake of a better relationship with God, but to have an equality with God. It was the efforts of man to become a god unto Himself. This is the situation we face in our futile attempts after selfhood. The elevation of our selves and our self-madeness into an apparition of godliness in our own right. We desire to do things in our own way, with or without the blessings of God. This is what the law served to highlight. Mankind attempted to do everything without God, and further alienated himself from God. It took an act of God, in the sending forth of The Son, to bring man back into the relationship that was desired by God, and that is the core desire of all man’s attempts at godhood. Mankind does desire a spiritual relationship. That is evident even in the darkest recesses of civilizational development in the idols and the worshipping that has been practiced by the nations. Every nation of mankind has tried to emulate some sort of spiritual awareness through the use of sacrificial idolatry and worship. Even the various religions, so prevalent today, are filled with the desire to have a spiritual awakening. 
	The spiritual awakening that man seeks can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only in Him, that we can come to know the Father. It is only in Christ that we can have spiritual life, no matter what other ways we might have chosen to attempt that relationship in our human efforts. It is in Christ, that the earnest desire of mankind is fulfilled in the knowledge of God, not as theology, not as catechism, but as our Father, our Lord and as our Friend. This is the why of our relationship, because we need to know God in every spiritual sense. We were created to be spiritual beings with a spiritual reality that only Christ can fulfill. Yes, as I stated in the beginning, we do have a war within us that desires after our way, but there is also that greater spiritual need that desires after God.
	As a quick example, I can tell you this evening that this is the last place I want to be, standing before you. When I was asked to share, it was the last thing that I desired to do, in myself. At the same time, there was a desire to share this evening with you. Why? Because I had to go the Lord. I had to read the scripture. I had to pray. I was forced into a situation that required that I draw nigh unto God, not for myself, alone, but for each one of you, also. The same holds true on Tuesday Nights for the young people. I don’t look forward, in myself, to the time and preparation. I don’t look forward to the struggling through of the lesson. But there is a sense of necessity in the fact that because I have to, I follow through, and I am the one who is blessed, because I have been forced to set aside my desires for the sake of each one of the precious young people that God has brought into our midst.
	I don’t know if this makes sense in words, but the fact is that it makes sense in my heart. God has found ways that require that I draw near unto Him, and then He so blesses me with Himself as I have to search the Word; as I have to pray for the time, the energy, and the things that should be shared; and as I have to count on Him for the courage to bring forth only that which He desires. 
	You see, this is part of what James requires us to do, and why he requires us, in such commanding terms to draw nigh unto God. It is because as we do, that everything else makes sense to us. Our why’s become answered as we ask them to God. Our doubts become settled as we spend time with the Lord over them. Our desires become molded into His desires as we are honest with the Lord and give expression to Him face-to-face and heart-to-heart. You see, He never fails to meet us heart-to-heart. He does not brush off our concerns and our thoughts as insignificant or as hopeless. He desires to open in us the friendship of his very being. He desires to be available to us in crisis and in joyful celebration. He wants to be able to guide us through every difficulty for our benefit because He loves us. It is as His love is expressed in our lives that God will receive all glory, and that blesses Him. As we are loved, so He is manifested and glorified. It is a mutual relationship of love that Christ has established. And, in my life, it is through these times of sharing with the members of the body, that He is able to get through and to spend such precious time with me, because I am spending it with Him.
	This is what is echoed in Acts 17:27+28: That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us: For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring. The very focus of our lives become more and more evident as we spend time in fellowship with God. It is the same truth that works in our physical realm. You really do not get to know people unless you spend time with them. It is as you have continued dealings with people that you get a sense of what they are really like, how they respond in crisis, and in times of joy, how they deal with their friends, their foes, their families. None of this really comes into being unless you draw nigh to that person. The same is true of ourselves. We don’t really get to know ourselves until we are put into situations and into circumstances that bring forth our true being. We are so good at putting on masks around others, and even around ourselves, that it isn’t until we are stripped of those masks so that we can see who we truly are. We find ourselves hurting those whom we love, we find our values thrown into question, our virtues disappear, and our vices are fomented with increasing ferocity. The Lord works effectively to allow us time, even to ourselves, in order to let us know ourselves. He is gracious, however, to not allow us to be defeated in our self-pity, because he calls us unto Himself, to focus our attention, not on what we used to be, but upon who we are now, in Him. 
	It becomes a matter of not us, but Christ in us. As we look to Him, we, ourselves become less and less the focus, and He becomes more and more the reason, the means and the very life that we live. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Focus on God, and He will become more and more the very focus of our every being.
	Psalms 34:18 brings to the front the reason that ourselves need to be exposed in the light of Christ. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. God has promised that He will be there for us, if we use the vernacular of the time. When we are seen for our selves, apart from Christ, when our lives are shattered, when everything is in dismal array, where can we find solace and comfort and help? It is from our Lord, our Father, our Friend. He does not make promises that He will not keep. He is not a friend as long as we are rich, or famous, or of use for some other purpose. He is there if we will but call upon Him. He desires for us to know Him in a relationship in which He is desired, in which we talk with Him, in which we beseech Him, and cry to Him because we trust Him and love Him and cherish His very presence. Think into your past, and for some this is not a very long time ago, and remember those times of crisis, when we called earnestly forth unto God for our very salvation through the midst of the strife. Remember, oh please remember how His very presence flooded our beings. Remember how there was an assurance that everything was going to work out for His glory, and for our best interest. Also, please consider the sense of fellowship that enveloped our beings as we sought after God. There was a deep relationship that developed because we had to trust someone, and He was there for us. We felt closer to the Lord than to anyone else in our lives, and our beings gave evidence to this close and deep relationship. We began to deal with others out from Christ, and not out from ourselves. Our focus was set in Him and our concern was for others rather than for ourselves. We began to concentrate on the dilemmas that others were facing, despite the trauma present in our lives, and our hearts began to set themselves upon the misery that the people around us were living, rather than the trials our lives were facing. In short, as we sought after the Lord, our plight diminished as our relationship with Him grew, and our focus, our attention, our concern was diverted from us and onto Him and upon those in such desperate need of Him.
	We know this in times of our distress, but what about in terms of our daily walk, when everything seems to be OK and yet we have lost that intimate relationship with God, because we feel that we don’t need Him at the moment. As humans, we are so apt to do this with friends, with spouses, and especially with God. When we are in need, we get close to all our friends, but, when the pressure is off, we begin to neglect each other, and neglect God and focus on ourselves. Our time is spent in other activities, and begin to drift from a steadfastness in the Lord. How do we maintain an attitude of drawing nigh unto God, when we are not forced into that attitude?
	It is as we call upon God, that we will sense that nearness of God in our beings. Psalms 145:18: The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. We have to but call forth unto Him, whether in our trouble, or in our need, or in our joy to know the presence of our God. He is never far from us, but, at times, when we are not calling upon Him, when we are focused upon ourselves rather than upon him, we seem so separated from Him because we are not calling upon Him in truth. We put ourselves into areas that we consider to be beyond the bounds of God, as I mentioned in my introduction, where we want to be apart from Him. Yet, the truth is that He is there, because Christ is the Truth, and He is in us always. It is because He is the Truth, that He is there in the instant of our distress, when we but mutter His name. He is nigh when we call and we are flooded with the knowledge that He has not left us, neither has He forsaken us. He makes His immediate presence known, and there are ample testimonies to that fact of the saving presence of God in this room this evening. Draw nigh, and He will draw nigh. Call upon Him, and He will call us forth unto Himself.
	In Psalms 73:28 we are instructed, But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works. One of the key aspects for us to continually remember, in light of our desire to come near to God, is a life of prayer. True prayer manifests trust. It is because we trust God that we pray unto Him. If we are praying simply because we do it out of habit, or as a ritual, then there is no trust and there will be no response from God. It is in our trust in Christ that we draw nigh to God. To draw nigh means that we are talking to God. We are conscious of Him and are conscious of our communication with Him. We are talking to God in our prayers, whether they be verbal or silent, expressing our hearts to Him with an expectation of His communication with us. Now, I am not talking in terms of a voice from heaven which we hear audibly, but rather that Spirit-to-spirit communication of God in our beings, when we know that we have touched the heart of God because He has touched our hearts. There is that sense that God has heard and responded, not with lightening and thunder, but with mercy and peace dwelling in our beings. The grace of God communicates far more within us, than a thousand words can ever convey. For us to draw near to God means that we have to take the time to spend with Him in prayer, which verifies our trust in Him. It can’t be, solely at matter of an hour or so on Sunday mornings, not for a true drawing near unto God to take place in our hearts. It has to be a continually growing and living life of prayer from within us, as evidenced by our Lord Jesus Christ who told us that He was never without conscious awareness of the presence of the Father. Why? Because He was in continual communication with the Father in prayer.
	We need to set aside time for God if we desire to draw nigh unto Him, and we need to set aside time for Him to draw nigh unto us. It is not enough to pray in a one-sided fashion. Think to yourselves how much of a relationship develops when we are with people who do all the talking and never listen to us. Soon there is no relationship. We have to allow God the time to draw near unto us. This happens as we take the time to meditate upon His Word and upon His Spirit as He opens in our hearts the response to our prayers. I don’t know about you, but I am really good at praying, but not very good at listening. Waiting for the response of God is not easy. It takes effort. It takes commitment. It takes patience, and it takes the priority of our being! This is the rub. I have so many things to do that I don’t have time to listen to the Lord. I have so many responsibilities that I don’t have the energy to wait on God. I am so busy, that I can’t wait for the Lord, I have to get something done. But, that is not drawing near unto God. It is setting Him aside in order to satisfy our desires. We need to realize that He should be the one desire of our beings, and the rest of our duties and responsibilities and priorities will have to be brought into line with Him. Period!
	Another area of this drawing nigh unto God is shown in Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Again, the full assurance of our faith is that trust in Christ as the Truth. But here, we have another condition of our drawing nigh unto God. It is the condition of our heart. How do we approach our Lord. Do we attempt to approach in the rags of self-righteousness? Do we seek after Him, while at the same time harboring animosity toward another, holding onto some sense of shame or guilt or hatred. This cannot be, because this uncleanness cannot be blessed by the presence of God. We have to seek after the Truth, after Christ to reveal in us that which has no place before God, and then trust Him to cleanse that from our beings. As we obey, oh that word again, but such a vital word to us in our relationship with God. As we obey Him, obey the Word of God, so our lives will manifest the trust of the Living Word of God. Our essence will be changed from the selfhood of sin and brought forth in the Truth that is Christ. Our hearts must be broken and contrite and sprinkled clean and we must be washed in the pure water of Christ in order to draw nigh unto God. In Him, in all Truth, every area of our beings will be brought into a living relationship with God that will satisfy, for eternity the spiritual desire that God has placed into man, and thus will satisfy the heart of God in the fulfilled Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our purpose on this earth and for eternity to come.
 Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.