Bible Discussion Thread

help me to understand James 4:8 draw nigh to God and he will draw night to you.

Hi Belinda , remember the parable of the prodigal son ? If you read it carefully , as soon as the Father sees his son returning in the distance , he runs out to meet him . He doesn't wait for him to get to him . So for every one step the son takes toward his father , his father has ran four paces closer to his son . It's the same for us . God is only ever a thought away from us . When we make the effort to get to know Him by reading His Word and saying our prayers to Him and trying hard to put into practice the life choices that would be acceptable to Him then He pours His blessings on us . Whatever effort we make towards Him He rewards us much more than we could ever imagine in so many different ways . All we have to do is submit to Him and trust Him and wait . Christ is coming and he wants you !

In context James 4:1-10 is dealing with wars and fights among Christians that disrupt and divide the church. He attributes it to lusts that war in our members. We crave for things that we cannot have, both because we don't ask God for them and when we do ask we He refuses our requests, because they are wanting to give in to our lusts. Lusts within leading to fights make us Adulterers or Adulteresses trying to be just like the world, which acts as God's enemy.

James reminds us that the Spirit is within us and strives against such desires, since God will jealously claim those who are joined to Him. Yet the Spirit also gives us more grace. The Spirit simultaneously resists our pride and gives us grace when we start to humble ourselves. James then says that as we submit to God in humility the Spirit enables us to turn His resistance to the proud against the devil, who is above all proud, so that he must flee.

Now that brings us to the verse your question is about. The word "nigh" means "at a short distance away". As the devil flees at the sight of us humbling ourselves, rejecting his wicked pride and distancing us from him, the distance between us and God grew shorter and God moves toward us.

However, the grief and betrayal of Adultery must still be acknowledged and faced in repentance to bring true restoration. Adultery has to be put away from us by acknowledging we are sinners in what we've done and that we've acted as double-minded cheaters against our true love. Real grief at the relational harm we've caused is appropriate and necessary in the face of Adultery. But God promises that if we present true humility before Him like this, He will forgive our sins and lift us up to enjoy His everlasting love again.

Read Hosea. That book gives God's view of friendship with the world as Adultery and Hosea has to act out God's jealous love and grace in the face of that kind of betrayal from the wife God called him to marry. That is what James is talking abou