Draw Near to God....

One of my favorite verses/promises in the bible is in James 4 where it says "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you...." The very idea puts a picture in my mind of being curled up on God's lap feeling loved and protected by Him. But it also puts me in mind of my closest friendship where that person knows everything there is to know about me and I could go to them about anything and everything.
The verses before and after verse 8 talk about what that "drawing near" looks like. It is not a list of more rules like some people might see it, but it is a picture of what drawing near to God looks like. I see it more as a God telling us "We can't keep drawing close if you want to keep this stuff in your life. There's just no room for all of that, and Me." God desires a relationship with our heart and our spirit, not our flesh and our behavior. He isn't in heaven putting notches in a piece of wood for every good and bad thing we do. At least that's not the way I see God. Instead He is looking at each thing we do, checking our heart and trying to correct the motive that caused each good and bad thing we did. He desires us to stay at a place where His correction is always welcome and possible. It is kind of like hugging your child after you've spanked them. The correction was necessary, but you also want to draw them into you and make them feel loved. That is the way I see God when He corrects me. But there is also another side of God's love...the side where correction was not needed. I think God delights in showing us favor when we are walking in His will. And I think we are in control of being at a place where God can or cannot shower us with His blessings. We may look at life sometimes and want to question God when blessings don't seem to be coming our way, but I would challenge you to look at all the other blessings that are coming your way instead of focusing on the 1 or 2 that you are waiting for. God's timing is always perfect. His blessings come when He knows we are ready for them. So continue to draw near to Him unconditionally. Rain or shine, thick or thin...show God your love for Him is as unconditional as a human can possibly love. Some days that will come easy and some days the enemy is going to make that as hard as possible for you. But when you continue to draw near to God in the good times and the hard times you are defeating the enemy!
God, thank you for Your word which shows us not only Your promises for us, but Your expectations too. Help us to condition our heart and our spirit to draw nearer to you with each new day. And forgive us for the times we put expectations on Your love for us. In Jesus name, Amen.