For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, “Seek Me that you may live.”“Seek the Lord that you may live, or He will break forth like a fire, O house of Joseph, and it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel…” “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you…”

Amos 5:4,6,14

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 

      James 4:6-8

For the people of Israel, under the Old Covenant, there was a constant invitation from God to “seek Him.” “Seek Me that you may live” is the instruction from God to the people. Does that sound a little familiar? God was consistently presenting the people with a choice to either seek Him or to turn away. Notice that there is no neutral ground here. The same is true for our lives as well. When it comes to God, there simply is no neutral ground. We either seek Him with all of our heart or we turn away from Him to pursue our own hearts, interests, and desires. It’s a little like traveling north or south. We can head north or we can decide to go south but it is impossible for us to travel in both directions at the same time. Twice, we see God prompting the people to “seek Him that they may live.” 

I recommend going back and looking for the “Seeking God” series on mytwocents.info. In that series we look a little more extensively at the idea of seeking God, so go check that out. But for now, God is petitioning the people once again to “seek Him so that they may live.” He goes on to add, “seek good and not evil.” Again, the reason for this is the direct correlation between seeking good and enjoying life and the presence of God. Seeking God and seeking good was the invitation to the people of Israel to enter into a covenant relationship with God.

But in the New Testament, we are also invited to enter into this relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit living within every born again believer in Jesus. Consider the words of James:

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:6

This declaration comes on the heels of the following:

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 

      James 4:4-5

God desires a relationship with us and Christ’s obedience on the cross has opened the door for sinful humanity to have such a relationship. The Spirit, which God has made to dwell in us, is the basis of this relationship. Born again believers in Jesus Christ (those who have surrendered their lives to Jesus) have the Spirit living within. Unbelievers cannot say the same. And it is the Spirit of God that changes our hearts, our thinking, our motives, and our priorities and desires. We now want the things of God rather than the things of the world. It’s the pride of man that separates us from God (1 John 2:16). That’s why James reminds us that “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” We can experience the incredible grace of God but it only comes through humility and repentance. As long as we desire to chase after the things of the world and believe the we can pursue the “pride of life” and be right with God at the same time, we deceive ourselves and forfeit God’s grace in our lives. 

Submitting To God

In our sinful nature, we simply do not like the idea of submission. Let’s be honest, freedom, self-directed living, and pursuing what we want fits comfortably and feels so much natural for us in this life. The idea of submission to God, at first glance, seems like we are forfeiting everything that we want and desire for a relationship with God. But what we find in submission is a life that is described, in scripture, as abundant, powerful, over and above, superior, and uncommon. And it doesn’t take long for new believers to experience this life and to ask themselves, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” “Submission” is, at its very core, “cooperating with God.” It’s simply aligning our lives with God intentions, which are always good, perfect, and beneficial. Why would we do anything else? 

Resisting The Devil

I firmly believe that one of the devil’s schemes to deceive mankind is to get them to think that he is not real. You see the world, all the time, characterizing him as a horned creature walking around with a pitchfork, only appearing at Halloween. But nothing could be further from the truth and scripture tells us exactly what we should think about him. Consider the following from the Old Testament:

You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire.You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you.

Ezekiel 28:14-17

And this from the New Testament:

No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

2 Corinthians 11:14-15

This is who the devil is and he is the spiritual enemy of mankind, deceiving many and keeping them from the gospel which can save their souls (Luke 8:12, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4). And for us as Christians, we are instructed to “resist the devil.” Peter reminds us:

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

    1 Peter 5:8-9

And Paul adds to these warnings:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

        Ephesians 6:10-11

The Bible is not silent on the devil and his efforts to deceive humanity. But, as Christians, we can take heart! When we belong to Christ, the devil cannot have our souls nor can he deceive us because the Holy Spirit gives us discernment to assess what is true and what is false. And the promise made to us by God’s Word is that when we resist the devil, “he will flee from us.” 

Drawing Near To God

When we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. He’s not far away and He is not playing “hide and seek” with humanity. We can seek God anytime, anywhere! And when we do, He will meet us there (Matthew 6:6). Desiring the very presence of God is at the heart of loving Him with all of our hearts (Matthew 22:37-38) and is the essence of seeking God!

Cleansing Our Hands

In scripture, our “hands” represents our actions and, by extension, our lifestyles. How do you live your life? Does your lifestyle reflect an individual who loves the Lord and seeks to please Him in every way? “Cleansing our hands” means that we should put away the things that the world pursues and begin to desire and pursue the things of God (Ephesians 4:22-24). An authentic Christian is not going to continue, as a general lifestyle, playing around with sin and the things of the world. The Spirit within us will not allow us to “comfortably” sin repeatedly and without repentance (Galatians 5:16). Living lifestyles moving in the opposite direction from the world is the norm for those who belong to Christ.

Purifying Our Hearts

“Our hearts” represents the real person inside of all of us. It’s who we really are and represents what we prioritize and desire most of all. When our hearts are pure, we can begin to live that abundant life talked about by Jesus (John 10:10). We should take our heart seriously in that a pure heart is essential to being in right relationship with God (Psalm 51:10, Proverbs 4:23). Our hearts, including our thinking, should be in line with the truth of God’s Word. “Purifying our hearts” removes any hindrances to our living our lives for Christ (Hebrews 12:1-2). 

The Double-Minded

James mentions the “double-minded.” This literally means “two-souled.” These are the people who just can’t seem to make up their minds on whether to follow Jesus or not. They claim to have a faith but their lives do not exhibit a transformed life being lived for the kingdom. As a result of their indecision, they are “tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming…” (Ephesians 4:14). But we are not to be like that. We are not double-minded rather we are single-focused on pleasing God in every respect (Colossians 1:10).  

Approaching God in humility, submitting to Him, resisting the devil, drawing near to God, cleansing our hands, and purifying our hearts…this is the essence of seeking God!

Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.

        Psalm 37:4