Draw Close and Surrender (James 4)

James 4:1-10 Warning Against Worldliness

We often spiritually drift from the Lord like a boat that has become unmoored.

The way to return is surrender.

The unseen battle within us is won by drawing close and surrendering to God.

Draw close and surrender to God:

1) My desires are a battlefield. (v. 1-2)

Question What desire in my life has become so controlling, what I don’t get it I sin?

2) A divided heart has already chosen a side. (v. 4-6)

A divided heart says, “If I don’t hold it all together, it will fall apart.”

A divided heart doesn’t stop believing, but stops depending.

Jeremiah 2:13 “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

A divided heart doesn’t surrender, but attempts to make a counter-offer.

Question What area of my life reveals that I trust myself more than I trust God?

3) Humble submission is the path to victory. (v. 7-10a)

Submit to God, resist the devil.

Steps 1-3 of the Twelve Steps of recovery are all about surrender.

We desire “my will be done” by are saved by the One who said “thy will be done.”

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

Thomas Watson “To draw near to God…is our greatest riches.”

Mourn and weep—don’t manage sin; repent.

John Owen “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.”

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.