Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Closer: To God. To Home. To Others.

Day Six: True Religion, James 1:27

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

Throughout the Bible we are reminded that the heart of God is for the poor, lonely, and hurting. When the world says to run towards your own pleasure; God says to run towards the pain of someone else. God cares for His children and wants to use you to reach them. As you are drawing closer to God, begin to ask Him what you can do for His Kingdom. Many times He will guide you "to the least of these".

I would be remiss if I didn't cover the other qualifier for pure religion...personal holiness. Many times we leave this one out. Maybe because it seems to be even more inconvenient than reaching out to hurting people. As we draw closer to God this January, He will open up our eyes to some adjustments that we need to make in our personal lives.

Many people don't want to get too close to God because they think He won't let them have any more fun. However, making adjustments in our life to please Him begins to open up a world of intimacy, passion, and dare I say "fun" that few experience. Once you begin getting closer to God, you realize that nothing in this world can compare to an intimate relationship with Him.

Prayer Focus: Pray that your relationship with God deepens and that He opens your eyes to opportunities to bring a healing touch into a hurting world.


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