RTW 2024

You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,

“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

James 4:4-10

My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.
James 5:19-20

• James is a gauge for our faith, a target.
• A disciple’s faith shouldn’t be evaluated on how many Bible verses he has memorized, how eloquently he prays, or how precisely he can recite church doctrine/tradition. 
• Pure religion, according to the Holy Spirit, is observable in how a person applies the words of God in their actions. 
• Anyone that tries to be a friend with the world is an enemy of God. 
• God put His Spirit in His disciples to make them new, not to have them return to the things they loved in their past life.
• Do not draw near to the world. 
• Flee from Satan and the pull of the world. 
• Draw near to God.‍
• So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ]. Philippians 2:12 (AMP)

Check your faith target. Draw near to God.