Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. —James 4:8

It is essential that you give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual— you cannot act for him. It must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead him to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.

When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. “Come to Me…” (Matthew 11:28). His word come means “to act.” Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.

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Journal DJR
Good morning Lord,
You’ve made it clear over the last many months that connection with you is the key to the Christian Life. Now I’m seeing the difference between connection as a player in the game compared to merely being connected as a spectator at the game. It’s not actually new. You’ve shown us the value of staying connected, curious, expectant, surrendered and obedient. It’s those last two that are getting the focus today. Continuing the spectator vs player metaphor… It’s hard to say I’m really connected if I just stay in the stands, watching the game. At least not at the same level as if I get out there and play, take some hits, swing at the pitch…..

John said that “I only did what I saw the Father doing, only said what I heard Father saying… John 5:19 I was connected. And I fought to maintain that connection. When the stressors built up, I would slip away to renew that connection. You should too.

Are we to strive to be consciously connected all the time? Or is the goal to be “unconsciously connected?”

Checking your connection every few minutes will lead to navel gazing and self absorption. You can be more unconsciously connected than that. Start your day with a strong connection. Check yourself from time to time. But live in the moment, unconsciously bringing those things you’ve stored in your mind and heart to bear on the situations.

Romans 12:2 (NIV) Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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