A Final Ten Plus Two Ways to Draw Nigh to God!

 

1.  Control your tongue. 

Ecclesiastes 5:2 “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” 

Ephesians 4:29&31 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of thy mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers…Let all… evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” See also, James 3.

Proverbs 13:3 "He that keeps his mouth keeps his life: but he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction."

Proverbs 29:11 "A fool utters all his mind: but a wise man keeps it in till afterwards."

2.  Let forgiveness rule in your heart and mind. 

Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” 

Matthew 6:12 “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Matthew 6:14-15 "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

3. Make things right with those you have offended, if possible. 

Matthew 5:23 “Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother has ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

Leviticus 19:18 "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord." 

Colossians 3:12-13 "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."

4. Take care of your body through proper exercise, eating, drinking, and sleeping habits. 

1 Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” 

1 Corinthians 9:27a “But I keep my body, and bring it into subjection.” 

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

5. Work on having a healthy and happy marriage. 

Colossians 3:18-19 “Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." 

1 Peter 3:7 MSG “The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honour them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God’s grace, you’re equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don’t run aground.”

Ecclesiastes 9:9 "Live joyfully with the wife whom thou loves all the days of the life..."

Proverbs 18:22 "Whoso finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favour of the Lord."

Proverbs 31:30 "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised."

6. Love and instruct your children. 

Colossians 3:21 "Fathers provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. ”

Ephesians 6:4b  "But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." 

Genesis 18:19  "For I know him (Abraham), that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment." 

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in your heart: and you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up." 

7. Avoid the occult. Stick to what God has revealed in His Word. 

Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed (in God's Word) belong unto us and to our children for ever, that they may do all the words of the law."  

Deuteronomy 18:10-11 "And there shall not be found among you any...that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer."

1 Timothy 4:1-5 "Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer."

1 John 4:1-3 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."

Isaiah 8:19-20 "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

1 Chronicles 10:13-14 "So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; And inquired not of the Lord: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse."

  

8. Keep your body, your lusts, and desires under subjection. 

Galatians 5:17  "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that ye would." 

1 Corinthians 9:27 "But I keep my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." 

Colossians 3:5-8 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil desires, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth."

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      9. Enjoy yourself and enjoy life. 

Ecclesiastes 5:18 “Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he takes under the sun all the days of his life, which God gives him: for it is his portion.” 

Ecclesiastes 7:16ª “Be not righteous over much.” 

Philippians 4:5 “Let your moderation be known unto men. The Lord is at hand.” 

Nehemiah 8:10 “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” 

10. Remember in all that you do draw nigh to God. 

Psalm 73:28a “But it is good for me to draw near to God.” 

James 4:8a “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.” 

Hebrews 10:22-24 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience… Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.”

11. Be generous with your time, blessings, and finances. 

Luke 6:38 "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." 

2 Corinthians 9:7 "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Proverbs 11:24-25 "There is that scatters, and yet increases; and there is that withholds more than is meet, but it tends to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that waters shall be watered also himself."

12. Consider the poor. 

Psalm 41:1-2 "Blessed is he that considers the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies."  

Isaiah 58:10 "And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day." 

Proverbs 28:27 "He that gives unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hides his eyes shall have many a curse." 

Proverbs 19:17 "He that has pity upon the poor lends unto the Lord; and that which he has given will he pay him again."

I am sure as you think and pray you can come up with more ways to draw closer to God. Our spiritual life must remain the highest priority in our life in order to keep things in perspective. Do not let the enemy deceive you into neglecting its importance.

 Dennis Edwards  Click here to go to another list