“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you,” James 4:8 . One day I was listening to a Jewish man talking to some of his workers. He said “God only helps those who help themselves.” I was fairly angry at the remark at that stage for not only had it come from a man whom I knew to be ungodly, but I believed that Jesus came to help those who were unable to help themselves.
However as the years have passed, I have come to realise that in essence what the man said is in fact true and biblical. God does help those who help themselves. First God does not come to you or walk away from you. You have to come to Jesus first and accept Jesus into your life as your Lord and Saviour. Jesus then comes and lives within your life. If you never take the first step of asking Jesus into your life then He can not come into your life. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
From that stage Jesus walks with you in perfect unity with you. He walks beside you, never in front of you and never behind you. When you take a step forward Jesus takes the step with you. If you do not take any steps then Jesus does not take any step. If you wish to be financially blessed then you have to take the first step and start learning to give. Once you give then He returns it to you, a good measure, pressed down and running over. When you tithe, you first have to tithe and then the blessings will come pouring out. God will not give to you bless you first so that you are in a position to give. You first have to give and then God will pour out his blessings. You first obey God and then He responds.
God says that never will He leave you or forsake you. God is not a lier and so He will never leave you. What does happen though is that we turn our backs on God and walk away from Him. Jeremiah 3:22 , “Return you backsliding children, And I will heal your backsliding”. You first have to return to God and then he will forgive you and heal your backsliding.”
God says that he will bless all that you put your hand to. Unless you put your hand to something, God can not bless it. I have encountered many who fail to grasp this concept. God always takes what you have and then blesses it. He takes what you are doing and blesses it. If you are doing nothing and are not giving God anything to work with, then how can God take it and bless it.
When Jesus fed the 5000, he first asked the disciples what they had. They had a few loaves of bread and some small fish which they gave to Him. He then blessed it and it fed the 5000. If the disciples had not given the bread that they had over to Jesus, Jesus would have had nothing with which to work with and therefore could not have done the miracle. Take what you have before God and offer it over to Him that He may bless it and multiply it. If you never offer what you have to God then He can never multiply it.
Faith without works is dead. If you are believing God for something, then be diligent and start taking the step and providing the way for God to supply it. If you need to be healed and are believing God for healing, unless you step out in faith, call upon the elders to annoint you with oil and pray for you, or take some other step that God can work through, the chances are that God will not heal you. You have to take the step of faith first. If you are looking for a wife or partner, you need to tell God what you are looking for, and then place yourself in a position whereby God can work and bring a partner to you or take you to the partner. Join a good online dating site like Cupid-Date and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into finding the perfect partner. However if you never go out or join any sort of orginisation where you can meet people, then how can God ever introduce you to your perfect partner. If you need to lose weight but do not want to chandge your habits, then how can you ever lose weight.
Step out in faith and create a situation where God is able to come through for you and to give you the desires of your heart.
