Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for being here this week, for tuning in yet again.

If you haven’t already, hit that subscribe button, hit the like button, and hit the bell icon on this video or wherever you are watching or listening to stay tuned and stay updated.

We’d also really appreciate it if you’d help us out by sharing our content. Help us get up there in the charts, go viral, all of that kind of stuff. Why?

Well, not really for me or for my personal satisfaction, although it does help when I go through stuff, and I’m like, “Wow, look at all the people that saw this. Look at all the people commenting and engaging and liking.” Yes, it is encouraging.

But the point of it is that if more people share and like and comment, and engage with the content, then more people will see.

And now, I personally believe that the content that we are putting out is worth seeing. If you agree, please hit the like button, the bell icon, the subscribe button, whatever it is, comment, any of that, share.

Because, guess what? It’s not stuff that I’m coming up with. This, I believe, is inspired content. It’s straight from the Bible. Its content that hopefully will help change your life.

Now, you say, “Well, I don’t really need to change my life.” Guess what? Our lives are always changing. We are always working to change our lives.

And if we are not working to change our lives, then life is changing us, and we cannot do that. You need to be active and take priority in the initiative and intention to change your life.

What do you mean by that? Well, I mean that if you’re not taking steps every day to work toward God, then you are being pulled away from God every single day. Why?

Because this world is not of God. Yes, God made the world, but God gave the world to humans, and humans gave control of the world to Satan. That is our enemy, the adversary. We have tons of sermons about Satan and his demons.

Now, not tons — we have more about God, and even the ones about Satan are about God because, guess what? It’s about God defeating him and how we can defeat him with the power of God.

So, check all those out on our website. Just go, type in “Satan” or “Demon” or any of that kind of stuff, and you will find them. But the point is that every single day, you need to be drawing closer to God, and that’s what we’re talking about today.

You say, “All of that stuff about sharing the content, I didn’t know where we were going.” Guess what? It all relates. “Draw Closer To God,” and how can you help others do that?

Well, if you share our content with them on your feeds, then, guess what? If you have 100 Facebook friends, most people have 500 Facebook friends, or I think the average now, according to statistics, is like somewhere around the 300 mark.

So, if the average person has about 300 people, of that, about 100 see their daily feed. If you share one message a week, that’s 100 people that might see some type of sermon that relates to them.

Now, you say, “Well, I only want to share certain sermons that I really enjoyed.” Guess what? Those 100 people that see that, they might not enjoy the same stuff you do.

So, share multiple. That way, they have the option to see and hopefully like and follow, and you will be leading them to Christ. You will be helping them draw closer to God. Because if people are not actively seeking God, the world is pulling them away from God.

Now, how can I prove that? Well, turn on the news. Look at social media. Scroll through your feed. How much content do you see that is negative, or that is tragedy, or that is harmful?

Even things like world events — look at all the disasters that are reported in the news. Look at all of the crime all over the world. Look at all of the things that people are putting out there, and most of the time, it isn’t happy stuff.

It’s stuff that, if it happened to you, you wouldn’t like it. And so, that’s what I mean by all of that content that’s coming out there is pulling people down. It’s pulling people away from God. So, you need to draw near to God. How do you do that? We’re going to dive into it today.

Where do we get our sources? Of course, the Bible. This is the ultimate truth. That’s what we preach from. So, hopefully, you like that. If not, you’re in the wrong place. Guess what, though?

James 4:8. We’re going to start out with some Scriptures. Hopefully, you have the time and ability to look these up with me, to read them in whatever version you prefer, to understand them, and we will help you break them down.

If not, if you’re driving or something, come back later. Please, all of the verses are always referenced in the description below on our YouTube channel or our website, so you can spend some time reading these Scriptures.

All right, James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” All right, that’s a lot.

We could do a whole sermon on that verse. You say, “Why? It’s only like 20 words or 15 or whatever.” But, guess what? We could, because there’s so much in there.

James’s content is like every verse could be a sermon. It is like Proverbs — every verse could be a sermon. They’re just so rich with information, and that’s why you need to study the Word and meditate on the Word.

“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” So, if you are actively seeking God, guess what? This is like the definition, or one of them, of “God meets you halfway.”

If you are seeking God, He’s going to say, like, if we were on Earth, and if you wanted to come and visit me, and you say, “Hey, Spencer, from me to you is 100 miles,” and you start coming to me, after a while, I’m going to be like, “You know what? I’m going to shorten that distance. I’m going to, because I see you are actively coming to me, I’m going to come to you and meet you on the way.”

God will draw near to you if you draw near to Him. So, draw near to God. He’ll close that gap and come closer to you, so you can meet Him sooner. You can have a deeper relationship with Him sooner because, guess what? He wants that relationship with you.

So, you don’t have to do all the work. In fact, all you have to do is obey. He’s already done most of the work. Right here, read and study. “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

What does that mean? Well, God wants you to be single-minded. He wants you to be focused on Him at all times, not on all these distractions. Hang on, my phone’s going off. You thought I was for real? No, that’s one of those distractions that’s going on.

You see, all these little things that go on, that happen — it’s double-mindedness. Now, those are — that’s double-mindedness of distraction, but then there’s another type of double-mindedness, which you need to really lock down.

And that’s called the double-mindedness of your thinking and of your thoughts. You need to transform and renew your mind, as Paul says, and that’s your job to do, not God’s job to renew your mind. It’s your job to renew your mind.

So, double-mindedness, like if you go and you are talking about somebody, or something, and then later, you’re talking about that same thing but in a different way, that’s double-minded.

You can’t go contrary around. You can’t pick and choose. You can’t be saying, like, “Oh, I had a really great day yesterday, and it was so good, and all this was good,” and then later you’re telling somebody, like, “Yeah, you know what? Yesterday, this happened, and it was terrible.” Well, wait a minute. I thought you were just saying your day was so good.

“Well, I guess most of the day was good, but then that part was terrible.” Wait a minute. Which is it? Are you double-minded? You’re single-minded. The day is good. All right, you gotta stick to what you believe and stick with what you’re doing.

Now, this is so true when it comes to Scripture, stuff like healing, deliverance, all of those big things. Like, if you go and you’re casting out some demon, and then later you’re talking, saying, “Man, that person got a lot of demons.” Wait a minute. I thought you cast them out.

You can’t be double-minded. That’s what that’s talking about. But in the purposes of today’s message, withdrawing near to God — draw near to God — we need to get that together.

You must draw near to God. It’s a pretty simple concept. The closer you are to God, the closer He is to you. The catch is that you need to be the one that works to get close to God. He is already around you, and it’s up to you. If you seek Him, if you let Him in, He’s near.

It’s like people that say, “Oh, I found God.” God was never lost. You were lost. God was right there with you all the time. You just chose to ignore. You were lost. God was never lost. It’s you that needs to draw near to God, and He will be right there with you. All right, let’s go to 2 Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 15:2. “He went out to meet Asa and said to him, ‘Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.’”

The second half of that verse is my favorite half. Let’s read it again. 2 Chronicles 15:2b, “The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” All right, what does this mean?

Well, the Lord is with you if you are with Him. So, if you are with God, if you are with God — like, how are you with God? Well, in prayer. How are you with God? Well, praying in the Spirit, tongues, your prayer language. How are you with God? Reading the Bible. Okay, when you are with God, God is with you.

But if, for some reason, you decide you don’t want to be with God, and you go out to, whatever, the bar. Okay, and you’re trying to bring God to the bar, fine, you can do that.

You can go preach in a bar, okay? But let’s just say you’re not doing that. You’re going to the bar, and you’re going there to drink. God is not with you in that, because that’s not what God wants you to do.

Or you say, “I’m going to the strip club.” This is perhaps a better example. “No, there’s nothing there. Oh, I’m going there to preach.” No, you’re not. Okay, God is not with you in the strip club when you are going there.

Now, of course, God is always with you. There is nowhere you can go where God is not. No one can snatch you out of His hand. Don’t get me wrong here.

What I am saying is, if you are with God, God is with you. And so, that means you need to be doing the things God wants you to do. You need to be spending time with God.

If you are actively going and doing something sinful, God is not with you in that. He’s not partnering with you in that. That’s what we’re talking about here.

It’s like saying, if you came to me and said, “Spencer, I want to help with Social Media Ministries,” I’m going to be like, “Great, okay, here’s what I want to do. I want to go start breaking people’s windows of the abortion clinics.”

And I’m going to be like, “No, I’m not with you in that.” And you’re going to be like, “Well, you don’t like abortion, right?” And I’m going to be like, “No, but we don’t go break the windows. I’m not going to stand with you in that action.”

That’s what this is saying. You need to be with God, and when you are with God, He is with you in what you’re doing. And if you draw near to Him, He draws near to you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. So, if, same example, if you go start breaking windows, I am going to say, “No, we have nothing to do with that.”

You will be hung out to dry by me. No, I’ll disown it. I’ll be like, “No, we do not condone this type of behavior,” even though you are doing something like, “Well, I’m standing up for pro-life,” right? But we don’t agree with how you’re doing it, and so you’re no part of us. That’s what God’s saying.

“Well, God, I went to the strip club because I was trying to preach to them.” “No, I don’t approve of that type of behavior.” So, if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. You need to be doing the things God wants you to be doing, according to the Bible. Be a doer of the Word. We have a sermon on that. Check that out, “Be A Doer Of The Word.”

The other thing is, God is always near. Remember, there is no place you can go. No one can snatch you out of His hand. “Where can I hide from your presence?” That’s a Psalm. So, unless you make the effort, though, God will remain in the same place. He’s everywhere. He is right next to you.

But if you choose to put the blinders on and ignore, that’s where He’ll remain — outside. But if you draw near, He draws near. God is everywhere. He’s always in the same place. So, unless you make that effort to draw near to God, He will not draw near to you. You need to be the one to accept Him, and you need to be the one to get close to Him. Let’s go to Jeremiah 29:13.

Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. God doesn’t want you to be half-hearted. He doesn’t want you to be lukewarm. He wants you to be hot.

Check out a sermon up here, “Be Hot.” It was one of our very, very first sermons years ago. You need to be on fire for Christ. You gotta seek Him with all your heart. It doesn’t mean half-heartedly. When you seek Him with all your heart, He will be found by you, or you will find Him.

Now, you say, “Wait a minute, you just said ‘you will find Him.’ Does that mean He was lost?” No, He wasn’t lost. He was right there. You are lost, and when you choose to seek after God, He’s right there waiting for you, saying, “Come on, let’s go.” Boom, you find God. Yes, as in you found Him because you were never looking before, but He’s not lost. You were lost.

You need to be the one to accept God and get close to Him. He already wants to be close to you. Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Here I am! I stand where? At the door and knock. God is knocking on your door. What door? The door to your heart, the door to your life. He’s wanting to get in.

He’s wanting you to let Him guide you, lead you. Because, guess what? It’s your choice. You have free will, and God is not going to impose His will on you. You have to choose it.

That’s the difference between God and Satan and his demons. Satan will push and push and push and push, and you give him control, and he takes that control, and he will force himself on you. He or his demons will force themselves on you. That’s what we call manifestations. It’s uncontrollable.

When you see that kind of thing, the demons manifest. People manifest the characteristic of the type of demon they have, and they don’t want to manifest that. That’s the demon in control.

Fear or anxiety is a great one. People manifest anxiety. That is the demon of that name. They manifest the characteristic of the demon of which they have.

You say, “Wait a minute, I’m diagnosed with anxiety. Does that mean I have a demon?” You bet it does. How do you get rid of it? Deliverance. Get it out. Do you want to be anxious? Do you want to have anxiety?

You say, “But I’m a Christian.” Yeah, Christians can have demons. Demons can’t have Christians. Okay, get with the program. Accept that it’s real. You need to get rid of that stuff, and guess what?

Draw near to God, and you’re going to say, “Well, why doesn’t God just get rid of it?” You have to do it. That’s the difference. God is going to let you have your choice, let you have free will. It’s like this: the Holy Spirit is the ultimate backseat driver. The demon would want the wheel.

The Holy Spirit is going to sit there behind you, in the seat behind you, talking into your ear, saying, “Turn here, go here, go here,” and it’s up to you if you want to listen. That demon is probably in the passenger seat, or more likely on the console, reaching over there, trying to do the wheel, and until finally you give up, and you’re like, “Fine, just take the car and go.”

And you’re still sitting there, probably tied up in the trunk — just kidding. The point is, the Holy Spirit would guide you. God will guide you. God will lead you, and as you listen and follow, He’s right there with you. You got to draw near to God. God is waiting. Let’s go to Isaiah 55:6.

Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” You see, He is near to you. If you start to forsake Him, He pulls away. If you grieve the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit withdraws. That is why it’s so important to seek God when He is near.

Because, guess what? If you live in a life of sin, and if you are choosing a life of sin, and you are actively choosing to disobey God, God is getting further and further away. And then you start to seek Him, and you’re like, “Well, where is He?” He’s pulled so far away from you because of your lifestyle that He’s not around.

It’s going to be more work for you to get into those good graces of God, and you are going to have to live by some of the consequences of the choices you made.

Now, does that mean that it’s going to be harder for you to be saved than for someone else? No, it’s the same thing. You pray the prayer of repentance, you accept Jesus into your life, and He becomes your Lord and Savior.

But it might be harder for you to live that lifestyle because you’ve built up so many of these bad habits that now you gotta break.

An alcoholic — it’s harder for them to quit alcohol than it is for someone who has a drink once a week. A cigarette chain smoker — it’s harder for them to break that addiction than it is for someone who has a cigarette once in a while.

Okay, that’s the point. They are much further from the goal of breaking the addiction of not smoking, of not drinking, of not doing drugs, of whatever. If they do it every single day, it’s harder for you to break that. So, in that essence, that’s like the distance. If you are so far from God, it’s harder for you to get back near.

Because why? Because you’re so used to this. But for the mediocre person, it might not be much of a lifestyle change because they’re already halfway there, so to speak. Draw near to God, and He will be there immediately. He’s there.

How do I know that? How do I know God is going to be right there? Well, study the Bible, and He will be there. That’s what the Bible says. We’ve read some of these verses. Draw near to God, He draws near to you. He closes that gap. So, if you feel like you’re way over here, and you’re too far from God, don’t worry.

Because as you turn and repent and draw near to Him, guess what? He zooms right in next to you. There are verses in the Bible that say, “If they repent and turn to me, I will hear them and heal their land.” These are Old Testament prophecies that are just saying, “If only my people would repent and turn to me.”

So, you can never be too far from God. “Where can I go from your presence? If I go in the depths, you are there.” He is there. Remember that. So, study your Bible. Social Media Ministries’ sermons can help.

We have a sermon series on “Know And Understand Your Bible.” Check it out. The playlist card will be right up here, or go to our website, type in “Bible.” You might get a lot of results, but “Know Your Bible,” “Understand Your Bible,” “Read Your Bible.” It’s two sermons, so type in those keywords, and you’ll find them.

Pray. That helps a lot. Spend time with God in prayer. You say, “I don’t know what to say.” Open up your Bible, read some verses, pray the verses. You read one, and it says, “I have plans to prosper you.”

Pray for prosperity. You read one that says something about wisdom, pray for wisdom. You read one that says something about someone was healed. You get the idea. You pray the Word.

We also have sermons on prayer. Go to our website, type in “Pray.” A prayer you can model those. Surround yourselves with other Christians. It’s important.

We have a sermon about that, “Gather With Other Christians.” It’s part of a whole sermon series about knowing who to follow and how to do it, about the church, Jesus, everything like that. So, watch those.

Talk with these other Christians so that you may know and understand the Word of God and learn more about the Word of God, the Bible. Also, share. Share what you’re learning with others. Because by sharing, talking about it, teaching it — even if you get it wrong — you are talking about it and getting it out there.

And yes, be open. Someone might correct you. Someone might argue with you because as you start talking about this, everybody seems to want to argue. But don’t be afraid. Share it, and if you screw up, it’s okay. Because, guess what? Our God is so big that even if you mess up, He can fix it.

Have faith. Don’t be like, “Well, I don’t want to screw up.” You really don’t trust that God could correct that mistake? Come on. Share what you learn with everyone you know. Actively live for God.

We have an entire playlist, “Be Fully Committed To God And Live For Him with All Your Heart.” Check that out. It’s a lot of sermons in there that you will like. Because, remember, the closer you are to God, the closer He is to you.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank You so much for this time together, for this great sermon about drawing near to God. Please, I ask that You would inspire each and every person watching and listening to draw near to You, that these words would resonate with them, that they would understand this message.

And if, right now, they’re thinking, “Wow, that was so much, I’m kind of confused,” give them the understanding in Jesus’ name. Help them to grasp this content like I grasp the content.

Help them to grasp the content like You grasp the content. Give them Your wisdom, God, and Your understanding. Help them to change their hearts and change their minds to be ready for the wisdom and the knowledge that You want to give them, that You are waiting to give them.

Have them draw near to You, to seek You with all their hearts, and show them that You are there, that You are near to them, that You are with them.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I hope that this message helps you. If so, comment below. If you have any questions, comment below. And if you need help turning to God and inviting Him into your life, it’s very simple.

Say, “Dear Jesus, I’m sorry for my sins. Please come into my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

And if you need more, if you want to talk to us, reach out, contact us, comment below. We’ll be happy to pray with you, pray for you, and help you in any way we can.

Have a great week, and God bless.